Behind us are 32 days of wonderful experiences and records at the Christmas Market in Gdańsk. Together with exhibitors and visitors, we once again managed to create a magical place that became famous as the best Christmas market in Europe. Thank you for a beautiful time and we invite you in 2025.
The 2024 Christmas Market in Gdańsk has come to an end. For over four weeks, Targ Węglowy, ul. Bogusławskiego and Tkacka, the Great Armory of Art and the Przedgate Complex were teeming with life, attracting residents and tourists who could feel the magic of the upcoming Christmas in its unique atmosphere. Handicraft stands, aromatic dishes, Christmas decorations and numerous artistic attractions created an unforgettable atmosphere that will remain in the participants' memories for a long time. This year's edition of the Fair turned out to be another success, combining tradition with modernity. We remember these magical moments with joy and are already looking forward to next year.
Best Christmas Market in Europe 2025
The Christmas Market in Gdańsk has been entered into the Best Christmas Markets in Europe competition for the third time. And you can write with full responsibility: three times is a charm. In the online voting for the Best Christmas Market in Europe 2025, the Gdańsk fair received a record number of 92,283 votes and thus became the best - previously it took 3rd (2020) and 2nd (2022) place. Thus, it beat last year's result in Budapest by 35%. It is also the first such distinction for Gdańsk and Poland. Here are the reasons why the Christmas Market in Gdańsk is the best on the Old Continent.
This was visible among the visitors. Apart from Poles, guests appeared on the fair streets, including: from England (Jet2.com launched special connections from Great Britain for the duration of the fair in Gdańsk), Germany, Sweden, Norway, the United States, France, Spain, Japan and Australia . This was also felt by, among others, local hoteliers who had already indicated before the event that weekend and weekend days were completely sold out.
Record-breaking, almost half a million people visited the fair's official website www.bożonarodzinowy.pl. Here, the nationalities of the most frequent visitors almost coincided with the people who appeared at the Fair. In total, citizens from 154 countries were looking for information on the website, including exotic ones such as: St. Martin, St. Lucia, Martinique, Mayotte, Virgin Islands or Jersey.
Visitors and others appreciated…
The Christmas Market was covered in international and Polish media, such as: National Geographic, Vogue, ELLE, Onet, Wirtualna Polska, Interia, Gazeta.pl, Forbes, Wyborcza.pl, as well as television: TVN, Polsat, TVP Info, Polsat News, TVN24.
The fair was also noticed by the creators of such social media profiles as: Make Life Harder, Make Life Easier, Latex Coach, Voyage Provocateur, Donald Tusk and Visit Poland.
This year, the Christmas Market in Gdańsk was visited by, among others: Iga Świątek, Martyna Wojciechowska, Jarosław Boberek and Wojciech Modest Amaro.
There were over 200 posts about the event in the fair's social media. Profiles on Facebook and Instagram recorded record increases in followers - 38 and 56 percent, respectively. Collaboration with influencers was also record-breaking, including: foodlovepeople, dusiowakuchnia, whynotgdansk, panizpomeranii,zdrowie_w_trojmiescie, pozna_weekendowa, damian.tkaczuk, 44stt, poznawpolscenaweekend and dziennikwgdansku.
The Christmas market is primarily about trade - crafts, handicrafts, gastronomy. During the event, for the second year in a row, prizes were awarded in the Grand Prix and Christmas Treasury of Ideas competitions. The first one concerned three categories: Good Idea, Good Taste and Good Taste. In the Good Idea category, the Grand Prix was awarded to Just Candles from Malbork, for natural soy candles in unique gift arrangements. In the Good Delicacy category, the Grand Prix went to Art - Żywilla Okła, Ale Pierniki.pl, for intricately decorated gingerbreads in the form of a gingerbread house. In the new Good Taste category, the Grand Prix was awarded to Lobster House Gdańsk for its delicious brioche with shrimps, scallops and octopus.
It is worth adding that among the gastronomic stands, the mentioned brioches were also one of the hits among visitors. There were also traditional queues for langos, chocolate-covered fruit, Gdańsk donuts and Venezuelan arepas. Visitors drank hot drinks from over 230,000. paper cups. 7,000 ceramic cups were produced for the Fair .
