Christmas in Belfast
Belfast puts its Christmas market right on the lawns in front of City Hall, and I love that, because you’re eating a bratwurst off a giant open grill in the middle of the city, and between bites you can ride a helter-skelter that looks out over the chalet roofs.
The Belfast Christmas market is the main one in Northern Ireland, open every day for nearly six weeks, and in its 22nd year it fits more than 100 stalls, a vintage carousel and an outdoor food court onto those lawns.
Now, that’s a lot of market for the space, and on a Saturday night you’ll spend more time shuffling than shopping, while a few of the food prices made me wince.
So that’s why I treat City Hall as the start of Christmas in Belfast rather than the whole of it. I’d give the lawns a weekday afternoon, do my present shopping among the local makers at St George’s Market, and spend the evenings in the pubs, where there’s trad music on somewhere every night of the week.
When Is the Belfast Christmas Market 2026?
The Belfast Christmas market runs from Saturday 14 November to Tuesday 22 December 2026 in the grounds of City Hall on Donegall Square, and entry is free.
It’s open every day of its run, with the stalls trading from 10:00 to 20:00 Monday to Wednesday, 10:00 to 22:00 Thursday to Saturday and 12:00 to 18:00 on Sundays, and from Monday to Saturday the bars keep pouring for an hour after the stalls shut.
Opening day is the exception. The stalls open at noon on Saturday 14 November, and that evening the Christmas lights are switched on outside City Hall at 18:30, so the crowds all arrive at once. The switch-on is free but ticketed and every ticket has already gone, so unless you’ve got one, I’d skip opening day.
The last day is the other exception, closing at 18:00 on Tuesday 22 December, which means the market is closed on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve, so if you’re coming for the days around Christmas itself, Custom House Square is the place to watch.
That’s where a second Christmas village is going up this year, and I’m so pleased about it, because it’s the first time in the City Hall market’s 22 years that it’s had another chalet village to share the season with.
Once Upon a Winter is due to open on Thursday 19 November and run until 1 January 2027, with 36 chalets of mostly local food, drink and crafts, two tents for live music and a covered bar.
It’s a private venture rather than the council’s market and it was still waiting on its final sign-off in early November, so check it’s open before you build an evening around it.
| Date | What’s on |
|---|---|
| Sat 14 Nov | Market opens at 12:00, lights switch-on at City Hall 18:30 to 19:30 (ticketed, sold out) |
| Thu 19 Nov | Once Upon a Winter village due to open on Custom House Square, Newry’s market starts (Thursday to Sunday) |
| Sun 22 Nov | Father Christmas switches on the lights at Titanic Belfast |
| Tue 24 Nov | Christmas Twilight Market at St George’s, 16:00 to 22:00 |
| Wed 25 Nov | Christmas Twilight Market at St George’s, 16:00 to 22:00 |
| Thu 26 Nov | Armagh Georgian Festival starts, until Sun 29 Nov |
| Fri 27 Nov | Titanic Belfast’s Magical Christmas Experience starts, until 23 Dec |
| Sat 28 Nov | Artisan Market at Belfast Castle 11:00 to 16:00, first Festive Fayre weekend at Titanic Belfast, The Little Mermaid panto opens |
| Sat 5 Dec | Belfast Potter’s Market at 2 Royal Avenue, 10:00 to 17:00 |
| Sun 6 Dec | Potter’s Market 11:00 to 16:00, Euro 2028 qualifying draw at ICC Belfast |
| Fri 11 Dec | Royal Hillsborough’s Christmas market on the Dark Walk, until Sat 12 Dec |
| Sun 20 Dec | Last Festive Fayre at Titanic Belfast, last day of Newry’s market |
| Tue 22 Dec | Last day at City Hall, closes at 18:00 and stays shut until next season |
| Fri 1 Jan | Last day planned for the Custom House Square village |
| From Sat 2 Jan | Closed until next season |
The Best Time to Visit the Belfast Christmas Market
Go on a weekday and get there for about 14:00. City Hall sits in the middle of Belfast’s business district, so at lunchtime the lawns get busy with office workers on their break, and by two they’ve gone back to their desks while the evening crowd hasn’t turned up yet.
That gap is the best couple of hours the market has, because on lawns this tight, a half-empty market and a full one are the difference between browsing and being carried along. It’s also the time to ride the helter-skelter, while there’s still daylight to see out over the chalet roofs.
And then the light goes. In mid-December the sun’s down just before 16:00, and by about a quarter to five the chalets are glowing against a dark sky under City Hall, which with something hot in your hand is the bit of this market that really gets me.
