What date do the Bruges Christmas Markets open?
When the Bruges Christmas Markets open in 2026
On the map, the Christmas Market on the Markt and the Christmas Market on Simon Stevin Square start trading on Friday 20 November 2026 and close on Sunday 3 January 2027, with stalls trading on each day in between. The Handmade in Brugge MAKERSmarkt comes later and lasts one weekend, from Friday 18 to Sunday 20 December 2026.
The two squares do not open in stages. Together they make up one Christmas Market, spread over the Markt by the Belfry and over Simon Stevin Square, and both start on the opening day of Winter Glow (Wintergloed) 2026/27. One date, Friday 20 November, therefore covers the pair of them.
December brings the next opening date. The Handmade in Brugge MAKERSmarkt, an indoor makers' market that Winter Glow adds to its programme for 2026, takes over the Jan Garemijnzaal in the Stadshallen, on the Markt, for three days: Friday 18, Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 December. By the time it opens, the stalls on the two squares outside have been trading for four weeks.
What each market sells, and what stands around it, is set out in the overview of the Bruges Christmas Markets.
Opening and closing dates of the Bruges Christmas Markets
This Christmas Market Bruges calendar for 2026 keeps each market under its number on the map:
| # | 1 |
|---|---|
| Christmas Market | Christmas Market on the Markt |
| Opens | Fri 20 Nov 2026 |
| Closes | Sun 3 Jan 2027 |
| Closed on |
| # | 2 |
|---|---|
| Christmas Market | Christmas Market on Simon Stevin Square |
| Opens | Fri 20 Nov 2026 |
| Closes | Sun 3 Jan 2027 |
| Closed on |
| # | 3 |
|---|---|
| Christmas Market | Handmade in Brugge MAKERSmarkt |
| Opens | Fri 18 Dec 2026 |
| Closes | Sun 20 Dec 2026 |
| Closed on |
No closing day has been announced inside these dates. The special hours on 24 and 31 December, and the reduced range of stalls on 25 December and 1 January, change the hours of the two squares, not their dates.
The season dates on the Visit Bruges calendar come with the weekly hours and location of the two squares. A City of Bruges news item on Winter Glow 2026/27, in Dutch, gives the dates of the two squares, the ice rink and the MAKERSmarkt.
Closing dates of the Bruges Christmas Markets
The MAKERSmarkt is over before Christmas. Its three days in the Stadshallen end on Sunday 20 December 2026.
Both squares, the Markt and Simon Stevin Square, keep trading through Christmas and the turn of the year, and both squares close on Sunday 3 January 2027. The Winter Glow ice rink and the IJsgloed Winter Bar near Simon Stevin Square finish their season on that same Sunday.
Winter Glow goes on after the stalls have gone and lasts, without a Christmas Market, until Sunday 31 January 2027. The Visit Bruges overview of Winter Glow shows the whole 2026/27 programme, with the Christmas Markets, the ice rink, the winter bar and the MAKERSmarkt.
How the Bruges Christmas Market dates have changed year by year
Earlier seasons of the Christmas Market on the Markt and Simon Stevin Square:
| # | 1, 2 |
|---|---|
| Christmas Market | Markt and Simon Stevin Square |
| Season | 2024/25 |
| Opened | Fri 22 Nov 2024 |
| Closed | Sun 5 Jan 2025 |
| # | 1, 2 |
|---|---|
| Christmas Market | Markt and Simon Stevin Square |
| Season | 2025/26 |
| Opened | Fri 21 Nov 2025 |
| Closed | Sun 4 Jan 2026 |
Over three seasons the squares have opened on Friday 22 November 2024, Friday 21 November 2025 and Friday 20 November 2026, and closed on Sunday 5 January 2025, Sunday 4 January 2026 and Sunday 3 January 2027.
The 2025/26 run took place during the seventh Winter Glow in Bruges. The Handmade in Brugge MAKERSmarkt is new to Winter Glow in 2026, so it has no earlier dates to compare.