Christmas festivals are renowned for their retailers, food and drink vendors, and entertainment that speaks to the culture and history of a place. Christmas markets that began in Germany in the 15th and 16th centuries still welcome visitors from throughout Europe today.
If you’re ready to plan a Christmas festival in your area, the first step is to consider your audience and the attractions they’d love. Read on to learn more about Christmas event ideas for your community.
Christmas festival ideas
Hosting a Christmas festival in your community brings people together to participate in holiday-themed activities, view twinkling light displays, and make memories. Small-town Christmas event ideas can also be profitable for local businesses, such as merchants selling gifts or food trucks serving food and beverages.
Christmas festival activities
Christmas festivals are a chance to enjoy the holiday season. Consider your venue, how much space you have, and what type of attractions guests will enjoy. Here are some Christmas festival ideas for all ages:
- Ice skating — set up an outdoor ice skating rink with skate rentals available for your guests
- Santa Claus and photos — design a backdrop for pictures with Santa; offer an option to print photos or text digital copies to guests
- Gingerbread house workshops — hold a demonstration with local bakers or let guests decorate their own gingerbread house
- Christmas decoration workshop — host a workshop led by an expert to help guests craft homemade holiday décor
- Floral decoration workshop — recruit a local florist to teach guests how to design a Christmas wreath or centerpiece
- Christmas card making — set up a Christmas card-making station stocked with paper, markers, scissors, glue, and other craft supplies
- Family photo sessions — offer mini sessions with a local photographer
Hold a Christmas market
Transform an indoor or outdoor space into a Christmas market with food, drinks, entertainment, and booths where vendors can sell goods. This can be a one-day event or last for a week. Or, open it every weekend in December leading up to Christmas. If you anticipate large crowds, a multi-day market is best to extend the event’s reach.
Where to hold your Christmas market
Finding the right location for your Christmas market depends on various factors, including how many people you expect to attend. Consider your typical weather during December to decide if an indoor or outdoor event is appropriate.
Here are some indoor and outdoor options for a Christmas market:
- At a town hall — community municipal buildings are usually conveniently located; just make sure to check the capacity
- In a church — some churches offer their gathering spaces for a reasonable price
- A street party — weather permitting, close off a street in the town centre
- A town square — quaint town squares are charming options; remember to research logistics such as lighting, security, and permits
Food and beverages
Christmas food worldwide is about decadence. You’ll want to have a variety of food stalls to cater to different dietary considerations and preferences. Line up vendors to sell traditional holiday fare for guests to enjoy onsite, as well as favourites to go — pies and cookies, anyone? Consider a theme like a German Christmas market, with beer and sausages.
Look to your community when reaching out to food vendors; they may already be familiar to attendees. Vendors will have the opportunity to introduce their food to hungry guests, and you’ll demonstrate your support of local businesses.
Shopping
Include shopping stalls for browsing gifts at your Christmas festival — combining a festive activity with productive holiday shopping is a win for guests.
Consider your audience when choosing the types of vendors. A local vendors-only event creates a community-oriented experience. Or focus your festival on sustainable shopping practices. If you want to target a craftier crowd interested in artisanal goods, promote your Christmas market as a local crafts fair.
Entertainment for your Christmas festival
To create a genuine holiday ambience, you need more than Christmas carols played through a speaker system. Reach out to local artists interested in playing some holiday favourites live. Consider including local school music programs in the mix. Invite choirs, bands, and orchestras to perform Christmas classics for their family and neighbours.
Christmas event ideas in your community can include entertainment, such as:
- Local bands, high school orchestras, or choirs
- A nativity scene featuring actors and live animals
- Roving entertainers bring cheer and Christmas spirit
- Carol singers showcasing holiday favourites
Tips for making your Christmas festival a success
A successful Christmas festival begins with smart planning. Keep these considerations in mind when developing your event.
