A Chicago Christmas, small enough to take home
Glass ornaments, a new anniversary mug and the food connections behind a winter afternoon at Daley Plaza. A considered guide to Christkindlmarket’s 2026 season.
Archive · 2011Inside this guide
A Christmas tree can become a family archive. One ornament records a journey, another a person, another a winter when someone decided that an ordinary evening deserved keeping. At Chicago’s Christkindlmarket, the useful question is which object will still mean something after the stalls come down.
For its 30th anniversary in 2026, the market offers an unusually literal answer: a glass ornament designed by the organizing team and brought to life by Chicago Ornament Company, blown in Poland and painted by hand. A Chicago souvenir can hold a connection to another place without losing its local meaning.
The Daley Plaza market returns November 20–December 24. This guide follows the things you might carry home—glass, a collecting habit, a new food connection—and the decisions that make an outdoor winter visit easier to enjoy.
The 2026 Daley Plaza notebook
- November 20–December 24 · admission free
- Daley Plaza, 50 West Washington Street. The outdoor downtown market opens daily during its announced season.
- Choose the day, then check the closing time
- Friday/Saturday 11 a.m.–9 p.m.; Sunday–Thursday 11 a.m.–8 p.m. Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve close at 4 p.m.
Look closely at something small
Glass changes with the light around it. The 2011 photograph in this story shows pale ornaments hung close together, each carrying a miniature scene. Seen as a group, they make a pattern; seen individually, they ask for a closer look. That shift of scale is a good way to begin shopping.
The market’s retained vendor directory introduces several different traditions: handblown and handpainted ornaments from Glaszauber Lauscha; Bavarian glass designs; and Chicago-themed pieces made by a second-generation family business. The page also says the new layout is still to come. Use those descriptions to understand the kinds of work associated with the market, then confirm the current seller and item before planning around either.
Lauscha’s own glass centre describes a Christmas workshop where ornaments are mouth-blown and painted by hand. That production context gives a shopper something specific to ask about: where was this piece formed, and who decorated it? An object’s shape, surface and place of manufacture tell different parts of its story.