The Christmas Treasury of Ideas was again very popular. Thanks to the visitors' votes, the best gifts and gift inspirations were selected from the exhibition case in the Armory. The main prize, for the mineral malachite, symbolizing success and abundance, went to Anamir.
Fair news
There were 198 stands at the 2024 Christmas Market in Gdańsk, which is over 20 more than a year earlier. One of the reasons for the increase in the number of exhibitors was the extension of the Fair on ul. Bogusławskiego – to ul. Ogarna. There, the Advent Gate and the food court found a new place. Thanks to the new space, another fair corner called Advent corner could be created.
Returning to the food court, the following cuisines made their debuts: Afghan, Venezuelan, Lebanese, Uzbek, Mexican and Italian, as well as products such as seafood in tempura and brioche, parmesan pasta, flatbread and rotisserie pig.
A different arrangement of stands could be observed in the Great Armory of Art. New accompanying events were also held there, such as Tastes of Pomerania organized by the Pomeranian Voivodeship Local Government and the KOWR campaign - #KUPUJSWIADOMIE. For the first time, the trade stand and the program featured well-known Saints from the Fair. Dominica collectors. Guests could also listen to stories about the history of porcelain, baubles and silver. There was also an intergenerational meeting with Seniors from the Waga Association. The shopping space in the Armory was also expanded and included the room with Santa's throne.
Anielski Zakątek has found a new place, the main attraction of which are glowing angel wings. Guests visited him in Katownia.
Cultural and workshop fair
From Tuesday to Sunday, you could participate in cultural events taking place at the Fair for free. Saint appeared on the Main Stage. Nicholas, there were competitions, artistic and theatrical performances. The largest audience was attracted by the extreme acrobatics show that took place on the wall of the Torture Chamber on December 3 - "Stories Fly Out" performed by the Youth Theater from Gdańsk. It was also an element of celebrating the victory in the Best Christmas Markets 2025 competition. The DownTown Brass band also appeared on the Main Stage and played, among others: Christmas songs.
132 cultural events took place during . These included: visit of saint Nicholas from Lapland, a silent disco in the Przedbramia Complex, which ended with dancing the Polonaise together, a performance of the NEPTUN Folk Dance Ensemble, the Gdańsk Song and Dance Ensemble and the Academic Choir of the University of Gdańsk on the balconies of the Przedbramia Complex - the voices of over 25 students. The fair was visited by the procession of St. Lucia from Sweden and performed beautiful Swedish Christmas songs. Jarosław Boberek also appeared with Treflik, we had a concert of the 5/6 Band - composed of graduates of the Academy of Music from Gdańsk. From December 1, the Advent Calendar windows were opened together with special guests: ZUT, UG Choir, Sinsay, Caritas, PKP Intercity and Lechia Gdańsk.
During the Christmas Fair in Gdańsk, various types of workshops were also held, the aim of which was to cultivate Christmas traditions, educate and develop manual skills in a festive atmosphere - regardless of age. They allowed for intergenerational integration and creative spending of time before Christmas.
A total of 20 workshops were held at the Armory , lasting over 50 hours, and the number of participants exceeded 2,000 . Fair guests had a choice of: intergenerational workshops with seniors - creating decoupage candles, baubles and Christmas cards; gingerbread workshops, during which a 500-year-old recipe and the preparation of gingerbread in traditional wooden molds were presented; artistic workshops, during which participants designed unique bags and bookmarks with their own hands.
Various events also took place in the Armory. One of them was the distribution of parcels prepared during intergenerational workshops under the slogan "Bring the good news to people who don't leave home." The aim of the campaign was to visit an elderly person and deliver him a package with a gift. Seniors from the Waga Association made over 50 Christmas decorations, candles and baubles for those in need. The Youth Council of the City of Gdańsk also took part in the event. Migrant Day was also held - an initiative aimed at supporting people in difficult situations, including migrants and refugees. The event was organized by the LWF Foundation in Poland, the City of Gdańsk, the Immigrant Support Center, the Ukrainian Library in Gdańsk, the RC Foundation, Animal Helper, the WAGA Association, the Council of Immigrants and the Gdańsk Foundation. The LWF Foundation in Poland conducted over 10 different workshops in two days, such as: workshops on creating anti-stress toys, Flags of the World - a joint painting project, creating Christmas cards for children from the school in Dnieper, and world culture workshops. Additionally, there was a camera during the event, where those interested could express their wishes on Migrant's Day.