Plan for the weather
Christmas markets are often in outdoor spaces, so prepare for different types of weather. If your area is prone to snow, have a process for shovelling and keeping pathways safe for attendees. Establish your communication plan with vendors and attendees should you need to postpone or relocate your market.
If your outdoor Christmas fair is in a cold climate, you’ll want to keep your attendees and vendors warm. Rent heat lamps for outdoor seating areas where attendees might take a break or eat. Provide warm drinks like hot apple cider, hot chocolate, and coffee for purchase.
Keep your attendees safe
Keep all local regulations and restrictions in mind when planning an event, like applicable mandates or vaccination requirements.
Be sure to have a process to check IDs if alcohol will be sold or served. Hand stamps or wristbands can help identify attendees over 21.
If winter weather is a concern, keep pathways dry and ice-free so no one slips as they browse the market.
Create standout marketing for your audience
During the winter holidays, you’ll be competing for attendees with other seasonal events, so create a promotional plan that highlights what’s unique about your event. Focus on popular vendors or artists who will be at your event. Offer discounts for early-bird ticket buyers or special discounts on vendor wares for attendees who buy their tickets before the event. And be sure to check out these holiday marketing tips from the experts at Eventbrite Boost.
Even if your event is free, you need to grab your audience’s attention. Create a catchy hashtag and encourage attendees to post pictures on social media during the event. Remember to capture photos and videos you can use as collateral for marketing next year’s event.
Find the best partners and sponsors for your event
When seeking vendors, partners, and sponsors, think about your brand or organization’s values. If your event focuses on sustainability, for example, ensure your vendors are conscious of ethical and low-waste manufacturing processes.
Not sure where to begin when it comes to finding partners and sponsors? Create a wish list of the organizations you’d love to work with. Then, narrow down your list to the organizations that appeal to your audience and align with your vision.
Give your Christmas fair a charitable component
Plan a Christmas market that lets you give back to the community. If attendees are paying for tickets, donate some of the proceeds to an organization whose mission connects with your brand. Discuss with your vendors and partners the possibility of making a charitable donation.
If you’re partnering with nonprofit organizations, offer a free booth or table at the Christmas market where they can distribute information about their mission and accept extra donations.
Fight For Something’s advice for an unforgettable Christmas event
The co-founders of Fight For Something, Mitch Reaume and Becky Sturm, are two entrepreneurs who started the Minnesota Christmas Market six years ago with charitable goals in mind.
“First, we wanted to create wins for the small business community here in Minnesota and make it easy for customers to shop local for the holidays,” says Reaume. “Second, we wanted to create an event that would fight for kids and see business used for good here in the Twin Cities.”
Their annual event is a pop-up holiday market that showcases local brands and makers. All vendors donate 7% of their sales to a local charity that fights for kids in the Twin Cities. That means the Fight for Something Christmas Market supports local businesses while offering “an opportunity for people to make a positive impact, not only in their local economy but also in some of [the] state’s most important nonprofits that are fighting for kids.”
Though the event began in a single location with only a few hundred guests, it has now grown to a multi-date, multi-location undertaking, expected to draw over 20,000 attendees annually. The market incorporates food, shopping, drinks, and local music. “Over the years we’ve gotten to know some of the hardest-working and most loved small businesses in the state,” Reaume says. “We bring them all together under one roof during the holiday season for the best possible local pop-up market you can find.”
Reaume has some advice for other creators planning a similar event — think about what means the most to them. “You’ve got to care about why you’re doing it. Becky and I work well together because she is more committed to supporting local businesses than anyone I know, and I carry a similar conviction around wanting to see businesses used to do good. We work great together because we actually believe in what we’re building and think that’s important.”
Ready to host your Christmas festival?
If you’ve already planned your Christmas market event and your vendors are ready, post your event for free online and promote it in Eventbrite’s marketplace. Need help promoting your event using email and social media? We’re here to help. Eventbrite Boost makes it easy to build your brand and sell more tickets to your Christmas festival.
