PHILADELPHIA, PA — One of Center City’s biggest seasonal economic engines is about to light up the holidays again. Christmas Village in Philadelphia, presented by Bank of America, will return to LOVE Park and City Hall for its 17th season with an expanded vendor lineup, refreshed design, and a calendar packed with attractions and special events running from Thanksgiving through Christmas Eve.
Organizers expect more than 120 booths to fill LOVE Park, the City Hall Courtyard, and the North Broad section, turning the heart of the city into a European-style open-air market. A preview weekend is scheduled for November 22–23, ahead of the official opening on Thanksgiving Day, November 27. The market will operate daily through December 24, with regular hours from noon to 9 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and noon to 8 p.m. Sunday through Thursday. Christmas Eve hours run until 5 p.m.
Admission remains free, with food, drinks, rides, and shopping offered on a pay-as-you-go basis.
Organizers say this year’s changes are designed to deepen the visitor experience and strengthen the market’s role as a platform for small businesses, local makers, and nonprofit partners.
New for 2025 are redesigned wooden booths at City Hall and along North Broad, paired with additional Euro-style lighting to tie the different sections together visually. The goal is a more cohesive, higher-impact look for one of the city’s most photographed holiday destinations.
This season also introduces the market’s first fully vegan food booth, “The Bloom and the Brat,” featuring plant-based Beyond Meat bratwurst and blooming onions served from within The Alm, the German beer garden in LOVE Park. A new weekday Glühwein flight will offer guests a tasting of three mulled wines from Mazza Wines — Victorian Holiday, Apple & Spice, and Honey Mead — plus a non-alcoholic punch. For collectors, a limited-edition purple boot mug will join the market’s annual lineup of commemorative drinkware.
Core attractions return, including the double-decker carousel in the City Hall Courtyard, a 65-foot Ferris wheel on North Broad, and the SEPTA-sponsored Kids Train, which offers discounted rides for SEPTA Key card holders. A growing slate of family programming — from Free Library storytimes on Tuesdays to A Moment of Magic character visits during Family Weekend — is designed to keep the market appealing to repeat visitors throughout the five-week run.
On the charitable side, the Festival of Trees will once again take over the LOVE Park Welcome Center, raising funds for Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia through a public voting and donation system tied to elaborately decorated trees. The Make-A-Wish Wall will return as well, inviting visitors to write wishes on heart-shaped hangers in support of the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
German American Weekend, set for December 14–15, will bring back traditional dance groups, music, and the popular “German Games,” featuring a beer stein holding contest, bratwurst eating competition, and pretzel-snapping challenge. Earlier in the season, the Christkind Ceremony on December 1 will formally open the market with a prologue from the original Christkind of Nuremberg and performances by regional student musicians.
The vendor mix spans imported German crafts and holiday décor, Philadelphia-themed art and gifts, regional fashion and beauty brands, and a long list of food operators serving everything from raclette and schnitzel to dumplings, stroopwafels, crepes, and craft beverages. Organizers note that the City of Philadelphia’s Commerce Department is again working with partners including The Welcoming Center, New Kensington Community Development Corporation, and Lancaster Avenue 21st Century Business Association to bring in minority-owned vendors with subsidized booth space.
Alongside Christmas Village, the Made in Philadelphia Holiday Market at Dilworth Park will run November 15 through January 1, showcasing more than 40 local artisans and food producers in its own distinctive white booths. Together, the two markets anchor a broader holiday zone around City Hall, which also features the Rothman Orthopaedics Ice Rink, cabin, and Wintergarden.
With SEPTA serving as official transportation partner, visitors are encouraged to arrive by transit via City Hall, 15th Street, or Suburban Station. Organizers continue to promote Christmas Village and its companion markets as both a holiday tradition and a driver of seasonal spending for artists, makers, and food entrepreneurs across the region.
More information on hours, vendors, events, and attractions is available at philachristmas.com and through the market’s social media channels @philachristmas.
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