Official opening of the market
The Christ Child and Görlitz Mayor Oktavian Ursu will open the market on Friday, 6 December, at 5:00 p.m. A few minutes later, a Christmas procession will set off from beneath the town hall steps towards the stage, which, as always, will be set up by the town hall arcades in the northern corner of the market square. The opening ceremony will conclude with traditional Christmas stollen. Visitors gathered in the square for the market opening will be served a cake more than two metres long, prepared especially for the occasion.
Romantic ice rink
Starting Friday, 22 November, we invite you to Görlitz’s Upper Market, where you can ice-skate until 5 January next year. For several years, the open-air ice rink, surrounded by beautiful restored townhouses, has encouraged residents of the Eurocity and visitors—including guests attending the Silesian Christmas Market—to enjoy recreation and relaxation outdoors. You can warm up with a cup of delicious mulled wine in the wooden hut standing next to it.
The ice rink will open at 5:00 p.m., and the highlight of the opening programme will be an ice-skating show. Every Thursday from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., there will be a disco on the ice.
A cosy atmosphere and the message of Christmas
The main message of the Christmas Market in Görlitz, however, is preparation for the holidays. That is why Advent songs and carols, as well as a nativity scene, are indispensable, while services held in the market square and the charity project “17 days, 17 dishes, at 5 p.m.” remind visitors of the most important aspects of Christmas, the Christian teaching of helping one’s neighbour and the need to share goodness. Is a market an appropriate place for such reflection and teaching? The growing interest in and increasingly widespread response to the charity campaign “17 days, 17 dishes, at 5 p.m.”, jointly organised by Kulturservice and the Förderverein Kulturstadt Görlitz-Zgorzelec association, clearly shows that it is. Culinary teams that prepare dishes at the market as part of the campaign and sell them in exchange for donations to a selected charitable cause have attracted numerous donors for several years, reminding us that Christmas is a time when we can do good according to our abilities. Last year, more than 220 euros went to the Ostoja Association at the Ostoja Residential Care Home in Zgorzelec. The facility will use the donation to purchase sound equipment for occupational therapy for its residents. In previous years, funds collected during events involving the mayor of Zgorzelec went, among other recipients, to the “Przyjaciel Dzieci” community centre and the Amazons Association in Zgorzelec. This year, dishes prepared to support many valuable initiatives can be sampled from 6 to 22 December. Always at 5:00 p.m.
The market and trade
The market also means trade—and international trade at that. Merchants and craftspeople from Poland, Saxony and the Czech Republic bring their goods here, and their stalls offer original Christmas gifts and many regional delicacies for the holiday table. Artistic ceramics, candles, wooden toys, wool products, organic food, honey and Christmas decorations are just a small selection of the extensive commercial and culinary offer. As many as 100 stalls selling food, drinks, decorations and various products from regional businesses will be set up in the Old Town market square and the neighbouring streets. All this will take place against an atmospheric Christmas musical backdrop, thanks to concerts on the stage.
For children
The market also offers attractions for children: a carousel, a train ride, a small animal park, cotton candy and roasted almonds. There will also be fairy tales in a heated tent and workshops on decorating gingerbread. We have also taken the needs of the youngest visitors into account in the programme of stage presentations, which includes, among other things, a puppet theatre, performances by young circus artists and carol singing with the children’s ensemble “Lusatia” from Osiek Łużycki. There will also be meetings with the Christ Child. This year, the role will be played by 18-year-old Vanessa Sophie Fobe, who every day between 4:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. will tell children Christmas stories and hand out sweets.
The unique atmosphere of the market in Görlitz was recognised in 2016, when it was awarded first place in a competition organised by MDR Radio Sachsen and named Saxony’s Most Family-Friendly Market.
Silesian Christmas Market
from 06.12.2019 to 22.12.2019
- Monday–Thursday, 2–8 p.m.
- Fridays, 2–9 p.m.
- Saturdays, 11 a.m.–9 p.m.
- Sundays, 11 a.m.–8 p.m.
Ice rink in Görlitz
from 22.11.2019 to 05.01.2020 / Note: the ice rink is closed on Sunday, 24 November.
More information about the Silesian Christmas Market in Görlitz can be found on the website at: www.schlesischer-christkindelmarkt-goerlitz.de
Information in Polish: https://www.schlesischer-christkindelmarkt-goerlitz.de/po-polsku/jarmark/