Katowice Christmas Market 2026: Into the New Year

Few markets lean into the fairground side of December quite like this one. The Katowice Christmas Market comes with skating, a carousel, a little train and a big wheel, plus mulled wine poured from a towering pyramid in more flavours than you’ll manage. Come hungry, because the stalls do Silesian food as well as the Polish classics.

Katowice Christmas Market 2026

Dates

Status: Confirmed
Katowice dates: 20th November 2026 to 10th January 2027
Last checked: October 2026

Update: Dates were announced in July. Sign up for our newsletter to be notified of changes.

Source: Verified by Ultimate Christmas Markets via Jarmark Slaski.

Plan Your Visit

Location and Times

Location: Market Square (Rynek)
Opening times: 10am to 8pm
Christmas Day: Closed

Travel and Accommodation

Recommended tour: Old Town highlights walking tour.
Parking: Please take public transport to help limit congestion.
Where to stay: Q Hotel Plus is a popular hotel 5 minutes from Market Square.

Amenities and Attractions

Admission: Free.
Lights: No switch on date.
Santa: Yes, photos are available.
Ice skating: Yes.
Attractions: Ferris wheel, carousel and the train ride.
Reason to visit: Somewhere different away from the huge crowds at the more known cities.

Dietary Options

Vegetarian: Yes, plenty of options.
Vegan: Yes, plenty of options.
Gluten-free: Yes, but limited.
Food specialities: Pierogi (dumplings), kielbasa (sausage), oscypek (smoked cheese), zapiekanka (grilled sandwich), grzane piwo (warm beer).

Accessibility

Accessible: Yes.
Pet-friendly: Yes, dogs are allowed on a lead.

Convenient Hotels

Staying in the city centre puts you within walking distance of the market, the main railway station and the trams that pull up beside the square.

For somewhere to stay, I recommend Q Hotel Plus, which is popular for its service and central location.

Recommended Tours

This Old Town highlights walking tour is a great choice as it lets you see many of the city’s highlights, such as the Nikiszowiec district, Spodek concert hall and the Cathedral of Christ the King.

For an alternative perspective, consider taking this Polish food tour to explore the local culture through its cuisine.

To continue your trip planning, read my guide to the Polish Christmas Markets.

Scaffolding, Soot and a Surprise

I came through Katowice changing trains between Warsaw and Kraków on a Christmas market trip around Poland, and it wasn’t on my radar at all. All I knew was its reputation as an industrial city. Unlike Warsaw’s grey image, this one had been earned: the mining suburbs lived with heavy pollution and a hard quality of life well within living memory.

The first surprise was the station itself, a modern shopping centre with the same brands you’d find anywhere in Western Europe. Beyond it, the centre was wrapped in scaffolding. Some buildings had already been scrubbed clean of their black soot, and underneath was architecture I’d never have guessed was there.

I only had a few hours and stayed within a kilometre or so of the station, so I never saw the market itself, which was still being set up. From what I hear, it’s grown into something quite different since, and quite nice. It won’t be for everyone, but if you like going somewhere that’s on nobody’s radar, it’s an interesting place to watch a city reinvent itself.

Visitor Feedback

What Visitors Loved

• Families get the most out of it. The animated scenes are free to watch, and the carousel, little train and Ferris wheel keep children busy for hours.
• The food gets more praise than the gifts, with a wider choice than many expected and Silesian dishes alongside the mulled wine.
• Evenings are the time to go. Reviewers describe the square as bright and glowing once the tree, the lights and the wheel are lit.
• It feels smaller and friendlier than Kraków’s market, with more local families than tourists.

Common Complaints

• Prices have crept up, and several visitors found food, drinks and glass ornaments expensive by Polish standards.
• The square is modern rather than historic, and the market leans commercial and kitsch, so it lacks old-town charm. If you’d rather browse handmade gifts, the weekend market in Nikiszowiec is the quieter alternative.

Event Location

What to Expect

The square around the market is modern, all glass and new paving, so the market brings its own spectacle. Dozens of animated scenes line the paths, with singing elves, skiing penguins and Santas snoring in their armchairs. Add a carousel, a little train, an ice rink and a Ferris wheel, and it’s more fairground than quiet browse.

Between the rides, wooden huts sell folk crafts, ceramics, honey and decorations, while the food stalls lean firmly Silesian. It’s busiest in the evenings, when local families turn out in force.

The ice sculptures are a highlight, though it’s unclear if they’ll be featured this year. If you visit, let me know in the comments.

Regional Specialties

• Silesian dumplings (kluski śląskie): Soft potato dumplings with a dimple in the middle to hold the gravy, served with beef roulade and braised red cabbage. It’s the classic Silesian Sunday lunch.
• Silesian cake (kołacz): A flat yeast cake with a buttery crumble over a layer of poppy seed, sweet cheese or apple, sold by the slice.
• Pierogi: Traditional Polish dumplings. Common fillings include potato with cottage cheese, sauerkraut with mushroom, and berries for a sweet version.

Food at the Stalls

• Mulled wine (grzane wino): Poured from a towering Christmas pyramid into souvenir mugs, in more flavours than you’ll get through in one evening.
• Grzane piwo: Warm beer, usually dark, heated with cloves, cinnamon and honey.
• Oscypek: Smoked sheep’s milk cheese from the Podhale highlands, shaped into decorative spindles and served grilled with cranberry sauce.
• Kielbasa: Grilled Polish sausage, typically pork.
• Zapiekanka: Poland’s favourite street food, an open baguette topped with sautéed mushrooms and cheese, sometimes ham, and toasted until the cheese melts. It’s usually finished with a squirt of ketchup. Highly recommended!
• Pączki: Polish doughnuts filled with rose hip jam and topped with icing sugar or glaze.

What to Buy

• Glass baubles: Hand-painted Polish glass ornaments. The best ones aren’t cheap, but they last for decades.
• Polish pottery: The blue-and-white stoneware from Bolesławiec, in Lower Silesia, makes a practical gift. Look for mugs, plates and bowls.
• Folk art: Hand-painted wooden boxes and intricate paper cut-outs (wycinanki) in bright folk patterns.
• Amber jewellery: Baltic amber, often called “Baltic Gold”, turns up at markets all over Poland as necklaces, earrings, rings and bracelets.
• Honey and mead: Local beekeepers sell jars of honey, and you’ll often find bottles of Polish mead (miód pitny) beside them.

Sustainability Tips

• Arrive by train: Katowice’s main station is a few minutes’ walk from the market, and trams from across the Silesian cities stop right beside the square.
• Ride Metrorower: The metropolitan bike share keeps running through winter, unlike most Polish city schemes, with docking stations across central Katowice.
• The Nikiszowiec weekend market (Jarmark na Nikiszu): For gifts sold by the people who made them, head to the red-brick miners’ estate of Nikiszowiec, where most stallholders bring handmade crafts. It’s usually held over one weekend in early December, and in recent seasons free shuttle buses, mostly electric, have run from the city centre.