Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, did not choose Christmas. Christmas chose it. On Christmas Eve in 1741, a small group of Moravian settlers sang a hymn in a stable on the banks of the Lehigh River and named their new settlement Bethlehem, after the biblical birthplace of Jesus. Nearly three centuries later, the town still earns the name: it has called itself “Christmas City USA” since 1937, its Moravian settlement is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and a giant illuminated star has shone down from South Mountain over the town’s rooftops for generations.

What makes Bethlehem different from every other Christmas town is that it is two towns at once. On the SouthSide, a German-style Christmas market fills the shadow of the old Bethlehem Steel blast furnaces, with heated tents, handmade ornaments and glühwein. Across the river, the historic Moravian district runs on older rhythms: a live advent calendar that opens one door a night, a trombone choir that has played for more than 250 years, and candles in the windows of stone buildings that predate the United States. This is the full guide: the confirmed 2026 dates and ticket prices for both markets, the traditions, a timed one-day plan, where to stay, and the honest warnings

Christmas in Bethlehem 2026 at a Glance

• Christkindlmarkt at SteelStacks: six weekends, Nov 13–15, 20–22, 27–29 and Dec 3–6, 10–13, 17–20. Thu & Sun 10 a.m.–6 p.m.; Fri & Sat 10 a.m.–8 p.m. Tickets $14 Thu/Fri, $16.50 Sat/Sun; kids 5 and under free; free entry Fridays 5–8 p.m. Cashless.
• Christmas City Village (free): wooden huts on Main Street and in the Sun Inn Courtyard, Nov 20–Dec 20, Fri–Sun, 11 a.m.–7 p.m. Check the official site before you go — one listing gives Nov 13 as the start.
• Live Advent Calendar: Dec 1–23, nightly at 5:30 p.m. in the Sun Inn Courtyard.
• City tree lighting: Payrow Plaza, Friday Nov 27, the day after Thanksgiving.
• Trees of Historic Bethlehem: Nov 13–Jan 4, 20+ trees across four historic sites; $25 including museum admission.
• Getting there: about 1 hour from Philadelphia, under 2 hours from New York City, just over 3 hours from Washington, DC.
• The date that matters most: both markets close on Sunday Dec 20. Do not plan a Christmas-week trip around the markets — the calendar, trees, carriage rides and lights run on, but the markets do not.

Why Bethlehem Is Christmas City USA

The name is not a marketing slogan. It was adopted in the middle of the Great Depression, at a ceremony at the Hotel Bethlehem on December 7, 1937, when the Chamber of Commerce president, Vernon Melhado, said: “Bethlehem did not create Christmas, Christmas created Bethlehem.” The town had been founded on Christmas Eve 1741 by Moravians, a Protestant group from what is now the Czech Republic, whose leader, Count Nicolaus von Zinzendorf, named the settlement Bethlehem as the group sang a hymn with the stanza “Not Jerusalem, Lowly Bethlehem.” In July 2024, the Moravian Church Settlements in Bethlehem were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site — one of only a handful in the United States.

Soon after the 1937 ceremony, a giant star went up on South Mountain — and it is still there, still lit. The Star of Bethlehem stands 91 feet tall and 40 feet wide at the town’s highest point, 890 feet above sea level. Its 258 LED lights, installed in 2010, can be seen more than 20 miles away, and the star now shines year-round, lit nightly from dusk. The hilltop site itself is closed to visitors, but the Bethlehem by Night bus tour goes behind it, and the overlooks around town give you the classic view.

Christkindlmarkt at SteelStacks: the Big Market

Christkindlmarkt is the market most people mean when they say “Christmas in Bethlehem,” and it is the closest thing to a European Christmas market you will find in Pennsylvania. It runs for its 34th year in 2026, organized by the nonprofit ArtsQuest at PNC Plaza at SteelStacks — a 10-acre arts campus built on the site of the former Bethlehem Steel plant, where the rusted blast furnaces tower over the market tents. Bethlehem Steel was once the second-largest steel producer in the country, and its furnaces ran for the last time on November 18, 1995.

