Christmas Countdown › UK Christmas Markets › Birmingham

By Linda Garrould · Part of our guide to Christmas markets across the UK

Birmingham Christmas Market dates and opening times

The market opens on Thursday 5 November 2026 and closes on Thursday 24 December 2026 — fifty consecutive days, without a day off. That it is still trading on Christmas Eve is worth knowing when York’s market closes on 21 December and Bath’s on 13 December.

Two dates need a note. On Remembrance Sunday, 8 November 2026, the market does not open until 1pm. And for Christmas Eve the organisers have not published separate hours: the schedule simply runs to Thursday 24 December, which on the weekly pattern means 11am to 9pm. Last year their Christmas Eve stage programme (Wednesday 24 December 2025) ran until 9pm. If you are planning a late Christmas Eve visit, check the official market site that week or ring the organisers on 0121 314 1336 — and check your last train home.

Where to find the market in 2026: two halves, a short walk apart

Last year the market ran as one continuous line: from the main hub on Victoria Square, in front of the Council House, down New Street to Rotunda Square by the Bullring. In 2026 it does not.

In practice, think of it as two markets a short walk apart. Victoria Square is the hub: the stage, the big bars, the food. From Nando’s, close to the square, down to the Apple store at Stephenson Place there are no stalls. The lower end picks up beyond Corporation Street towards the Bullring, with the High Street craft stalls alongside. Do only Victoria Square and you miss both; if you are meeting someone, name which half. No public map of the 2026 layout has been published; the organisers say they will send private groups a map of the city’s Christmas events on request, through the contact form on their site.

Why Birmingham has a German Christmas market

It is a civic friendship made edible. Birmingham became Frankfurt’s second partner city on 19 April 1966, after school exchanges in the 1950s, and Frankfurt’s city government calls the Christmas market, held regularly since 2001, its most successful export to Birmingham. Frankfurt’s own market, on the Römerberg, has been traced back to 1393. Frankfurt’s festivals director called 2025 the twenty-fifth consecutive market, which makes 2026 the market’s twenty-sixth year and the partnership’s sixtieth. The organisers bill it as the largest authentic German Christmas market outside Germany or Austria.

How many stalls, and what the market is like

The council counted 60 stalls in 2025. With the New Street gap there will be fewer this year, and no 2026 figure has been published. The trade is weighted heavily towards food and drink, in the German manner, where the glühwein stalls are the social centre rather than an afterthought. The published menu runs to pretzels, bratwurst, schnitzel and roasted almonds, washed down with glühwein, wheat beer or hot chocolate. The gift stalls sell what you would find in Frankfurt: handcrafted wooden decorations, glass baubles, star lights, crystal lamps, toys and jewellery.

There is a free live music programme on the Victoria Square stage, to the organisers’ usual format: a German house band on weekday lunchtimes and every evening, local musicians on weekend afternoons from 12pm to 6pm, choirs on weekend mornings, and a new-talent showcase on Monday evenings. The 2026 line-up has not been published. In 2025 the square also had a traditional carousel; it is not yet confirmed for 2026. This is a city-centre market rather than a picturesque one. People come for the scale, the late evenings and the bratwurst; nobody comes for the cobbles.

Getting there, car parks and the Clean Air Zone

By train: Birmingham New Street is a few steps from the market, and Moor Street and Snow Hill are both within walking distance too. West Midlands Metro trams stop close by, and buses from across the region terminate in the centre.

If you do drive, the nearest car park to the market, the council multi-storey on Navigation Street, has no lift, which the organisers flag as unsuitable for some visitors. The Town Hall multi-storey is also council-run and was open 24 hours in 2025, and there are larger car parks at Grand Central, the Bullring and Snow Hill. Central BID, the city-centre business district, warned last year that traffic gets extremely busy while the market is on, so arrive before opening. Blue Badge parking is spread around the centre; the council publishes the locations.

When to go to avoid the crush

The organisers are unusually candid: weekends are very busy, especially Friday and Saturday evenings, while weekdays and Sunday evenings tend to be quieter. Our reading:

• Best of all: a Monday to Wednesday in November, from 11am, when the run is young and the December crowds have not yet arrived.
• If it must be a weekend, make it Saturday morning or Sunday evening. The market opens at 10am at weekends; arrive at opening if you can.
• Avoid Friday and Saturday evenings in December, unless the crowd is what you came for.

