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322 Days until our festival of German Christmas December 5 to 8, 2019
Christkindl Market - A Festival of German Christmas
Join us for our 22nd Annual
Experience the joy of our international phenomenon and Top 100 Festivals & Events in Ontario! Kitchener City Hall is home to Canada's original Festival of German Christmas. Experience our traditional 4-day "Christkindl Market." Every Christmas, since medieval times, towns and cities across Germany come alive with the sights, sounds and smells of Christmas. Stay in touch: Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter!
Save these dates and times to meet up with your family and friends
22nd Annual ~ December 6-9, 2018
Kitchener City Hall (Outside & Inside)
- THURSDAY DECEMBER 6: 10am-9pm
- FRIDAY DECEMBER 7: 10am-9pm
- SATURDAY DECEMBER 8: 9am-9pm
- SUNDAY DECEMBER 9: 10am-4pm
This year we have expanded the festival to include a King Street experience in partnership with the Downtown Kitchener BIA. Browse the outdoor huts and indoor vendors, including food & giftware. You can even get your greens including Christmas trees, wreaths and decor - along King Street in front of Kitchener City Hall.
Entertainment 30 bands, choirs, and dance groups entertain you on the outdoor stage. There are also blacksmith demonstrations, live nativity. All live entertainment takes place on the stage outdoors on the square. Please dress appropriate for the weather.
Trains No visit to Christkindl Market is complete until you've seen the wondrous "G" Scale Garden Railway display by Jenny and Fred Aldred. The train room is on the first floor in the Conestoga Room.
History & Folklore When you visit Kitchener, you will be welcomed by the oldest and largest German community in Canada, and by folkloric Christmas characters that walk around the festival outside and inside. Feel free to take a selfie with them and share it with your friends. Be sure to chat with them in English or German. You'll meet Christkindl, Knecht Ruprecht and Hurdy Gurdy Klaus the organ grinder.
Vendors Traditional wooden huts and indoor booths boast 90 vendors with traditional handmade Christmas ornaments, nutcrackers, wood carved toys, pyramids, figurines, jewelry, clothing and delicious German food, to eat here and take home. Vendors are located in huts outside on the square and inside the Rotunda of Kitchener City Hall. More vendors on the 2nd floor inside. This year we have expanded the festival to include a King Street experience in partnership with the Downtown Kitchener BIA. Browse the beautifully decorated huts featuring a variety of vendors, including food, giftware and get all your Christmas greens including Christmas trees, wreaths and more along King Street in front of City Hall.
WIN prizes. Visit the Children's Wish Foundation booth for your ballot.
City of Kitchener Parking Lot Map
Saturday there is FREE parking underground at Kitchener city hall garage only.
Sunday it's FREE parking at Kitchener city lots (see map PDF).
Check out what the Media is saying about us!
Future Festival Dates:
22nd Annual Dec 6-9, 2018
23rd Annual Dec 5-8, 2019
24th Annual Dec 3-6, 2020
25th Annual Dec 2-5, 2021
Love your market!!
Beautiful. Love the nativity and ornaments. Everything ist wunderbar
As the rest of the world gallops forward, there is a tradition that keeps people in Waterloo Region firmly rooted in the past, at least during Christmas. The annual four-day Christkindl Market opens Thursday in front of Kitchener City Hall, recreating a Bavarian tradition first officially recorded in 1310. The original market, called Nikolausdult, was designed as a temporary affair constructed from wood and canvas and erected in front of a church. Visitors from far and wide would arrive to both sell and purchase items, some from other countries, giving the market an international flavour. Then in a few days, it would all disappear. "It's about tradition," she said. "That's what people are looking for." The market features vendors, selling all manner of items: German-made toys, handcrafted jewelry, art glass items, gift baskets, beeswax candles, gifts, chocolate and marzipan, original art, music, leather, hand-painted wearable art, tree decorations, music boxes and everyone's favourite, apple fritters. Christkindl Market takes over much of city hall, both inside and out, with gift vendors indoors and food outdoors on Civic Square, where they will pander to anyone with a hankering for Germanic food, including schnitzel, marinated herring and Schinken on a bun as well as the regular crowd pleasers such as sausage, potato pancakes, stollen and waffles. This is no time to go on a diet. And for those needing a rest, the 10th floor has been turned into a place to sit, relax and eat your goodies.
I took my daughter for the first time 5 years ago and what a special event this was for both of us. We visited the manger live nativity scene, it was beautiful. We listened to the Christmas music, I can't believe how just humming a little Christmas song can put you in such good spirits with yourself and others. Christmas is the one time of the year that people actually look at others and smile, wishing them the very best. It's a shame we can't be like this throughout the year.
