German-Style Vancouver Christmas Market Returns, Nov. 24 – Dec. 24

Photo credit: Vancouver Christmas Market

Yearning for more than a mall and a red Starbucks cup? The hotly-anticipated Vancouver Christmas Market, an authentic German-style Christmas market, returns to Queen Elizabeth Theatre Plaza in downtown Vancouver, Nov. 24 -Dec. 24.

The holidays Vancouver Christmas Market-style are romantic, aromatic and twinkly. Stroll inside the village gate into a world of rustic wooden huts surrounding a soaring Tannenbaum festooned with thousands of lights. Partake in Glühwein, sausages, stollen, and gingerbread. Browse Christmas decor and gifts such as nutcrackers, Lauscha glass ornaments, beer steins and wooden trains.

Holly & Jolly. Photo credit: Vancouver Christmas Market

If you bring the family, it’s easy to keep the kiddos entertained. There’s a gingerbread cookie and chocolate lollipop decorating station. Holly and Jolly, the market’s memorable gingerbread men mascots, are on hand for hugs and photo opps. Perhaps the biggest draw is the old-fashioned carousel – the  only carousel in downtown Vancouver.

Photo credit: Vancouver Christmas Market

Other perks?  Besides the seasonal handicrafts and German treats (like marzipan) that work as gifts, it’s worth stopping by the market for a festive lunch or dinner any day of the week. You’ll find a great selection of German beer (including Krombacher Pils,  Christmas-y Krombacher Dunkel and Ayinger Bräu-Weisse), plus traditional hot food such as brats, Bavarian meatloaf, schnitzel, Schupfnudeln (rolled noodles), Brataepfel (stuffed baked apples), crepes and raclette.

Get involved with Christkindlmarkt charm Nov. 24 – Dec. 23, 11am-9pm, and Dec 24, 11am-6pm. Tickets are $5 for adults, except weekdays 11am-4pm, when it drops to $2. Youth (7-12) are $2. Kids (0-6) are free.

New in 2012, for every paid admission you will receive a free re-entry pass for the whole season.  In other words: Pay once and get for yourself multiple free entries. Find more details and directions here.