Christkindlmarket Chicago 2020 guide to the magical holiday event
Grab a mug of Glühwein, peruse handmade gifts and enjoy your time at Christkindlmarket—a Chicago holiday tradition!
No matter how many twinkling lights or decorated trees you encounter, the holidays in Chicago don't really start until Christkindlmarket arrives. The annual holiday market draws inspiration from winter festivals in Germany and fills Daley Plaza with a village of cabins that house vendors selling food, handmade gifts, clothing, ornaments and more. Attendees flock to the Loop to sip glühwein (served in a souveneir mug), do holiday shopping and sample German food like konckwurst, döner and potato pancakes. Get ready to browse, eat and drink your way through the beloved seasonal event with our guide to Christkindlemarket Chicago 2019.
RECOMMENDED: Our complete guide to Christmas in Chicago
When is Christkindlmarket Chicago?
The Loop location of the market takes place from November 15 through December 24. The market is open daily, from 11am–8pm Sunday through Thursday and 11am–9pm on Friday and Saturday.
The Wrigleyville outpost of the market will stick around from November 22 through December 31. The market is open every day except Christmas Day, from 3–9pm Monday through Thursday, 11am–10pm on Friday and Saturday, and 11am–7pm on Sunday.
Where is Christkindlmarket Chicago?
If you're in the Loop, Chirstkindlmarket takes over the entirety of Daley Plaza, under the gaze of the Picasso sculpture. If you're traveling by train, take the Blue Line to Washington or the Red Line to Lake.
You'll find Christkindlmarket Wrigleyville in Gallagher Way, which is located just outside Wrigley Field at Clark and Addison Streets. To get there by train, just take the Red Line to Addison.
How much does Christkindlmarket Chicago cost?
Each location of the holiday market is free to attend, but you'll want to bring along cash to buy food, mugs of glühwein and gifts for everyone on your list.
The best stuff at Christkindlmarket
What to do in the Loop
Archive Christkindlmarket stories
Things to do around Christkindlmarket
The annual open-air, German-flavored holiday market in Daley Plaza is a top seasonal attraction. Whether it’s tourists, parents with kids on the weekend or Loop workers after 5pm, Christkindlmarket swarms with people seeking out this year’s souvenir mug or getting their fill of sauerkraut and potato pancakes. But once you’ve stocked up on ornaments and warmed up with Glühwein, it can be hard to know what to do next. Check out these other events and venues worth visiting within a few blocks. RECOMMENDED: Our complete guide to Christmas in Chicago
Christkindlmarket reveals its 2016 mug
We're counting down the days (14) until Christkindlmarket opens and with the signature wooden houses popping up in Daley Plaza this week we could practically start to taste all of our favorite German food and drinks. The big question on everyone's mind: What would this year's Christkindlmarket mug look like? For over a decade a collectible boot was the signature drinkware of Christkindlmarket before the switch to a more traditional mug in 2012. The boot made its triumphant return last year to celebrate Christkindlmarket's 20th anniversary, but it looks like we'll be drinking our glühwein out of a regular mug again this year. The city's largest open-air holiday market opens November 18 and runs through December 24, with tons of free events, musical performances and the best food, drinks and shopping. This year suburbanites can join in on the festivities with a new market in Naperville that opens November 20. Enjoy all the celebrations at Christkindlmarket through December 24, and check out the full schedule of events here. Sure, we'll miss the boot, but the good news is glühwein tastes just as delicious in a regular mug. Want more? Sign up here to stay in the know.
Only one month until Christkindlmarket opens
While today's toasty temperatures might not make you feel like it, we're only one month away from our favorite holiday market setting up shop in Daley Plaza. Christkindlmarket returns on November 18 and we're counting down the days until we can eat and shop for all of our Christkindlmarket favorites. The massive open-air market is always a must during the holidays in Chicago, with great food, drinks and gifts—including handcrafted ornaments, wooden clocks, nutcrackers and more—from Germany and beyond. And there's good news for suburbanites, as Christkindlmarket launches in Naperville this holiday season. You'll have to wait an extra week though; the new market doesn't open until November 25. Until November 18, we'll just be over here dreaming about boots full of Glühwein and a sweet plate of Germknödel. Want more? Sign up here to stay in the know.
Christkindlmarket will come to Naperville this year
July is right around the corner and we all know what that means. We're halfway to Christmas season. It will only be a few more months until Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas Is You" mysteriously dominates the playlist in every department store, coffee shop and iPhone. To make sure you haven't forgotten about the joys of the holiday season, Christkindlmarket has just announced a new location in Naperville. The beloved Christmas market will bring more than 40 wooden stalls filled with glittery ornaments, warm strudel and handmade gifts to the suburb, beginning on November 25. There will be heated structures where visitors can enjoy German beers or glühwein in adorable collectable mugs (hopefully in the shape of a boot). Guests can also look forward to live musical performances and a visit from the Christkind herself every Sunday. Naperville residents won’t have to make the trek all the way to Daley Plaza in order to experience one of the largest and most authentic German markets outside of Europe. Just like the Loop-based market, Christkindlmarket will be free and open to the public Thursdays through Sundays with special extended hours leading up to Christmas Eve from November 25 to December 24.