In this guide
💡 The Short Version: The Christmas market on the Main Market Square is planned to open on Friday 27 November 2026, with the end given as 3 or 6 January 2027. Entry is free, and the PIK Kraków listing gives sales from 10:00 to 20:00 with selected food stalls open longer. The 2026 programme has not been announced. A craft-only fair is planned on the Mały Rynek from 30 November 2026. The nativity-scene competition is on Thursday 3 December 2026. 24 December is a public holiday and shops are shut all day. Or book an evening: the Christmas Music Concert With Winead is from £16.62 (usually £19.55; 4.2 stars from 243 reviews, 1 hour), GetYourGuide.
⚠️ Dates to check. Several listings give 28 November to 1 January, the dates of the 2025 market. The organiser’s own call for traders for 2026 says 27 November 2026 (Artim), and PIK Kraków lists 27 November 2026 to 6 January 2027 (PIK Kraków).
The two fairs
| Fair | Opens | Closes | Sales hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| Main Market Square | Fri 27 Nov 2026 (planned) | 3 or 6 Jan 2027 | 10:00 to 20:00, selected food stalls open longer |
| Mały Rynek craft fair | 30 Nov 2026 (planned) | 6 Jan 2027 | Not stated |
The Main Market Square market is run by the Kraków Merchants’ Congregation and carried out by Artim, which says the market usually runs until the second day of Christmas, 26 December. The Mały Rynek fair, the second edition, is run by the IMAGO Centre of Folk Art and is about crafts and living traditions (IMAGO).
The Main Market Square market
The kiosks stand on the Rynek, with the Town Hall Tower side named in the organiser’s notice. The 2025 market, which ran from 28 November 2025 to 1 January 2026, had 105 trading and food kiosks, with traders from Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine, Slovakia and Hungary, more than 600 Christmas trees and about 1,000 m of lights, a forge where horseshoes were made to order, a Polish Post stall with a commemorative stamp, a wooden nativity scene by Józef Lasik and, new in 2025, a Venetian carousel (Artim, 2025 information sheet). The 2026 information sheet is not out.
Stalls at the Christmas market on the Main Market Square, with the Adam Mickiewicz monument and the Cloth Hall behind. Photo: Silar, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
What to eat and drink
The organiser’s 2025 sheet lists the stalls’ food, and its general page for the market names grilled dishes, oscypek with cranberries, mulled wine and sweets:
- Maczanka krakowska, a Kraków bread roll with pork, and karkówka, grilled pork neck, with sausage and golonka, pork knuckle.
- Pierogi and soup: a pierogi stand, and a soup stand with żurek, a sour rye soup, barszcz, beetroot soup, kwaśnica, sauerkraut soup, bigos, a hunter’s stew, and tomato.
- Pajda, a slice of sourdough with lard.
- Oscypek, a smoked sheep’s cheese, grilled and served with cranberries.
- To drink: grzaniec galicyjski, Galician mulled wine, and mead.
- Sweet: gingerbread, roasted nuts, Spanish doughnuts and kürtőskalács, Hungarian chimney cake.
Where to eat in Kraków lists the cafés and restaurants round the square for a sit-down meal.
A barrel stall selling grzaniec galicyjski, Galician mulled wine, among the stalls on the Main Market Square. Photo: Аимаина хикари, Wikimedia Commons, CC0.
The programme
The 2025 programme had an official opening on Saturday 29 November at 12:00, the tree-lighting concert on Saturday 6 December at 17:00 and a carol parade from the Barbican on Saturday 20 December at 11:30 (Artim, 2025 programme). The 2026 programme is listed as to be announced.
The nativity-scene competition
The 84th Konkurs Szopek Krakowskich is on Thursday 3 December 2026, the first Thursday of December. A szopka is a Kraków nativity scene built as a tiny palace of towers and spires. The Museum of Kraków sets the day (Museum of Kraków):
A Kraków szopka in a museum display, a nativity scene built as a many-towered palace. Photo: Marta Malina Moraczewska, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- 10:00 to 12:00: makers bring their szopki to the Adam Mickiewicz monument on the Main Market Square.