It brings back memories of Germany during the Christmas season!
Think Oktoberfest, except that the beer is replaced with Christmas cheer.
I will be there again to enjoy my childhood memories all over again, not to forget the food and smells of this special time.
I just want to thank the team that sets up the Christmas Tree and oversees Christkindl. What a wonderful way to spend a lunch hour! I go every year on Thursday and Friday. I LOVE it! It just lifts the spirits and is so "magical"! Thank you for such a wonderful experience, every year!
Christmas spirit ...we like to see all of the vendors. It's a wonderful event and my Christmas spirit doesn't begin until I attend your festival.
I'm now feeling the Christmas Spirit. Thank you!
Vielen Dank dass Sie diese herrliche Tradition aus Deutschland herueber gebracht haben. Ich wuenschte wir koennten jaehrlich kommen um den Christkindl Markt zu besuchen.
As always, our family enjoyed the Christkindl Market so very much! Thank you for nurturing this tradition in Kitchener - we hope it keeps going for many, many years... Thank you once again for a wonderful Christmas experience our family has made part of our yearly tradition!
Kindling the Christmas Spirit -I remember the first year of the Market about 10 years ago. Snow falling gently, beautiful German music playing outside, high quality Christmas goods for purchase from friendly vendors, hot-mulled cider, the nativity scene, the skaters - what atmosphere!!! The magic has hooked me ever since. So much different from the mall! Thanks for kindling the Christmas spirit.
It is a magical experience for me as a vendor and all the visitors that attend. Everybody is happy and excited and enjoying all the events, food, atmosphere, entertainment, and the unique vendors wares. Thanks to those that had the vision to start Christkindl 20 years ago, and all that played a role over the years to making Christkindl a success.
"Homesick" for the sights, smells and sounds of Germany. I had been living in a small town in the Black Forest region while I was teaching on the Canadian Forces Base in Lahr. On my return to Stratford, I found the Kitchener Christkindl Market. Somehow, I did not feel quite as "homesick" for the sights, smells and sounds of Germany! It is a wonderful experience, one I look forward to every year.
Our family has been coming to the Christkindl Market in Kitchener for five years now. We absolutely love it there. The sights, sounds and smells really put us in the Christmas spirit. This has become a very cherished part of our Christmas traditions. Three generations of our family take part in it. What a special time is had by all. Thanks for the memories...already looking forward to next year.
...we'd like to see all of the vendors. It's a wonderful event and my Christmas spirit doesn't begin until I attend your festival.
Love this festival - begins Christmas!
Wonderful - An annual event for myself!
Thank you all for making this German Christmas festival a reality so that we can enjoy the Christmas season and make many special memories for ourselves and more importantly for our children. To another 100 years of Christkindl Market, Kitchener! Frohe Weihnachten
Herrliche Tradition aus Deutschland - Ich war nur mal zu einem Christkindl Markt. Das war circa 1975 in Pforzheim im Schwarzen Wald. Ich kann mich noch nach all diesen Jahren an die wunderbaren Lichter und Aromas, so wie all die schoene Musik und die Weihnachts Stimmung, ganz gut erinnern, als wenn es gestern war.
Ich war nur mal zu einem Christkindl Markt. Das war circa 1975 in Pforzheim im Schwarzen Wald. Ich kann mich noch nach all diesen Jahren an die wunderbaren Lichter und Aromas, so wie all die schoene Musik und die Weihnachts Stimmung, ganz gut erinnern, als wenn es gestern war. Vielen Dank dass Sie diese herrliche Tradition aus Deutschland herueber gebracht haben. Ich wuenschte wir koennten jaehrlich kommen um den Christkindl Markt zu besuchen.
It is well organized
Great Job - Christkindl Market! Saves us a trip to Germany!
Nice to preserve our cultural heritage. We really enjoyed the train room
Just like Germany! Love the organ grinder!
My two-year-old son, was in total rapture as he looked upon a display of moving toys. A lady was watching my son's dreamy state. This kind-hearted lady said she wanted to buy it for my little guy, and that she was going to be thinking about him on Christmas morning as he unwraps his gift from her. I want her to know Santa does not have to be in a red suit with bells on and a beard. He could also be a she, a kind and special lady.
It is awesome! This reminds me of all of the traditional Christmas markets I saw in Germany. I loved the markets in Germany and miss them a great deal, how nice it is to relive a bit of the atmosphere here in Kitchener.
Ich Liebe Christkindl Markt
As we entered the building, we saw so many beautiful Angels, and so many beautiful ornaments, so unique to this event that you couldn't buy them anywhere else. What a memory. My daughter and I attend this event each and every year. It's like our own tradition, just for the 2 of us. It's a night out together to bond, celebrate the holidays and of course to look for that very special Christmas ornament for this year.
