Chicago’s most beloved holiday village is turning 30. Christkindlmarket Chicago returns to Daley Plaza, at 50 West Washington Street in the Loop, from Friday, November 20 through Thursday, December 24, 2026, bringing its red-striped wooden huts, twinkling lights and the smell of roasted nuts back to the heart of downtown. Admission is free, as it has been since the market began.
Inspired by the 16th-century Christkindlesmarkt in Nuremberg, Germany, the open-air market first opened in Chicago in 1996 and moved to Daley Plaza a year later, where it has been a December fixture ever since. Dozens of vendors, many of them traveling from Germany, fill the plaza with hand-blown glass ornaments, nutcrackers, cuckoo clocks, hand-knit winter wear and one-of-a-kind gifts you will not find in any mall.
Come hungry: the food stalls serve bratwurst and schnitzel, potato pancakes, fresh strudel, gingerbread hearts and candied nuts, and the souvenir mug of hot spiced gluhwein or cocoa has become a collector’s item in its own right. For this 30th anniversary season, the collectible mug arrives in a special anniversary design, and the Christkind herself, the market’s golden Christmas angel, makes appearances through the season.
The market is open Sundays through Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Fridays and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., with special hours on Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Families who want more can also visit the sister markets in Wrigleyville, at Gallagher Way, and in Aurora. Happy City News suggests a weekday visit for the shortest lines, a ride on the CTA to the Loop, and an empty stomach.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
