Opening this past weekend and running until December 21st, the Toronto Christmas Market takes place in the Distillery Historic District and is one of the city’s focal points of holiday cheer and warmth during the season.

Christmas markets are a seasonal tradition across Central Europe, dating back to Germany in the 15th Century at the earliest. Outdoor market stalls concentrated in old town squares offer holiday visitors warming drinks like mulled wine, hot chocolate, or apple cider, as well as snacks, artisanal gifts and products, caroler groups, and visits from Old St. Nick himself. This experience is replicated in the ideal local setting of the Distillery District, with a few additions and twists reflective of a true Canadian Christmas.

Centred on the Market’s Christmas tree, a 45-foot tall white spruce donated by Forests Ontario and Ontario Wood, the Market features over 30 vendors, many with a rural Canadian or Germanic cultural feel. Choirs, carolers, brass bands, and children’s holiday singalongs fill the winter air with seasonal sounds throughout each day. Families can enjoy rides like a ferris wheel and a carousel, a life-sized gingerbread house, and, of course, a chance to meet Santa Claus.

Adult visitors can relax multiple beer gardens and sponsored hospitality lounges serving warming alcoholic beverages and seasonal cocktails. Art installations and seasonal lights, decoration, and trees displays transform the entire District into a seasonally-themed aesthetic treat.

The Distillery District, of course, is open to the public seven days a week, but the Toronto Christmas Market has specific operating hours. From Tuesday to Friday, the Market opens at noon and closes at 9 pm. On Saturdays and Sundays, it runs from 10 am to 9 pm. The Market is closed on Mondays. Parking is available and the Distillery District is accessible by transit, but we suggest that you avoid the inconvenience of either and reserve a Global Alliance vehicle to take you to and from the Market. The chauffeur can even wait nearby and pick you up at the Mill Street gates when you’re done.

For more details, lists of vendors, and schedules of entertainment, activities, and special events, check out the Toronto Christmas Market’s official site.