The market runs six weekends only: November 13–15, 20–22 and 27–29, then December 3–6, 10–13 and 17–20. Hours are Thursdays and Sundays 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tickets are $14 on Thursdays and Fridays and $16.50 on Saturdays and Sundays, fees and tax included; children 5 and under are free. The cheapest way in is the long-running Friday-evening window: admission is free every Friday from 5 to 8 p.m. Buy date-specific tickets online before you go — the gate lines on Saturdays are long, and all sales are final. The market is cashless for admission, food and most vendors, so bring a card or phone payment; some individual artisans may take cash. No pets, only trained service dogs. It runs rain or shine, and most vendors are in heated tents. Inside, expect more than 200 artisans from 18 states and Scotland, seven food vendors, live holiday music and St. Nicholas himself. In 2025 the market set a record with 145,552 visitors, up nearly 14% on the year before, and it has been named one of the top holiday markets in the world by Travel + Leisure and in North America by USA TODAY’s 10Best. For the wider American picture, see our roundup of the best Christmas markets in the USA.

What Is New at Christkindlmarkt in 2026

If you have been before, the layout has changed. The old ice-skating rink area on the Levitt Pavilion lawn is now Winter Wonderland, an outdoor holiday village with fire pits, food and drink huts, photo spots, St. Nickolaus Haus and a second entrance — all included with your admission. The private heated igloos have doubled from four to eight after selling out most weekends last year; each rental runs two hours for up to six people and includes a fireplace, admission for two, a blanket and a gallon of hot chocolate. A free bag check at the Bethlehem Visitor Center and a second entrance cut the queues.

Special events sell out, so book early: Breakfast with St. Nick on November 28 and December 5, 12 and 19 at 9 a.m.; Breakfast with Bluey and Bingo on Sunday, November 22 at 9 a.m.; First Impressions holiday speed dating on Friday, November 13 at 6 p.m.; An Old Fashioned Christmas cocktail tasting on November 29 and December 6 and 13 at 2:30 p.m.; and Sip ‘n’ Shop on Saturday, December 19, check-in from 4 p.m. The last two are 21 and over. The Holiday Pop-Up Artist Market brings emerging local artists to the new ArtsQuest Creative Factory on December 5 and 6 and to Winter Wonderland on December 20, and there is a Hot Glass Experience at Glas Haus, where you make your own glass ornament or bubble bowl — ages 6 and up, registration required, and your piece needs about 48 hours to cool.

What to Eat and Buy at Christkindlmarkt

Come hungry and plan for at least two to three hours of shopping — longer if you browse. The food runs German: potato pancakes, schnitzel, goulash, sauerbraten and haluski, strudel and German roasted nuts, bratwurst and Christmas cookies, with hot toddies, holiday cocktails, wine and local beer to drink. The shopping is the point: the handmade goods run from fine-art photos of the Christmas City to Moravian glass stars, and the market’s most famous tenant is back for its 23rd straight year — Käthe Wohlfahrt, the German Christmas shop, with more than 2,000 products, from hand-made nutcrackers and incense smokers to pyramids, schwibbogens and ornaments in wood, glass and pewter. It will be packed; go anyway, and make picking out one ornament a year a tradition. Two combinations are worth knowing: the Christmas City Combo Ticket pairs Christkindlmarkt with the Trees of Historic Bethlehem for $31.50, and the Merry & Bright package pairs it with the Illumination light show in Allentown for $28, including a free hot cocoa and a movie pass.

Christmas City Village: the Free Market on Main Street

Bethlehem’s second market is the one most visitors miss, and it is free. Christmas City Village, run by Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites, puts rows of German-style wooden huts on Main Street and in the Sun Inn Courtyard in the historic downtown, from November 20 to December 20, Fridays to Sundays, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. It is smaller and quieter than Christkindlmarkt, and that is the appeal: no ticket, no queue, just holiday shopping among the decorated storefronts, with the clip-clop of horse-drawn carriages and Christmas music playing on the street.

Main Street itself is the attraction. The shops run from the Moravian Book Shop — recognized as America’s oldest continually operating bookstore, and a fine place for a gift with a story — to fine dining and small boutiques, all within a very walkable mile. The historic district was named a Top 10 Main Street by USA Today, and at Christmas it earns it: wreaths on the stone buildings, decorated windows, and the 19th-century sleigh parked near the Historic Hotel Bethlehem, which makes a better photo than most of the paid attractions in town.

The Live Advent Calendar and the Tree Lighting

Bethlehem’s most charming tradition costs nothing and happens once a night. The Live Advent Calendar runs December 1 to 23, every night at 5:30 p.m. in the Sun Inn Courtyard. A crowd gathers outside a small door; someone knocks; the door opens and a special guest from a local business or organization appears and hands out treats. It is now in its 18th year, and the organizers bill it as the only live advent calendar of its kind in the country. Get there a little early — the courtyard fills. The season’s official switch gets flipped at the city tree lighting, which takes place the Friday after Thanksgiving — November 27, 2026 — at Payrow Plaza. But you do not have to wait for it: Christkindlmarkt opens two weeks earlier, and the carriage rides, tours and decorated windows are in full swing by then.

