Bethlehem's 2026 holiday season has two calendars. The paid one is built for a single long visit: one Christkindlmarkt ticket, one day at PNC Plaza. The free one comes in short windows. Some last 10 minutes, some three hours, and several repeat every week from mid-November to December 23. Five organizers run them: the Downtown Bethlehem Association, Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites, the City, ArtsQuest and Moravian University. Nobody publishes them together. Once you put them in one schedule, the free season fills nearly every week from November 13 on, and it works best for someone who lives a short drive away and can stop in for a few minutes at a time.
The Ticket Pays for an Afternoon
Christkindlmarkt returns to PNC Plaza at SteelStacks, 645 E. First St., for six blocks of dates: November 13–15, November 20–22, November 27–29, December 3–6, December 10–13 and December 17–20. Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Thursdays and Sundays and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
Admission this year is $14 on Thursdays and on Fridays before 5 p.m., and $16.50 on Saturdays and Sundays, with all fees included. Children 5 and under get in free, and so do ArtsQuest members at the Silver level or higher. The market is cashless for admission, food, drinks and official ArtsQuest merchandise. Individual artisans may still take cash. At those prices, a weekend ticket makes sense if you plan to stay all afternoon.
The market also has its own free window. On Fridays, admission is free from 5 to 8 p.m. Every block of dates includes a Friday, so the 2026 season has six free evenings at the market. Each is three hours long, and each falls on a weekday evening, a time that suits people who live nearby more than visitors driving in. Winter Wonderland is still part of the market. It debuted in 2025 with a family zone, a stage and rentable igloos, and it carries into this year's experience.
Downtown's Free Events Run on Short Windows
The free events on the Historic District side follow the same pattern. Each one is brief and repeats.
Christmas City Village sets up holiday-themed wooden huts in the Sun Inn Courtyard. It's open Fridays through Sundays, November 20 to December 20, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., with no admission charge. The Downtown Bethlehem Association's listing still shows the 2026 vendors as TBA.
Santa's Haus offers free photos with Santa from 1 to 4 p.m. on November 28–29, December 5–6, December 12–13 and December 19–20. You take the photos on your own phone or camera, and pets are welcome.
The Live Advent Calendar is the shortest event and runs the most often. It takes place every night at 5:30 p.m. from December 1 through December 23 in the Sun Inn Courtyard. Each program lasts 10 to 15 minutes and is free and family-friendly. Downtown merchants put it on with Touchstone Theatre and Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites. If you saved an older holiday guide, check it. Some still show last year's dates and a Goundie House location, and the 2026 listing puts the event in the Sun Inn Courtyard.
The two biggest nights each happen once. The City's Annual Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony is Friday, November 27, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at Payrow Plaza. Gates open at 4 p.m., and the listing promises free cookies and hot chocolate along with music, performances and Santa. It doesn't list an admission price. Right after the lighting comes Historic Bethlehem's Wassail Party, which the museum describes as "a beloved and free annual tradition for all ages."
The other is musical. On Saturday, November 21, Moravian University holds "Everything But the Candles," its Christmas Vespers preview, at Foy Concert Hall on the Hurd Campus. The prelude starts at 7 p.m. There's no admission charge, and a free-will offering is collected. The university's concert schedule says the preview includes all of the music from the December services, with every hymn sung and the Morning Star led by a young soloist. The full Vespers services at Central Moravian Church run December 4–6 and December 11–13, and community tickets currently have a waitlist. The November 21 preview is the easier way to hear the same music.
How the Windows Line Up, Week by Week
On paper, these events look unrelated. In a single schedule, the free season covers six straight weeks, and late November brings the most overlap.