From around four the evening crowd starts building too, and on a weekend night the lawns turn into one slow shuffle, where it can feel like twenty minutes just to move a few feet. With everything packed into that space, I wouldn’t go near it after dark on a Saturday.
At the weekend I’d go as soon as the stalls open, 10:00 on Saturday or noon on Sunday, and be away before the light goes. You’ll miss the glow, and on a Saturday that’s a trade I’d happily make.
What to Eat and Drink at the Belfast Christmas Market
Start with the bratwurst. It comes straight off that giant open grill, and even with the prices on this lawn it’s the one thing I’d never begrudge a penny of, especially at £8 last year, a pound or so less than at the Edinburgh Christmas market, where it ran £9 to £9.50.
After the bratwurst, a few more stalls earn their prices.
- Poutine from the Canada Lodge stall was £10 last year, which is a lot for chips, cheese curds and gravy, but it’s properly good, and a Nanaimo bar on the side makes it a very Canadian stop.
- Exotic burgers have been on the menu here for years, with ostrich, wild boar and crocodile at about £15 last year, so have one if only to say you did.
- Dutch pancakes come as a tray of little poffertjes, hot and sweet and made for sharing as you wander, drizzle and all, and their queue is usually one of the long ones.
- Hot chocolate was about £6.50 to £7 a cup last year, and I’d go for the s’mores one with toasted marshmallow, which was one of last year’s new arrivals.
- Mulled wine has been going for around £6 to £7 with a souvenir mug thrown in, which beats last year’s £7.40 a glass at Hyde Park in the London Christmas markets.
The rest is where it gets silly. Last year three churros cost £10 and loaded chips with steak were £17, and that’s restaurant money for something you eat standing up in the cold.
So I’d treat the market as a snack stop and eat dinner properly somewhere else.
And while you’re in Belfast, look out for a Christmas chip in the chippies around town, a tray of chips smothered in stuffing and gravy, sometimes with turkey on top. It’s a chippy thing more than a market one, but to me it tastes exactly like a Belfast December.
Where to Buy Something Actually Made in Belfast
Save your gift money for St George’s Market, about a 9-minute walk from City Hall on East Bridge Street, and you’ll come home with far more that was really made in Northern Ireland.
At City Hall I’d stick to the cheese, chocolate and chorizo stalls, because plenty of the gift chalets bring back the same stock year after year, and some of the “handmade” wooden ornaments have travelled a lot further than Belfast, which annoys me on a lawn where over half the traders are genuinely local.
St George’s feels like the city’s own market. It’s a big Victorian hall from the 1890s, warm and dry, with around 200 stalls on a Friday morning from 08:00 to 14:00, local food and craft on Saturdays from 09:00 to 15:00, and craft and antiques on Sundays from 10:00 to 15:00.
If I could only shop in one place in Belfast, it would be St George’s on a Friday.
Two nights this season it goes one better. The Christmas Twilight Market on 24 and 25 November fills the hall from 16:00 to 22:00 with over 100 local traders, street food, craft beer, local spirits and live music, and from 21:00 it’s adults only. If your trip lands on those dates, that’s your evening sorted.
If your dates miss it, most of the city’s other local markets this season are short, so it’s about catching the right day.
- The Festive Fayre at Titanic Belfast fills the Grand Atrium with local makers from 11:00 to 15:00 on 28 and 29 November, 5 December, 12 and 13 December, and 19 and 20 December, and it’s free.
- The Artisan Market at Belfast Castle brings around 36 stalls to the castle up on Cave Hill on Saturday 28 November, from 11:00 to 16:00.
- The Belfast Potter’s Market gathers ceramicists from across the island at 2 Royal Avenue on 5 and 6 December, with live demonstrations.
- The Big Bauble Showcase at the Craft NI Gallery on Royal Avenue runs until 30 December, so it’s there whatever day you land.
- Once Upon a Winter on Custom House Square is aiming for 85 to 90 per cent local stallholders.
Beyond the Market: Titanic and Black Santa
Titanic Belfast is where I recommend you to spend a morning, because the museum stands right by the slipways where the ship was built, and it’s 15 minutes from the centre on the Glider G2.
Father Christmas switches on the building’s lights on Sunday 22 November, and the Magical Christmas Experience for children runs from 27 November to 23 December (£29 a child midweek or £33 at weekends, plus £15 an adult).
The Santa I’d go out of my way for, though, is Black Santa on the steps of St Anne’s Cathedral, back in the centre, a charity sit-out that goes back to 1976. Last year it ran from 15 to 24 December, every day except Sunday the 21st.