The Hotel Bethlehem is fully decorated by the first week of December, and its lobby display is worth a visit even if you are not staying there: more than 35,000 lights, 25 trees, 36 wreaths, six seven-foot toy soldiers, two life-size nutcrackers and a gingerbread house modeled after the hotel itself. The grand hotel dates to 1922 and sells out for December weekends — or walk through the lobby on the free self-guided tour and take it in anyway.

Moravian Traditions: Trees, Putzes and the Trombone Choir

Three traditions in Bethlehem go back centuries, and they are what separate this town from any other Christmas market destination. The Trees of Historic Bethlehem is a self-guided tour of more than 20 trees across four historic sites — the Moravian Museum, the Kemerer Museum, the Single Sisters’ House and the Luckenbach Mill — decorated each year by the Bethlehem Garden Club and local volunteers around a theme. The 2026 theme is Architectural Design, and the $25 ticket includes admission to the museums themselves. It runs November 13 to January 4, so it outlasts the markets by two weeks.

Then there is the putz. The word is pronounced “puts” and comes from the German “putzen,” to decorate or trim. The Moravians brought the tradition of making putzes — three-dimensional miniature retellings of the Nativity, built from elaborately hand-crafted figurines — from Saxony to Bethlehem in the 18th century. During the season you can follow the Holiday Putz Trail around town and find these tiny scenes in windows and historic buildings. They are quietly astonishing: a whole Christmas story in miniature, made by hand.

And if you really want the heart of Christmas in Bethlehem, listen for the trombone choir. The Bethlehem Trombone Choir has played for more than 250 years, using slide trombones exclusively, making it the oldest musical organization of its kind in the nation by continuous uninterrupted service. In the early days it announced the town’s big moments, and it still leads the community to God’s Acre on Easter morning.

Carriage Rides, Bus Tours and Walking Tours

The clip-clop on Main Street is not a sound effect. Horse-drawn carriage rides run November 14 to January 3, leaving from the corner of Church and Main Streets in front of Central Moravian Church, every 20 to 30 minutes between 3 and 9 p.m. Reservations are required and holiday dates fill fast. Prices as listed for 2026: a 20-minute vis-a-vis carriage for up to six people runs $119, the Victorian couples ride is $109, open winter wagons run about $40 per person, and there is a sleigh option at $39 a seat when there is snow.

If you would rather sit warm and learn the town, two tours cover it. The Bethlehem by Night bus tour runs nightly from November 27 to December 31, departs in front of the Hotel Bethlehem, takes about an hour, and costs $25 for adults — a period-dressed guide, the history of the star and the steelworks, and a trip behind the Star of Bethlehem itself. The Christmas City Stroll is the walking version: guided tours through the historic streets from mid-November through early January, departing from the Goundie House Welcome Center at 501 Main Street, lasting about 90 minutes, with adult tickets at $20 and children at $12. Evening tours are lantern-led. Reserve ahead for December weekends; they fill.

Lights Beyond Bethlehem: Two Allentown Evenings

Bethlehem sits in the Lehigh Valley, and the valley’s two big light shows are a short drive away in Allentown Illumination, at Jefferson Park (formerly Coca-Cola Park, home of the Lehigh Valley IronPigs), runs November 13, 2026 to January 2, 2027, nightly from 6 to 9 p.m., with nearly two million lights across the ballpark, a Santa’s Polar Express and igloos on the field, and theme nights through the season. Pre-purchased admission is $13 ($11 on select dates); it is closed December 11 and 25. Lights in the Parkway is the drive-through: more than a mile of Lehigh Parkway in Allentown transformed into a winter wonderland, running November 27, 2026 to January 6, 2027, from 5:30 to 10 p.m., closed Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day. It celebrates its 30th year in 2026, with more than 250,000 lights, and — for the nation’s 250th birthday — American-themed exhibits including a lit-up American eagle and red, white and blue lights, plus a new skyscraper display. Tickets are required and must be purchased online in advance. Monday nights are different: the road opens to walkers, runners and cyclists from 5:30 to 10 p.m., no reservation needed. For more light displays across the country, see our guide to the best Christmas light displays in the USA.