Week | Free events | Paid events that week |
|---|---|---|
Nov. 13–15 | Christkindlmarkt free Friday, Nov. 13, 5–8 p.m. | Christkindlmarkt opens; Red and Green Cocktail Trails, Nov. 14 |
Nov. 20–22 | Village opens Nov. 20; market free Friday, Nov. 20; Vespers preview, Nov. 21 | Silver and Gold Cocktail Trails, Nov. 21 |
Nov. 27–29 | Wassail Party after the tree lighting, Nov. 27; market free Friday, Nov. 27; Santa's Haus, Nov. 28–29 | Christkindlmarkt weekend |
Dec. 1–6 | Advent Calendar nightly from Dec. 1; market free Friday, Dec. 4; Village; Santa's Haus, Dec. 5–6 | Vespers services, Dec. 4–6 |
Dec. 7–13 | Advent Calendar nightly; market free Friday, Dec. 11; Village; Santa's Haus, Dec. 12–13 | Vespers services, Dec. 11–13 |
Dec. 14–20 | Advent Calendar nightly; market free Friday, Dec. 18; Village and Santa's Haus end Dec. 20 | Christkindlmarkt final weekend |
Dec. 21–23 | Advent Calendar continues through Dec. 23 | None listed |
Friday, November 27 has the most events in one evening. The tree lighting runs until 6:30 p.m., the free Wassail Party follows, and free admission at Christkindlmarkt lasts until 8 p.m. On the Fridays in December, the 5:30 p.m. Advent program downtown falls inside the market's 5-to-8 free window. That gives you two free stops in one evening, one on each side of the river. During the last week, December 21–23, every other event on this list is finished and the Advent Calendar is the only thing still running.
Where Paying Is Worth It
Some of the season's best events cost money. They work differently from the free ones because each is a single visit with a set price.
The Downtown Bethlehem Association's Red and Green Holiday Cocktail Trails are on November 14, and the Silver and Gold trails are on November 21. Passports cost $45 and were scheduled to go on sale the week of October 11. They're likely to sell out, so the on-sale date matters.
Trees of Historic Bethlehem has an architectural theme this year. Trees are decorated in styles such as Neoclassicism, Gothic, Rococo and Art Nouveau. Admission also covers the Moravian Museum of Bethlehem, the Kemerer Museum of Decorative Arts, the putz at the Single Sisters' House and Luckenbach Mill. Members of the Bethlehem Garden Club decorate the more than 20 trees, and small businesses from around the community sponsor them.
The Kemerer also opens a new exhibition before the holidays. The Art of the Dollhouse opens October 22. Self-guided admission is $14 for adults and $7 for children, and guided tours are $20 and $10. HBMS members get in free. An opening reception on October 29 costs $10 for nonmembers and is free for members. The exhibition opens weeks before the Christmas events start, so you can see it in late October before downtown gets busy.
The Shops Between the Free Stops
The free events downtown sit within a few blocks of Main Street, and several shops on that walk are new this year. The Velvet Raven opened this spring at 523 Main St. and sells games, books, puzzles and fantasy-themed gifts. Mod Metal Works, a permanent-jewelry studio, held its grand opening at Main Street Commons, 559 Main St., on June 27, 2026, according to The Morning Call's July openings roundup. This will be the first Christmas season on Main Street for both shops.
For classic Christmas City keepsakes, Historic Bethlehem's Schropp Dry Goods Shoppe at the visitor center sells Moravian Star ornaments and other holiday gifts. You can stop there on the way to the Sun Inn Courtyard before a 5:30 Advent program.
Parking Is Still Unannounced
Parking is the one piece of the season without a 2026 plan yet. As of late September, the Bethlehem Parking Authority's event page still read "Stay tuned for 2026 Holiday Information!" The standard BPA garage rate is $1.50 an hour, with a $12 daily maximum. Parking is usually free on Sundays and holidays, except during special events. That special-event exception could change the usual Sunday rule during the season.
On the SteelStacks side, ArtsQuest points visitors to free public parking next to the market, first come, first served, with event signs to follow. It also has limited accessible parking and a passenger drop-off on First Street. ArtsQuest says BPA garages offer special all-day rates during Christkindlmarkt but hasn't published the 2026 price. Its list starts with the Polk Street Garage as the closest, followed by the Riverport Garage at 13 W. 2nd St. and the South New Street Garage at 324 S. New St. For the short free windows, like a 15-minute Advent program or a Friday evening at the market, where you park can affect your evening as much as anything on the schedule. The BPA's update is worth checking before November 13.
Bethlehem's holiday calendar also matters when you're presenting a home in the historic district or on the South Side, because these events shape how the streets look and feel from mid-November on. If you're wondering how this season might fit into your own timing, The Rebecca Francis Team is happy to talk it through. Request a private consultation.