The Christmas Fair supported the promotional campaign of the Utilization Plant under the slogan: "Ecology under the Christmas tree", which consisted of various educational activities and promoting ecological solutions during Christmas. A promotional campaign for the Refuge called "Education about wild animals" was also organized. The organization conducted lectures aimed at providing visitors with knowledge about wild animals living in Poland and their natural environment.
There was also an educational campaign for Foster Care organized by the Municipal Family Assistance Center "Give Future", aimed at supporting people in difficult life situations, especially children, youth and families in crisis.
Workshops for schools were also held, in which 439 students from 20 primary schools (mostly from Śródmieście) took part. They were organized in the form of an escape room, with an educational character and a Christmas game, during which students created keychains and met Saint. Nicholas and took advantage of the fair's attractions: a VR sleigh or a spinning coaster.
We also had one additional event - a surprise on the Main Stage - the engagement of a couple who came to the Gdańsk fair from Greater Poland.
The fair is for charity
In the heart of Targ Węglowy there was a gigantic gift where you could enter and take a unique family photo. The GPEC Group, together with the Hospice Foundation and AMBEREXPO, have prepared this magical place full of Christmas warmth to help those most in need. The photo could be personalized with a personal message to loved ones, and the whole thing could be framed in a beautiful Christmas frame. The proceeds from this initiative will support the patients of the Hospice Foundation.
It is worth recalling that, traditionally, the organizers of the Christmas Fair in Gdańsk will also provide support to the Hospice Foundation from part of the income from the sale of fair cups, which this year were available in two versions - traditional and modern.
The Hospice Foundation also collected money among Fair visitors. In total, during the campaign for the Hospice Foundation, PLN 60,000 was collected at the Christmas Fair in Gdańsk. zloty.
The Christmas Fair also supports Christmas Eve for the Needy, an event organized for people in crisis of homelessness who especially need support from others during this holiday season. A common warm meal, gifts and caroling are a perfect opportunity for a Christmas meeting, which was organized for the 33rd time by the Dominikańskie Duszpasterstwo Akademickie Górka, the Polish Chamber of Commerce of Restaurateurs and Hoteliers and Szczep Bór. The event took place on December 24 at the Armory under the patronage of President Aleksandra Dulkiewicz. The Christmas Eve partners are: Gdańsk International Fair and the Christmas Fair.
The Gdańsk Zoo, in cooperation with MTG, organized the "Teddy bears support lynxes" campaign. Thanks to this, the Lynx Foundation, which takes care of lynxes from the Oliwa Zoo, received support of over PLN 6,000. PLN - this is how much was collected at the Christmas Market in Gdańsk. And the teddy bears supporting the campaigns were those known to everyone from the Fair's Teddy Bear Gate in the Armory - as a gift of gratitude for the donation on the lynx. Once again, it turned out that the magic of the holidays can work wonders, and the friends of the Christmas Fair who "adopted" the teddy bears turned out to be very generous.
A charity event was also organized by DKMS during the event at Targ Węglowy.
The fair is also fun
During the fair, there was no shortage of a magical Christmas Travel Corner with AmberSky. In this special place there were attractions dedicated to the youngest (and not only!): VR simulator Saint's Magical Sleigh. Nicholas, Gdańsk Carousel and spinning coaster - Wirowane Beczki. The area also includes the Observation Circle on Ołowianka.
At Targ Węglowy, visitors could also find the Amber Corner - a unique exhibition "Treasure Box of the Future / Capsule of the Future", presenting modern forms of amber, which can become a great Christmas gift. The Future Capsule, Gdańsk Illuminations and the Fair in Gdańsk were supported by the Friend of the Christmas Fair, Gdańsk Water and Sewage Infrastructure.
The organizers of the Christmas Fair in Gdańsk would like to thank the Energa Group, the Fair's Partner. One of the three largest electricity suppliers in Poland. A socially responsible company that has been supporting events and institutions in Pomerania for many years.
The fair is over, but Gdańsk Illuminations are still waiting for guests - they make Gdańsk shine even more in the Christmas glow. The light figures will be exhibited in Gdańsk until February 2. The sponsor of the Gdańsk Illuminations invites you to atmospheric winter walks, the GPEC Group.