The One-Day Plan (and a Second Day)

Start the morning downtown. Coffee at The Joint Coffee Co, tucked into the Sun Inn Courtyard off Main Street — small, easy to miss the first time, worth finding. Then drive the five minutes to SteelStacks and walk the campus before the market opens: the elevated walkway along the blast furnaces gives the best views, and the furnaces are worth seeing in daylight before they glow at dusk. Be at Christkindlmarkt when it opens at 10 a.m., while the tents are calm and the parking lots still have spaces. Give it two to three hours: shop the tents, warm up in Winter Wonderland by the fire pits, eat something German, and pick up your Käthe Wohlfahrt ornament. If it is a Friday, time your visit for the free 5–8 p.m. window instead and spend the afternoon downtown.

After the market, head back across the river to Main Street: the free Christmas City Village huts, the Moravian Book Shop, the Smithy Shop beside the Hotel Bethlehem, and the hotel lobby itself. Stay for the Live Advent Calendar at 5:30 p.m. in the Sun Inn Courtyard if you are there in December, then take a carriage ride as the lights come on. Day two is the Moravian side: the Trees of Historic Bethlehem, the Christmas City Stroll, the Putz Trail, and the Bethlehem by Night bus tour after dark — plus one Allentown lights show, and PEEPSFEST on December 30 and 31 at SteelStacks if your trip stretches past Christmas.

Where to Stay, Getting There and Parking

The pick that puts you in the middle of it is the Historic Hotel Bethlehem, in the historic district, decorated as an attraction in itself — but it sells out for December weekends, so book as early as you can. Two other good options: the Sayre Mansion, an 1858 historic house with free parking, and the Home2 Suites by Hilton, a budget-friendly choice with larger rooms.

Bethlehem is in the Lehigh Valley of eastern Pennsylvania, between Allentown and Easton — about an hour from Philadelphia, under two hours from New York City and just over three hours from Washington, DC, which makes it an easy day trip or a stop on a holiday road trip. For Christkindlmarkt, free public parking sits right next to the market at SteelStacks, first-come, first-served; it fills fast on Saturdays, so arrive early. If the lots are full, the Bethlehem Parking Authority garages in the SouthSide Arts District — Polk Street Garage is closest — offer special all-day rates during the market. Dress for standing outside — the tents are heated, but the walkways and Winter Wonderland are not — and check the official sites the week you travel, because dates, hours and ticket prices can change.

The Honest Bit

Bethlehem is a small town, and at Christmas it is a small town with a very big reputation. The honest advice is to stay overnight if you can: the markets are at their best after dark, the town empties after the day-trippers leave, and the advent calendar, the carriage rides and the bus tour are all evening events. Come on a Saturday in December and you will queue for everything — come on a Friday evening or a weekday morning and it is a different town. The other honest warning is the calendar: both markets close on Sunday, December 20. If you arrive in Christmas week expecting Christmas markets, you will find a quiet, beautiful historic town with a live advent calendar running to December 23, trees on display to January 4, carriage rides to January 3 and lights in Allentown into January — but no markets. Plan around December 20, not after it.

Christmas in Bethlehem 2026: FAQs

When is Christkindlmarkt Bethlehem in 2026?

Christkindlmarkt runs six weekends: November 13–15, 20–22 and 27–29, then December 3–6, 10–13 and 17–20, 2026. Hours are Thursdays and Sundays 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Fridays and Saturdays 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. It takes place at PNC Plaza at SteelStacks, 645 E. First Street, Bethlehem, PA.

How much are Christkindlmarkt tickets in 2026?

Tickets are $14 on Thursdays and Fridays and $16.50 on Saturdays and Sundays, fees and tax included. Children 5 and under are free, and admission is free every Friday from 5 to 8 p.m. Buy date-specific tickets on the ArtsQuest website before you go; all sales are final. The market is cashless.

Is there a free Christmas market in Bethlehem?

Yes. Christmas City Village is free, with wooden vendor huts on Main Street and in the Sun Inn Courtyard in the historic downtown, November 20 to December 20, Fridays to Sundays, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Christkindlmarkt is also free on Friday evenings from 5 to 8 p.m.

What is the Live Advent Calendar in Bethlehem?

It is a nightly event in the Sun Inn Courtyard, December 1 to 23 at 5:30 p.m. A crowd gathers, someone knocks on a door, and a local guest opens it and hands out treats. It is in its 18th year in 2026, and the organizers bill it as the only live advent calendar of its kind in the country.

Is Bethlehem PA worth visiting for Christmas?

Yes — if you come on the right dates. It is the only American town literally named for Christmas, with two markets, a UNESCO-listed Moravian settlement, a 250-year-old trombone choir, a live advent calendar and a giant star over the town. Come before December 20 for the markets, stay overnight, and go on a Friday evening or weekday morning to avoid the Saturday crowds.