Official Opening Ceremonies - Thursday

Candlelight Procession 5:30 pm

Meet at Kitchener's clock tower for a singalong with the Grand Philharmonic Choir and the official lighting of Victoria Park.

Everyone is welcome! Pick up your candle and holder, available FREE for all participants in the procession, or bring your own homemade lantern. You can also purchase one of our colourful lanterns with a light, candlestand and carrying-stick.

(Did you know? At the Christkindl Market procession in Nuremberg, Germany, thousands of schoolchildren march through the old city’s streets with their own handmade or purchased lanterns.)

Depart from Victoria Park 6:00 pm

Mary, Joseph and the donkey lead the candlelight procession to Kitchener's City Hall Square where fanfares, church bells and trumpets welcome their arrival to the nativity. Join hundreds of visitors in the magic of this wonderful event. Carol singing continues with the Grand Philharmonic Choir. Depart from the clock tower in Victoria Park, proceed past the clock tower along Gaukel Street to Kitchener City Hall, Civic Square.

Official Opening Ceremonies 6:30 pm
Kitchener City Hall Civic Square

Kitchener City Hall, Civic Square - Official welcome by Astrid Braun, President; Tony Bergmeier, Founder; Mayor Carl Zehr and dignitaries.

Re-enactment of the poem by T. Storm of Knecht Ruprecht (the one who knows ‘if you’ve been bad or good’).

Opening Prologue by Christkindl (Christ child) and two angels from the balcony of Kitchener City Hall.

Official lighting of the Christmas tree and the entire Square.

Members of the Grand Philharmonic Choir sing the Hallelujah Chorus from the balcony. The official opening is one of the highlights of Canada’s original Christkindl Market.

Draw & Closing Ceremonies - Sunday at 4:00 pm

Kitchener City Hall, Civic Square - Official closing by Astrid Braun, President; Tony Bergmeier, Founder; Mayor Carl Zehr and dignitaries.

Presentation of donation to Children's Wish Foundation.

Draw for Prizes. Telephone the winners!

Magical Christmas event

"Thank you, Tony, for bringing to our community the Christkindl Market, an event that has rekindled in the hearts of so many, the wonder and joy, the excitement and awe of those memorable Christkindl Markets in Germany so many years ago.

Thanks for your vision, your dream and your spirit. You make it possible for people of another age, a new generation, and varied cultures to enjoy the magic. To mind comes the candlelight procession when in the realm of our imagination Mary and Joseph might as well be coming from Nazareth as from Kitchener's Victoria Park. Our hearts quicken at the sound of the fanfare at the opening ceremony and our eyes grow misty to the sweet sound of the music and song that fills the winter air. From the booths, around the wonderfully lighted Christmas tree waft the tantalizing aromas of spicy sausages, aromatic hot drinks and cinnamon sugared delectables, commonly known as apple fritters... Thank you for making this magical Christmas event possible." - Letter from Charlotte Kraus