Opening times, arrival, highlights: What you need to know about the 589th Striezelmarkt in Dresden
It won’t be long before Dresden’s most popular Christmas market opens. The makers have planned many highlights – this is how the giant stollen returns. What you need to know about this year’s Striezelmarkt.
The Dresden Striezelmarkt starts again on November 29th – the most important information about it. © Archive: Ronald Bonß
Dresden. It is popular with Dresden residents, a tourist magnet and the center of the self-proclaimed Christmas capital of Dresden – no other Christmas market is allowed to open in front of the Striezelmarkt, that is an unwritten law. Last year it was voted the most beautiful Christmas market in Germany in a survey.
The time has come on November 29th, when Mayor Dirk Hilbert (FDP) opens the 589th Striezelmarkt and then the other Christmas markets in Dresden can also get started. The most important things about the Striezelmarkt at a glance.
Opening hours of the Striezelmarkt
As always, the grand opening will take place at 4 p.m. Before that, an ecumenical service is planned in the Kreuzkirche. From there, Mayor Hilbert comes to the market stage and opens it. This year opening day is November 29th. The market closes at 9 p.m.
From November 30th to December 23rd, the Striezelmarkt is open daily from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; on Christmas Eve the market opens for the last time this year from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Since Christmas Eve falls on a Sunday this year, this day is also the fourth Advent. This means there are fewer market days – last year there were 32 and this year the Striezelmarkt is only open for 26 days.
Despite the staff shortage: more dealers again
This year, the city and the employment agency have offered the job fair for the Striezelmarkt and other Christmas markets for the second time because retailers are in great need of getting enough staff for the stands. Despite the staff shortage, the city had enough applicants for the stands, according to the town hall.
215 sales huts are planned this year. That’s more than last year – there were 202 – and fewer than before the Corona cancellations for the Christmas markets – in 2019 there were 230 stalls at the Striezelmarkt. Erzgebirge handicrafts are sold at 27 stands.
Keth mulled wine returns, but a little more expensive
Every year, around fifty stalls sell a very special hot drink at the market – mulled wine. 2023 will see the comeback of one of the most popular mulled wine huts on the Striezelmarkt – that of the Keth winery from Rheinhessen. “We have a stand at the Striezelmarkt again,” confirms Silke Keth. “We’re very happy about that.” Last year there were complications with the application, which was submitted too late to the city market office. Keth was not admitted, but was able to avoid the Christmas market at the Taschenbergpalais.
Keth had a stand at the Striezelmarkt from 1990 to 2019, then there were two cancellations due to Corona and the mishap with the 2022 application. The winemaker’s mulled wine is particularly popular because customers like it and, as a selling point, it is always a little cheaper than many other mulled wines were sold on the market.
Due to the general price development, each cup costs four euros this year instead of 3.50 euros last year at the Taschenbergpalais. However, four euros was already the cheapest price at the Striezelmarkt 2022, and many mulled wines also cost 4.50 euros. Further price increases are expected this year.
Stollenfest and Co.: The highlights of the Striezelmarkt
There are days that you should make a note of so that you don’t miss the highlights of the Striezelmarkt. Especially since there are only three Advent weekends available before Christmas – so the program is more compact.
The highlights on the weekends: December 2nd is the Advent Calendar Festival and December 3rd is Cross Church Day. The second Striezelmarkt weekend is followed by the big Stollen Festival, with the return of the giant Stollen on December 9th, followed the day after by the Dresden Gingerbread Festival.
The Pyramid Festival takes place on December 16th and the Festival of Christmas Sounds on December 17th. On December 23rd there will be the choirs’ Christmas festival before the market has its last day for 2023 on December 24th.
Striezelmarkt 2023: Arrival, road closure and parking
As every year, the city as organizer recommends traveling to the Striezelmarkt by public transport. Traffic disruptions are to be expected because there will be a lot going on in the city center in the run-up to Christmas. Many buses and trains run by the Dresdner Verkehrsbetriebe (DVB) run into the center and therefore close to the market. The “Altmarkt” stop is right in front of the Striezelmarkt.
The street in front of the market, Wilsdruffer Straße, will be partially closed again from the time of construction until the end of dismantling, so that the lane that is directly at the Altmarkt cannot be used. However, the underground car park under the Altmarkt remains open. The city refers to its P+R parking spaces just outsidefrom which visitors can take the DVB into the city and provides an overview of parking options in the city.
2023-11-07 22:15:15
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