Every year the City Hall in Kitchener transforms into a German style Christmas Market complete with food, carollers, ice skating and lots more. This year marked the 20th anniversary of the event and it did not disappoint. City Hall was decked out with vendors, food, Christmas decorations and entertainment to convince even the meanest Grinch that this truly is the best time of the year. WONDERS OF WINTER
Wonderful Tradition!
My husband's family is German and up until we visited the Christkindl Market a few years ago I only had stories and some samplings of the different Christmas foods from Germany from his family. Until we visited your wonderful market I never really understood the fascination my husband has always had for German Christmas. Since that first visit my husband starts planning our next visit in October! He wouldn't miss it for the world and I have come to appreciate his heritage even more through experiencing this bit of Germany in Canada! Every year we bring our teenagers and invite our friends. Thank you for all your hard work - Christmas isn't Christmas for us now without the Christkindl Market!
The joy is yours!
Love it. Traditional December event we all look forward to at our house. Thanks!
Thank you, 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. 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...
Can you please do a candlelight precession on Friday and Saturday nights too?
Nice! I just moved back from living in Europe for 9 years, this was so nice!
We absolutely love it! It's been a family tradition to go to the German Christmas market at the Toronto International Centre since I was a small child back in the 70's and 80's. Now I have children of my own and we have been coming to the Kitchener Christkindl Market for the past 10 years. We stay at a nearby bed and breakfast go to the farmers market and then the Chirstkindl. It's a beautiful weekend that we look forward to all year long. I love the whole German feel. My mother was German from Darmstadt. We grew up speaking German with all the German customs and festivities. Christmas and Nikolaus Tag were our favourites. Your Christkindl still captures that traditional German feel with the products, food, childrens/adult choir and German people. The smell of the the roasted beer nuts, bratwurst, goulash soup, saurkraut, potato pancakes and blacksmith fire in the crisp, cold winter air creates a feeling in me that I cannot explain. It really makes me and my family feel wonderful and happy. With all the craziness in today's world, it's so good to know we can disappear for a weekend in the warmth and nostalgia of the Christkindl.
The Christmas spirit is alive and well in Kitchener
Christmas spirit ... we'd like to see all of the vendors. It's a wonderful event and my Christmas spirit doesn't begin until I attend your festival
Santa does not have to be in a red suit The Christmas spirit is alive and well in Kitchener: My four-year-old daughter; two-year-old son, my Mom and I had gone to Christkindl on Dec 7. My son was in total rapture as he looked upon a display of moving toys. To the right of me was a lady watching my son's gazing and dreamy state. The lady took a box with the toy inside and shoved it under my arm; my reaction was no, no, no. I looked at this kind-hearted lady and she said she wanted to buy it for the little guy, and that she was going to be thinking about him on Christmas morning as he unwraps his gift from her. I want her to know Santa does not have to be in a red suit with bells on and a beard. He could also be a she, a kind and special lady.
Love the market, reminds me of my time living in Germany
We love it! It gets us in the Christmas spirit!
"I will be there again on the Saturday to enjoy my childhood memories all over again, not to forget the food and smells of this special time."
Love it-part of my yearly Christmas tradition!
Love the Market! It's my first time here and it's been awesome! Thank you!
Excellent community spirit and great event for family. Loved the food, gluhwein, apple fritters, sauerkraut..
It was amazing what wonders it did for us! From the lights and the music and the smells and watching everyone smiling and laughing...it instantly lifted our spirits and helped us keep them there through the whole holiday. Now we can't wait year to year for the first ads and we rush to mark it on the calendars. We always go the Friday night, no kids or friends, just us - to sit and take it all in. You don't know what you are missing until you have been there!" - Letter from
My mom has taken my brother and I to the Christkindl Market ever since it first opened. We felt surrounded by love and happiness and enjoyed being around the German community - especially because we could not be with our family in Germany at Christmas. I still remember and still feel the warm feelings I first felt when I visit the Christkindl Market. I always make sure I attend each year with my Mom and now take my daughter along as well. I hope she too will be able to attend for years to come and in the future, bring her children as well.
Wonderful! My husband is German- was like home for him! Visiting is becoming a yearly tradition! Thanks!
If you can't be at a Christmas Market in Germany, the Christkindl Market in Oktoberfest City (Kitchener, Ontario), is the closest it can get. They even have real, hot mulled wine, a staple at every German Weihnachtsmarkt. For us, visiting the market in Kitchener was a few hours back home away from home. Very nice!
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