Naughty or nice, Christkindlmarket offers sugar and some spice.
For those who have been good this year, a heart-shaped gingerbread — or Lebkuchenherz, in German —awaits at the Sweet Castle. The delicious treat is the inspiration for this year’s collectible mugs ($10), ornament ($39) and pins at the open-air German-style market’s three locations — two in Chicago and one in Aurora.
But if you’ve been bad, then maybe partying with Krampus is more your speed. For the first time, the Timber Haus at Daley Plaza will turn eerie during a ticketed event on Dec. 14, to celebrate the goat-like figure with antlers who punishes bad children ($35 per person plus taxes and fees).
Culture & cheer tours, which sold out last year, take visitors through the market before it opens on select days ($45 per person plus taxes and fees), and are a good way to beat the downtown crowds.
Can’t make it to the city? The Aurora location sells tickets for glass ornament-making workshops (from $42 per person), lantern parades for children ($15 per person) and wine tastings for adults (from $40 per person).
Where to buy this year’s mugs
A vessel for which to sip Gluhwein has been a staple of German American Events’ Christkindlmarket since it premiered in Pioneer Court off the Magnificent Mile in 1996. A variety of colors, designs and shapes have been used to make each year’s design.
Daley Plaza, 50 W. Washington St.
Open Nov. 21-Dec. 24. 11 a.m.-8 p.m., Sunday-Thursday; 11 a.m.-9 p.m., Friday-Saturday; 11 a.m.-4 p.m., Thanksgiving (Nov. 27) and Christmas Eve (Dec. 24).
Christkindlmarket Wrigleyville
Gallagher Way, 3635 N. Clark St.
Open Nov. 23-Dec. 31. 3-9 p.m., Monday-Thursday; 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Friday-Saturday; 11 a.m.-7 p.m., Sunday; 11 a.m.-4 p.m., Thanksgiving (Nov. 27), 11 a.m.-9 p.m., Dec. 22-23; 11 a.m.-4 p.m., Christmas Eve (Dec. 24) and New Year’s Eve (Dec. 31); 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Dec. 29-30. Closed Christmas Day (Dec. 25).
RiverEdge Park, 360 N. Broadway in Aurora
Open Nov. 17-Dec. 24. 11 a.m.-7 p.m., Thursday; 11 a.m.-9 p.m., Friday- Saturday; and 11 a.m.-6 p.m., Sunday; 11 a.m.-4 p.m., Thanksgiving (Nov. 23) and Christmas Eve (Dec. 24); 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Dec. 18-20.
Previous designs: 1996-1998
Thirty-five wooden booths were built in Germany and shipped to Chicago for the first Christkindlmarket, which lasted 17 days and had 15 vendors. The event moved from Pioneer Court on Michigan Avenue to Daley Plaza in 1997, where its opening coincided with the city’s Christmas tree lighting.
1999
Food options ranged from chocolate-dipped strawberries on skewers to bratwurst, and from cheese pretzels to doughnutlike churros with strawberry, chocolate and Bavarian cream fillings.
2000
Items for sale included handcrafted glass ornaments, cuckoo clocks, nutcrackers, wooden toys, jewelry, sweaters and food.
2001
The market’s footprint expanded beyond Daley Plaza to include the vacant Block 37.
2002
Glass blowers from the Bavarian Forest demonstrated their craft and sold the finished products.
2003
Displays included the Guinness World Records’ largest beeswax candle.
2004
The market opened on Thanksgiving to give shoppers a sneak preview.
2005
Christkindlmarket celebrated 10 years in Chicago and offered its first souvenir boot mug.
2006
Tribune restaurant critic Phil Vettel gave “a big yodeling ja” to Helmut’s Original Austrian Strudel and a “hearty ja” to the spiced red wine in a boot.
2007
Mader’s, a famous Milwaukee German restaurant, participated.
2008
The number of vendors reached 50.
2009
Christkindlmarket lasted almost one full month in Daley Plaza.
2010
German food, drink and trinkets still attracted crowds to Daley Plaza 15 years after the event began in Chicago.
2011
In addition to running Christkindlmarket, German American Services expanded to put on an Oktoberfest celebration at Navy Pier.
2012
More than 50 vendors sold items including ornaments, beer steins, wooden toys, jewelry and European chocolates.
2013
The official mug was not a boot and people took to the market’s Facebook page to complain. (The market’s mug has been a boot just nine times.)
2014
A snowman mug was introduced for the market’s Kinder Club. More than half of the 50 vendors traveled from Germany to Chicago to sell their wares.
2015
In its 20th year in Chicago, the market was void of one accessory — the city’s official Christmas tree. After 50 years in Daley Plaza, the tree moved east to Millennium Park.
2016
For the first time, the market expanded to two locations — the Daley Plaza mainstay and a suburban outpost in Naperville.
2017
The market opened a third location at The Park at Wrigley, just outside Wrigley Field. For the first time in its 22 years, Christkindlmarket offered three mug designs — two of them in “punch kettle” shape.
2018
The market opened its first location in Wisconsin, just outside the new Fiserv Forum. The gingerbread-inspired mug designs were unique to each location and featured a heart-shaped opening at the top.
2019
The boot design returned after four years.
2020
Organizers of the popular outdoor holiday market cancelled the event and sold items online as the coronavirus pandemic hampered large-scale events and international travel.
2021
The same flute-shaped design, about as tall as an iPhone, was sold at both the Daley Plaza and Wrigleyville locations to commemorate the market’s 25th anniversary in Chicago. The children’s “Peppermint Penguin” design was dressed up to celebrate the first Christkindlmarket in almost two years.
2022
The official mug celebrated “Year of Chicago Dance” and the Kinder Club hosted a naming contest for the dancing penguin mug.
2023
The market returned in three locations — Daley Plaza, Wrigleyville and Aurora. For the first time, a fast-entry pass was sold for $25 (and included a souvenir mug).
2024
Mugs for spiced wine or non-alcoholic beverages were both nutcracker-themed and sold at both the Daley Plaza and Wrigleyville locations. Culture and cheer tours let visitors enter Christkindlmarket before it opened on select days.
