Dublin's First Christkindlmarkt Isn't a One-Night Event. It's Your December Weeknights by the River.

Until this year, December in Dublin came down to a few fixed dates. You had the tree lighting at Coffman Park, the Merry Market on a Saturday in Bridge Park, and maybe the Ugly Sweater Crawl. If you missed one, you waited a year. Christkindlmarkt Dublin changes that. It opens Saturday, Nov. 21, at Riverside Crossing Park, at the base of the Dublin Link, and it stays open through Christmas Eve, five days a week, with free admission.

The market's regular hours lean on Wednesday and Thursday evenings, and the city's Riverside Crossing Park Ice Rink added Wednesday and Thursday sessions in December that line up with them. For the first time, a weeknight on the riverfront in December is something you can plan around.

The weekly grid, side by side

Here are the regular hours for both, from the City of Dublin's market announcement and the city's ice rink page.

The rink's regular season schedule covers Friday through Sunday only. Its December Wednesday and Thursday sessions before Christmas run 4–9 p.m., matching the market to the minute. In the last stretch the two run together too. Both open noon to 9 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 21, through Wednesday, Dec. 23, and both close at 4 p.m. on Christmas Eve.

Thanksgiving week works differently. The market opens at noon on Wednesday, Nov. 25, and closes on Thanksgiving Day. The rink opens at noon that Wednesday and again on Friday, Nov. 27.

What changes for the rest of Dublin's December

Each of Dublin's one-day holiday events now falls on a day the market is open. Here's how the calendar lines up:

• Thursday, Dec. 3: The city's Tree Lighting runs 6–8 p.m. at Coffman Park, 5600 Post Road, with caroling, ice sculpting, reindeer and the 30-foot tree. Down at the Link, the market and the rink are both open 4–9 p.m. the same night.
• Saturday, Dec. 5: Bridge Park's free Merry Market runs noon–3 p.m. with more than 120 artisans, Santa photos and a holiday tree farm. Parking in the Bridge Park garages is free. The Christkindlmarkt opens at noon that day too.
• Sunday, Dec. 6: Fado's Santa Brunch runs 10 a.m. to noon at 6652 Riverside Drive. That evening, from 6 to 8 p.m., the market celebrates Sankt Nikolaustag, the traditional St. Nicholas Day. Families can do both in one day without leaving Riverside Drive.
• Saturday, Dec. 12: The Downtown Dublin Ugly Sweater Crawl runs 6–9 p.m. across Bridge Park and Historic Dublin.
• Saturday, Dec. 19: Santa in the Park runs noon–3 p.m. at the Pocket Park next to Urban Meyer's Pint House, with free photos and hot chocolate.

If the full Bridge Park events calendar has felt crowded in past years, this year's version comes with an extra layer. Every December Saturday through Dec. 19 now lands inside the market's hours.

Before the market opens, the Bridge Park calendar has two November mornings worth knowing. The Harvest Market runs Nov. 7 from 9 a.m. to noon on Longshore Street, and North Market Bridge Park holds Autumn Fest on Nov. 14 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. with more than 25 local vendors.

Inside the 40 huts

The market's website describes 40 illuminated huts across Riverside Crossing Park and gives the address as 6694 Riverside Drive. Several of the vendors are local names. The September vendor announcement lists Dublin's Die Creperie, also known as Holy Crepes, and Der Französische Laden, The French Store. From Columbus it adds Say Yes Pretzels and The Red Stable from German Village.

The food menu is longer than the usual bratwurst and pretzel lineup. It includes Raclette scraped straight from the wheel over crusty bread, German Döner Kebab, Schnitzel, Käsespätzle, Kartoffelpuffer, Flammkuchen and Baumstriezel, a chimney cake rolled in cinnamon sugar.

On the drinks side, the headline item is Feuerzangenbowle. A rum-soaked sugar cone is set alight above warm spiced wine and caramelizes into the cup. Glühwein is imported from Germany. BrewDog brewed a private-label Christkindlmarkt Dublin Dunkel for the market, sold in cans, alongside its Winter Staycation Pecan and Toffee Stout and Ohio Pilsner. For kids and anyone skipping alcohol, there's Kinderpunsch made with currant, orange, cherry and apple, Belgian hot chocolate in flavors like gingerbread and merry mint, a cider latte, and Santa Clausthaler, a zero-proof cranberry-cinnamon beer.

The retail huts carry Black Forest cuckoo clocks, hand-painted Polish pottery, German nutcrackers, Erzgebirge folk art and mouth-blown glass ornaments. They also sell the inaugural boot mug and ornament, the first in a planned series of annual designs. The city's announcement says each year's mug will be sold only during that season. As of late October, the market's entertainment page still listed the performance schedule as coming soon.

Opening weekend and the rink

Opening day starts before the gates do. 1808Delaware reported that the opening ceremony is set for 10:30 a.m. on Nov. 21, and that Dublin's first Christkind, picked through a student scholarship program, will take part. The market's FAQ lists the start as noon that Saturday.

The rink opens the same evening at 5 p.m. It covers 3,200 square feet in the lower plaza on the east side of the Link. Admission is $15 per person and includes skate rental. You can bring your own skates, but the price stays the same. There's no time limit on the ice, skate trainers aren't provided, and a heated restroom is nearby. The market's FAQ notes that skating is run separately from the free market. The rink placed 8th in the 2025 USA TODAY 10Best Readers' Choice Awards.

After Christmas Eve, the two schedules split. The market packs up, while the rink opens noon to 9 p.m. from Dec. 26 through Dec. 30, then runs weekends through Sunday, March 14, 2027. The weeknight overlap is a December-only window.

Before you walk over

A few house rules from the market's FAQ will shape your plans:

1. Pets aren't allowed, so the dog stays home.
2. Smoking and vaping aren't allowed on market grounds.
3. The market closes for sustained winds or gusts of 40 mph or more, sustained temperatures of 20 degrees or lower, or a county or state travel emergency. The FAQ points to the market's social media channels for closure updates.
4. Vendors and the rink take both cash and cards.

For parking, the city points to on-street spaces and every Downtown Dublin garage, including Bridge Park, Bridge Park West and the Rock Cress Parking Garage.

How it got to the riverfront

The market took four years to arrive. According to the City of Dublin, the idea first came up in 2022. City officials visited similar markets, including the one in Carmel, Indiana. Council approved a feasibility study in March 2025, and the city put out a request for proposals that April. The chosen operator is led by Maria Adele Rosenfeld, former CEO of Carmel Christkindlmarkt Inc. In the city's August announcement, Rosenfeld said the goal is "a welcoming holiday tradition where families and friends can gather."

The site itself fits the plan. Riverside Crossing Park sits between Historic Dublin and Bridge Park, the two districts that already host the Ugly Sweater Crawl, and the rink was already there. From Nov. 21 to Dec. 24, the stretch along the Scioto is open more days than it's closed.

If the market makes you wonder what life is like within walking distance of the Link, or which Dublin streets put Riverside Crossing Park closest to your front door, we're happy to talk it through over a cup of Glühwein. The Oracle Group knows Dublin block by block. Start Your Home Journey with a conversation.