I’d drop a few pounds in the collection on the way past, because after the prices on the lawn, it’s the best money you’ll spend all day.
Belfast at Night: Trad Pubs and Custom House Square
When the lawns fill up in the evening, I’d head for a pub. The beer tent is fun for one stein in the afternoon, but by night it means queuing for the bar and queuing again for the toilets, and Belfast has far better places to drink about ten minutes’ walk from City Hall.
My pick is Maddens on Berry Street, with trad sessions seven nights a week, so whatever night you’re in town there’s live music and a pint waiting, and Kelly’s Cellars and Whites Tavern are close by when you fancy a second stop.
An hour in Maddens with a session going and a wet December night outside is my favourite part of a Belfast Christmas.
If you’d rather stay out among the chalets, Custom House Square is about 12 minutes from City Hall, and the new village there, with its music tents and covered bar, is due to stay open until 23:00 on some nights, which makes it a second evening.
And if you’ve got a third night, the Grand Opera House panto this year is The Little Mermaid, from 28 November to 10 January, with tickets from £17.50 to £43.50.
Weather, Cards and Other Things to Know
Belfast in December is mild but wet. Days hover around 8°C and nights around 4°C, it rains on about half the days, and snow on the ground turns up on only 4% of December days, so a waterproof coat and waterproof shoes will do more for you here than a ski jacket.
Cold and rain aside, a few small things make an afternoon on the lawns easier.
- Cards work at most stalls and a few are cash only, so I’d carry a tenner or two in sterling. If you’re coming up from Dublin, some stalls take euro, but when the card machine asks which currency, pick sterling and let your own bank do the conversion.
- The public toilets inside City Hall, on the ground floor, are the ones I’d use in the daytime, rather than queuing at the beer tent.
- Dogs aren’t allowed in the City Hall grounds apart from assistance dogs, but St George’s Market is happy to have them on a lead.
- Kids get the vintage carousel and the helter-skelter, and last year Santa’s grotto cost £10 for one child, £15 for two and £20 for three or more. Bring them on a weekday afternoon if you can, because getting a buggy through the chalets on a Saturday night is a battle.
Coming Up from Dublin
The Enterprise gets you from Dublin Connolly to Belfast Grand Central in about 2 hours 10 minutes, and that’s a long way to come for a couple of lawns.
I’d stay the night in Belfast, so you can catch a session at Maddens and, if the next morning’s a Friday, Saturday or Sunday, do St George’s before heading back.
Dublin’s TwinkleTown on Smithfield Square keeps going until 31 December (apart from 24 to 26 December), nine days after City Hall has packed up, so if you’re travelling late in the season, it makes more sense to do Belfast first and finish in Dublin.
Day Trips from Belfast at Christmas
Each of these fits into a short winter day from Belfast, and if you only do one, I’d make it the Giant’s Causeway, early start and all.
- The Giant’s Causeway is a train to Coleraine, about an hour and a half, then the 402 bus for the last stretch, about 36 minutes on the current timetable, and with sunset around 16:00 I’d want to be on the stones by lunchtime. Walking the coast is free, and the Visitor Experience is £15 an adult.
- Newry is under an hour away on the train, and its Christmas market fills the historic Variety Market with up to 70 stalls of local crafts, gifts, food and drink, Thursday to Sunday from 19 November to 20 December. It’s on the Dublin line, so it breaks the journey nicely in either direction.
- Hillsborough Castle is the family one, past Lisburn (about 25 minutes by train, then a bus or taxi), with a Gruffalo’s Child trail through the gardens from 28 November to 3 January and Santa for £8 a family on selected dates until 23 December. If you’re there on 11 or 12 December, Royal Hillsborough also has its own Christmas market on the Dark Walk.
- Armagh fills The Mall for its Georgian Festival from 26 to 29 November, and with no railway, it’s about 1 hour 13 minutes on the Goldline bus.
Is the Belfast Christmas Market Worth It?
Yes, but only as part of a Belfast weekend.
The lawns on their own are a couple of hours, too little to cross the Irish Sea for, but a weekday afternoon there with a bratwurst in your hand and the chalets lighting up as it gets dark, then a pint in Maddens as the session gets going, is a December day I’d gladly come over for.
It’s the trip I’d point you towards for a first visit to Belfast, a long weekend with friends or a night up from Dublin, especially if you’d rather spend an evening in a trad pub than in a beer tent.
If one big market is the whole point, the Edinburgh Christmas market is bigger and runs until 3 January.
But if it’s Belfast you’re after, I’d come midweek, be on the lawns by 14:00 for the bratwurst, and save the shopping for St George’s and the night for Maddens.
