2026 Christmas Market Features Increased Accessibility, Bigger Tents, More Vendors
Sister Bay, Wis. (October 26, 2026) – The Sister Bay Historical Society has announced the dates for its 6th Annual Christkindlmarkt, or Christmas market. Christkindlmarkt Door County will take place on three weekends in November and December, on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. This year’s dates are Nov. 27–29, Dec. 4–6, and Dec. 11–13.
Christkindlmarkt events are held throughout the world, especially throughout northern Europe, where their origin goes back to the 13th Century. Christkindlmarkt Door County is unique in that it takes place in a rural outdoor setting, rather than in a large urban location, at the Sister Bay Historical Society’s Corner of the Past Museum on the outskirts of the Village of Sister Bay in beautiful Door County, WI.
Door County’s popular Christkindlmarkt showcases vendors selling handcrafted, mainly locally-made goods, plus food booths selling traditional German and Nordic street food and drinks. The first five Christkindlmarkt Door County events (2021-2025) were hugely popular and each drew more than 10,000 enthusiastic visitors.
The event will once again be held at the Corner of the Past Museum, a rustic imagining of a historical pioneer homestead in the late 19th century. The event’s 50 vendors include artists, woodworkers, authors, apparel companies, and beekeepers, plus makers of tree ornaments, candy, glassware, hats, socks, scarves, handmade alpaca items, furniture, toys, candles, leather goods, puzzles, health and wellness products, and much more.
Each year, the event showcases more and more Wisconsin-produced food items than previously, and the list of 2026 food producers includes Uncle Tom’s Candy, Door County Chocolate Design, Island Popcorn Barn, Dickson Artisan Fudge, The Nut Man, Travelin’ Nuts, Literally Famous Candy, Everlasting Eats, Milwaukee Pretzel Company, and Mister Burns Peppertorium.
Christkindlmarkt will also feature The Bookshop, a popular Door County-focused bookstore featuring books in all genres by over 20 well-known Door County authors.
Two popular Sister Bay restaurants, Thyme Restaurant and McEvoy’s Culinaria, will once again serve reasonably-priced Northern European entrees, side dishes and desserts in a ‘food court’ inside the property’s large Koessl Barn. Two well-known local food trucks — 888 Cheese Co. and Anatolia Cuisine — will serve special menus from a location just outside the entrance to the main artisan vendor tent. In honor of the Christmas movie “A Cherry Pie Christmas,” partially filmed in March and April of 2025 on the Christkindlmarkt property, the Sister Bay Historical Society will be offering “Cherry Pie in a Cup” at the event’s Cherry Pie Shop, located in a former blacksmith shop next door to the Koessl Barn.
Christkindlmarkt vendors are located in one of the event’s two large tents, in one of 16 historic buildings, or in a traditional Christmas hut. To increase vendor and attendee comfort during Wisconsin’s early winter, this year’s tents both feature solid floors, more heaters, and a winterized design. “Our hope is that a more comfortable shopping situation, no matter the weather or the potential for snow, will increase our event’s accessibility by people of all ages and physical conditions,” noted John Lijewski, president of the Sister Bay Historical Society.
Christkindlmarkt events always feature hot mulled red wine, known as Glühwein in Germany and Glögg in Sweden. The Historical Society will serve its Glühwein from a special ‘drinks hut’ that will also serve hot chocolate and hot apple cider. Attendees have the option of purchasing their hot Glühwein in a collectible Glühwein mug that was designed by Sarah Koehler, a Door County artist who also owns SOSTRE SELF, a natural skincare line located in a beautiful cottage in Shorewood Village in Ephraim.
Returning for 2026, Peach Barn Farmhouse Brewery is the event’s exclusive beer vendor, serving an array of fine beers from the Beer Hall & Snacks Tent just behind the event’s busy Drinks Hut. Peach Barn is also once again brewing a special Winter Ale for Christkindlmarkt.
Anderson House, the refurbished late 1800’s home on the museum property, will again feature the popular pop-up bakery that debuted at the first annual event, and will offer a wide selection of decorated cookies, cardamom coffeecake, pecan rolls, pies, and other baked goods. A unique selection of new and gently used Christmas ornaments and decorations, plus vintage-style toys, will also be on display and for sale in Anderson House.
The popular Kids’ Craft Corner will return to the Christkindlmarkt Food Barn, with two Saturday children’s activities from 11am-3pm. Children can decorate and personalize a holiday ornament or write a letter to Santa Claus on printed stationery (Sister Bay’s USPS office has a special mailbox for their letters). All materials and art supplies are complimentary; children must be accompanied by an adult.
Live Christmas music at this year’s market will be performed outdoors in a special area in front of the property’s Machine Shed, one of the property’s historical buildings. Check for the music schedule, updates and additional performances on the Sister Bay Historical Society’s Facebook page or the event website (doorcountychristmasmarket.com):
• Gibraltar High School Jazz Combo
• The Zelnio Family and Friends Carolers
• Gibraltar Elementary & Middle School Choirs
Popular recorded Christmas music will also be a constant presence on the event property.
Like most Christkindlmarkts throughout the world, the event in Sister Bay will feature a visit from the “Christkind,” which translates to “Christ child” in German. The Christkind’s origins go back to the Protestant reformer Martin Luther in the early 1500’s, and the Christkind is still the bearer of Christmas gifts to most children in German-speaking countries, just as Santa Claus is to children in the United States. This year’s Christkind will rotate among children from a local family on a regular schedule. Check the Sister Bay Historical Society’s Facebook page or the event website (doorcountychristmasmarket.com) for more details. At Christkindlmarkt, you can easily recognize the Christkind from her gold-and-white robes and the gold crown upon her blonde head.
Corner of the Past Museum is located at the corner of Fieldcrest Rd. and Hwy 57 in Sister Bay (10310 Fieldcrest Rd.). Attendee parking is at three nearby Sister Bay locations, each with a large parking lot: the two free lots are at the former Shopko Hometown (2541 S. Bay Shore Dr.) and Stella Maris Catholic Church (2410 S. Bay Shore Dr.). Throughout the day and evening, buses will continuously ferry attendees from these nearby parking lots to the event, bringing people quickly back to their vehicles on a regular schedule. Finally, the Corner of the Past parking lot on State Hwy 57 is next to Thyme Restaurant, within walking distance of the event, and requires a $20 parking fee. Find the entrance to each of the parking lots by looking for the roadside signage.
Attendees staying at any of the following Northern Door lodging facilities during Christkindlmarkt can take a shuttle bus that picks up visitors at the front door of their lodgings and delivers them directly to the event property — SISTER BAY: Birchwood Lodge, Coachlite Inn, Country House Resort, Dörr Hotel, Open Hearth Lodge, Pheasant Park Resort, Scandinavian Lodge; EPHRAIM: High Point Inn
Christkindlmarkt Door County is organized and managed by the Sister Bay Historical Society as a fundraiser for its operations, especially the upcoming Center for History, Education and Community (the former Little Sister Barn). The event is presented each year with the assistance of its primary sponsor, Nicolet National Bank. Other major sponsors include Peach Barn Farmhouse Brewery, Door Peninsula Winery, Door County Medical Center, Door County Piggly Wiggly, Going Garbage, Captain Commodes, and Carlson-Erickson Builders. The Door County North business association, which promotes the interests of the Town of Liberty Grove, is the event’s transportation sponsor. The Village of Sister Bay is also a major sponsor and has been one of the market’s biggest boosters from the beginning, assisting with traffic and parking control equipment, use of the Village shuttle, and other support.
For more information about Christkindlmarkt Door County, visit: doorcountychristmasmarket.com.
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