- 12:00: a procession round the square.
- By 14:00: the works are carried to the Krzysztofory Palace, Rynek Główny 35.
- Sunday 6 December, 14:00: results for the adult, youth and “OFF” categories, in the Copper Hall.
- Wednesday 9 December 2026 to 28 February 2027: the exhibition.
- Sunday 13 December, 14:00: results for the school, children’s and family categories.
The Krzysztofory Palace is in the Main Market Square guide.
Concerts
GetYourGuide sells no tour of the Kraków market; its Christmas products are two candlelit concerts at the Chopin Concert Hall, Sławkowska 14, in a 15th-century house with a 19th-century staircase, on the second floor.
Christmas Music Concert With Wine
From £16.62 (usually £19.55) · 4.2 stars from 243 reviews · 1 hour
Krakow: Christmas Music Concert With Winead, by Cracow Concerts, features the Royal Chamber Orchestra, which the listing says Sławomir Prokopik founded in 2007 from Kraków musicians. The price includes a glass of wine. The staircase makes it unsuitable for wheelchair users.
Christmas Concert with Candlelight Chamber Orchestra
From £14.45 (usually £17.00) · 4.5 stars from 12 reviews · 50 minutes
Krakow Christmas Concert with Candlelight Chamber Orchestraad, by Agencja Artystyczna Pro-Arts, meets at the Chopin Concert Hall and includes a glass of wine or water. Arrive 10 minutes before it starts. See Chopin concerts in Kraków for the year-round concerts in the same halls.
Where to stay
The market fills the Main Market Square, so a hotel in the Old Town puts it on the doorstep: hotels near the Main Market Square lists those within 500 m, and where to stay in Kraków compares the other areas. Rooms facing the square are the loudest at weekends. For the weather and the short days, see best time to visit Kraków: highs in December are 3.3°C and the sun sets at 15:38 in mid-December. For a plan once you have the dates, see 3 days in Kraków and Kraków in one day; for the way in, airport to city; and for the sights that need tickets, what to book before you go to Kraków. For eating beyond the stalls, see Kraków food tours compared. For the other seasonal bookings, Vistula river cruises and Kraków walking tours compare the options.
Common questions
When does the Kraków Christmas market start in 2026?
The organiser plans to open it on Friday 27 November 2026, on the Main Market Square. Its call for traders gives the end as 3 January 2027 or 6 January 2027, and the PIK Kraków listing gives 6 January 2027. The 2026 programme has not been announced.
What are the Kraków Christmas market opening hours?
The PIK Kraków listing gives sales from 10:00 to 20:00, with selected food stalls open longer. Entry to the Main Market Square market is free.
Where is the Kraków Christmas market?
On the Main Market Square, the Rynek Główny, on the Town Hall Tower side according to the organiser's notice. A second, craft-only fair is planned on the Mały Rynek, the Small Market Square, from 30 November 2026 to 6 January 2027.
What food is sold at the Kraków Christmas market?
The organiser's 2025 information sheet listed maczanka krakowska, a Kraków pork roll, grilled pork neck, sausage, pierogi, soups including żurek and barszcz, pajda, a slice of sourdough with lard, grzaniec galicyjski, a mulled wine, mead, grilled oscypek with cranberries, gingerbread and chimney cake.
What is the Kraków nativity-scene competition?
The Konkurs Szopek Krakowskich, in which makers carry Kraków nativity scenes, szopki, to the Main Market Square. The 84th is on Thursday 3 December 2026: entries gather at the Mickiewicz monument from 10:00 to 12:00, and the works then go to the Krzysztofory Palace for an exhibition from 9 December 2026 to 28 February 2027.