Eating, drinking and buying — and doing it for less

Every drink comes in a deposit mug or glass. You pay the deposit on top of the drink and receive a green token with it; hand back the undamaged mug and the token at any drinks stall, not necessarily the one you bought from, and you get the deposit back. The organisers’ most recent published figures, from 2024, were £5 for mugs and half-pint or pint glasses, and £7 for a two-pint stein; the 2026 rates have not been published. All stalls take cash, and card payment is available at stalls throughout. Challenge 25 applies to alcohol.

The decorations and wooden toys are the distinctive buys. Our Christmas gift guide for 2026 is arranged by recipient, and if the trip doubles as a big shopping day, check when Black Friday falls in 2026 first.

With children, and with less mobile visitors

The organisers state that the whole market can be reached by wheelchair users, by routes that avoid the steps — so there are steps, and you will need to pick your route. This year Birmingham Live also reported roadworks in the stall-free stretch of New Street, with no word on whether they will be cleared by 5 November, so the walk between the two halves may mean barriers or temporary surfaces. At weekends the crowds are the bigger obstacle.

• Toilets: accessible toilets are next to the stage on Victoria Square, and the baby-changing facilities are inside them, to the right of the bandstand.
• Changing Places: the nearest we can confirm is in the Bullring, Upper Level, East Mall, to the right of the East Mall lifts, with a powered hoist and adjustable bench. It needs a RADAR key, available from the Bullring customer service desk.
• Shopmobility: the organisers list a Shopmobility service in the Bullring (0121 632 1526), but that service closed in 2019 when its operator went into administration; an undated access guide lists a members-only replacement on 0121 632 1509. We could not confirm either is operating this season, so ring first.
• Parking: avoid the Navigation Street car park if you need a lift — it has none.
• Dogs: assistance dogs are welcome, as are well-behaved dogs on a lead, though the organisers suggest weekdays or Sunday evenings if you are bringing one.
• Security: the organisers say police and security staff work on site, including Project Servator deployments, so expect a visible police presence.
• Photographs: the market asks visitors not to photograph or film other people’s children, and will ask anyone who does to leave.

For children, the market itself is mostly looking and eating; the weekend-morning choirs are the most child-friendly part of the programme. The ice rink is the more obvious draw (see below), but last season it had no separate children’s area, and the operator advised that under-sevens be accompanied by an adult on the ice.

What else to do while you are there

• The Big Wheel and Ice Rink, Centenary Square. A short walk west of Victoria Square, open every day except Christmas Day from 5 November 2026 to 3 January 2027, 10am to 10pm according to the council (the operator gave 11am to 10pm last season, so check when booking). Both are ticketed and run by Ice Skate Birmingham, not the market; book through its website, not yet updated for 2026 when we checked. Last season the rink was roofed, and the operator says rink and wheel are wheelchair accessible.
• The Library of Birmingham, on the same square. Free to go in (11am to 7pm Monday and Tuesday, 11am to 5pm Wednesday to Saturday; closed Sundays), and a warm refuge on a weekday afternoon.
• Bullring, at the bottom of the market, and Grand Central, above New Street station: Selfridges, M&S and the big names. For something less predictable, the old shopping arcades nearby — Piccadilly, Great Western and Burlington — hold independent shops.
• Sleeping Beauty at Birmingham Hippodrome, the city’s big pantomime, runs from Saturday 19 December 2026 to Sunday 31 January 2027. Book before you plan the market trip around it.
• The Jewellery Quarter, a short walk or tram ride north, for the city’s other great trade — and a quieter afternoon than New Street.

Is Birmingham Christmas Market worth visiting?

From anywhere in the Midlands, plainly yes, and a weekday in November makes it an easy afternoon. From further afield, the case rests on a station on the doorstep, a run from early November to Christmas Eve, and late opening every night. If you want stone streets and a cathedral backdrop, York is the better choice; if you want size, sociability and a train home at nine, Birmingham is hard to beat. This year, though, keep walking past the gap in New Street: the other half of the market is on the far side.

Frequently asked questions

Dates, opening hours, layout, travel and accessibility information on this page were checked against the official Birmingham’s Frankfurt Christmas Market website, Birmingham City Council’s announcement of 28 September 2026 and the council’s Brum Breathes Clean Air Zone pages on 2 October 2026. Christmas markets change their plans; please confirm with the organisers before you travel, particularly for Christmas Eve hours or an access arrangement. We have not been paid or hosted by anyone mentioned here.