Gdańsk Christmas Market

Name: Gdańsk Christmas Market
Start: 2023-11-24
End: 2023-12-23
Location: Targ Węglowy

Friday Nov 24 - Saturday Dec 23 Targ Węglowy

Gdańsk Christmas Market. Photo by Patryk Kosmider.

Gdańsk Christmas Market 2019

Gdańsk Christmas Market. Photo by MOs810 (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Gdańsk Christmas Market 2019. photo by Międzynarodowe Targi Gdańskie SA

Gdańsk Christmas Market. Photo by Patryk Kosmider.

Gdańsk Christmas Market 2019

It's never too early to start thinking about Christmas and, if you're planning to spend some time in Poland around this time of the year, then a visit to the Gdańsk Christmas Market should be in your calendar. So what can you expect to find here?

Panorama shot of the first day of last year's Gdańsk Christmas Markets.

The historic city's Christmas markets centre around Targ Węglowy (ENG: The Coal Market) in the picturesque historic centre of Gdańsk Old Town, which is turned into a quaint little Christmas village, offering decorations, treats, woollen scarves and socks, handmade jewellery, children's toys, mulled wine, hot cider and steaming portions of Polish food. Close to the Golden Gate, you can witness the bizarre novelty of Łoś Lucek (roughly translating as 'Luey the Moose'), a mechanical moose that tells exceptionally-dry jokes in Polish, English, and German. It doesn't end there!

**Targ Węglowy** Stage at the Gdańsk Christmas Market!

Passing through Brama Wyżynna and crossing the main road, the grounds around Forum Shopping Centre have scored this year's Christmas tree, as well as extra stalls and the all-important ice skating rink. In the other direction, through the Golden Gate and back down ul. Długa, you'll find another strip of crafts and food options on the next left - ul. Tkacka. The beautifully-imposing Great Armoury at the intersection of ul. Tkacka and ul. Piwna has become the 'Armoury of Arts & Crafts', hosting a number of stalls sporting artisanal goods, as well as Santa's Workshop, which has a bunch of creative arts & crafts sessions.

Mikołaj AKA Saint Nicholas AKA Santa Claus greeting the good folk of Gdańsk on the **Targ Węglowy** Stage. Photo by Jarmark Bożonarodzeniowy Gdańsk.

What's going on at the Gdańsk Christmas Markets in 2024?

Centred around the stage at Targ Węglowy, there are a whole bunch of events taking place at the Christmas Markets in Gdańsk. After the official opening parade on the afternoon/evening of Nov 22th, there will be frequent performances and activities for children taking place right through till December 23rd. This includes productions from various local theatre groups and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer running regular Christmas challenges. A few sessions of Christmas Karaoke will be making a return thanks to popular demand!

The **Gdańsk's Christmas Market is** centred around *Targ Węglowy* (The Coal Market) in the city's old town.

From Dec 1st - 23rd, the advent gate in Targ Węglowy will be opening a new window at 18:00 daily, whilst Secrets of the Foregate Complex is an edutaining opportunity that you can take a part of every evening at 18:30. Mikołaj (the saintly version Of Saint Nicholas AKA Santa Claus) will be taking the throne and posing for your official Christmas photos! The very same Santa will be doing the honours of switching on the big Christmas tree on Gdańsk Christmas Tree on Długi Targ at 18:00 Dec 5th! The last day of the Gdańsk Christmas Markets is 23rd December 2024. We recommend you check the full program to see what’s happening at the Gdańsk Christmas Markets!

Old school vending of fresh bread at the **Gdańsk Christmas Market!**

What to eat at Gdańsk Christmas Markets?

From the range of traditional Polish cuisine that you'll find at the Christmas Markets, servings of Oscypki (ENG: Smoked Cheese), Pierogi and Grilled Meat from one of the BBQ stations are standard fixtures. On the latter, hardcore meat lovers may want to enquire about Kaszanka (ENG: Black Pudding / Blood Sausage). If you want something a little more balanced (fibre is important on evenings like this), try some Bigos (ENG: Hunter's Stew) which is actually not as wet as it sounds - shredded sour cabbage with chopped meat. Those searching for something more exotic will find a Tatar food stall, which offers foods from the Central Asian republic. Burgers, chipsticks and other Americanised standards can also be found. Each to their own... however, we'd love you to be adventurous!

***Golonka*** (ENG: Pork Knuckle), another Polish Christmas market favourite!

On the sweeter end of the palate, Ginger Bread makes a big appearance at Christmas time, but you'll spot other standards like Gofry (ENG: Waffles) which come with a number of toppings. Another notable non-Polish indulgence are the Hungarian Kurtosze stalls that sell 'Chimney Cakes' - steamy, hollow dough-tubes, baked and covered in sugar and cinnamon or chocolate and nuts.

For more on traditional Polish food that can be found at Gdańsk's Christmas markets, read our article 'Polish Food: 13 Dishes You Must Try'

Hungarian *Kurtosze* (ENG: Chimney Cakes) are a popular sweet **market food** at Polish Chrismas markets!

What to drink at Gdańsk Christmas Markets?

Christmas is the season of heated alcohol! A pint of Hot Beer (PL: Grzane Piwno) sounds fairly self-explanatory, though it is curiously-spiced with artificial ginger syrup, clove, cinnamon and other mulling spices. For some an acquired taste, for others an early Christmas present and others still an utter profanity, but an invention necessary for everyone to try at least once. Similarly popular is Grzane Wino – or Sweet Mulled Wine – which you'll find is suddenly okay to drink in public places once the holidays come around and barrels of it dispensed on Poland's market squares. You can also order it at the bar and even buy it in the shop and heat it up at home - a popular brand is Grzaniec Galicyjski. If you're looking for something with a bit more kick, take note of Polish flavoured-vodkas like Nalewki, Krupniki and others here!