Reims Christmas Market 2026: Dates, Opening Hours and Events
The Reims Christmas Market 2026 runs from Wednesday 25 November to Sunday 27 December on the Hautes Promenades Jean-Louis Schneiter and the Porte de Mars esplanade. Around 150 chalets sell food, crafts and Christmas goods. The market is closed on Christmas Day and closes at 6 PM on 24 and 27 December.
Information checked on 26 October 2026, using the City’s programme updated on 22 October, Grand Reims Mobilités and car park operator Champagne Parc Auto.
Reims Christmas Market: dates, location and opening hours
The first day, Wednesday 25 November, starts at 11:30 AM according to the City’s Wednesday timetable. The final day, Sunday 27 December, runs from 10 AM to 6 PM. The City and retailers’ association Les Vitrines de Reims organise the festivities.
Opening hours, 25 November to 20 December
- Monday: 2 PM to 8 PM
- Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday: 11:30 AM to 9 PM
- Friday: 11:30 AM to 10 PM
- Saturday: 10 AM to 10 PM
- Sunday: 10 AM to 8 PM
Opening hours, 21 to 27 December 2026
- Monday: 11 AM to 8 PM
- Tuesday and Wednesday: 11 AM to 9 PM
- Thursday 24 December (Christmas Eve): 11 AM to 6 PM
- Friday 25 December (Christmas Day): closed
- Saturday: 10 AM to 10 PM
- Sunday: 10 AM to 6 PM
Use the regular timetable through 20 December, including the weekend of 19–20 December. The holiday timetable starts on Monday 21 December. Check the official City page (in French) for changes.
Christmas programme 2026: events and attractions
Musicians from Nous on attend Paulette and Les Oiseaux de pas Sages perform in the market on Wednesday and Friday afternoons. The Arts et compagnie choir sings on 5, 12 and 19 December at 5:30 PM.
A new Christmas photo booth donates 10% of its turnover to Foyer Saint-Remi. The associations’ chalet on the Porte de Mars esplanade hosts different charities throughout the season; the City’s programme lists their dates.
The Ferris wheel on Place d’Erlon
The Ferris wheel stands 55 metres high according to the City, on Place d’Erlon, from Saturday 14 November 2026 to Sunday 10 January 2027, every day from 10 AM to 10 PM. It has 36 enclosed, heated cabins with music. By day you see the city and the nearby vineyards; by night, the Christmas lights. A ride costs 8 € for adults and 6 € for children.
The Christmas and Epiphany funfair
The Christmas and Epiphany funfair, or Foire de Noël et des Rois, runs on Chaussée Bocquaine from 5 December 2026 to 3 January 2027. Fireworks are scheduled for 5 December at 9 PM, a Toy Story parade for 13 December and a Grinch parade for 23 December.
From 5 to 18 December: Monday, Tuesday and Thursday 4–9 PM; Wednesday and Sunday 2:30–9 PM; Friday 4 PM–1 AM; Saturday 2:30 PM–1 AM. From 19 December to 3 January: Monday to Thursday 2:30–11 PM (closing at 9 PM on 24 and 31 December), Friday and Saturday 2:30 PM–1 AM, Sunday 2:30–9 PM. These are funfair hours, separate from the market stalls.
Regalia, the sound and light show on the cathedral
Regalia is a free sound and light show, with no booking required, lasting about 10 minutes, with one screening per evening. Over the festive season it is projected onto the cathedral façade on Fridays and Saturdays at 8 PM, from 27 November 2026 to 2 January 2027, except Saturday 12 December.
The studio Moment Factory created the show in 2019. It has two parts, one on Notre-Dame Cathedral and one on the Basilica of Saint-Remi, both UNESCO World Heritage sites. The cathedral part brings back the day a king was crowned. It opens with an interactive game: the audience tests its history knowledge on their phones, using clues projected on the façade. The original music is by Guillaume Brière, with local composers and the Maîtrise de la Cathédrale de Reims, the cathedral’s choir school. To visit the cathedral before the show, read our guide to Reims Cathedral from above.
The big Christmas tree and the Christmas lights
The large Christmas tree stands on Place d’Erlon. Behind the Palais du Tau, the sound and light show Le Ramoneur et les bulles de lumière is announced from 25 November to 3 January, from 5 PM, alongside the City’s Christmas light trail.
Father Christmas and the little train
Father Christmas and the children’s train are at the Village des Oursons on the Porte de Mars esplanade. The City’s 2026 hours differ from those of the stalls:
- Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday: 3–7 PM, except the dates below.
- Wednesday: 11:30 AM–7 PM, except 23 December.
- Saturday and Sunday, plus 21, 22 and 23 December: 11 AM–7 PM.
- Christmas Eve, 24 December: 11 AM–6 PM.
Father Christmas is present only until 24 December. The City does not provide a separate post-Christmas timetable for the train; check on site.
Accessibility and visiting rules
The market and Father Christmas attraction are accessible to visitors with reduced mobility via Boulevard Foch. Benches and picnic tables are available on the Hautes Promenades. Dogs are allowed on a lead and harness; scooters must be carried by hand. Bicycles are not allowed inside the market.
Getting to the Reims Christmas Market
By tram and bus
For the market, the City lists tram stops Gare Centre and Schneiter. If you arrive by train at Reims Centre, look for the Gare Centre entrance. There is also an entrance in front of the Porte de Mars. The wheelchair-accessible entrance is on Boulevard Foch. Trams are accessible; not every bus can accommodate wheelchairs. Check your journey with Grand Reims Mobilités.
Travelling from Paris? Read how far Champagne is from Paris.
Four park-and-ride car parks (P+R) are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week: Thillois, Neufchâtel, Hôpital Debré and Belges. Parking there is free if you hold a Grand Reims Mobilités bus or tram ticket. Validate your ticket when you board the tram or bus, then show it at the exit terminal. SMS tickets and Presto passes do not open the exit barrier. The barrier has a height limit of 2.10 m.
Free Christmas shuttle in 2026
A free shuttle links the Christmas market and the funfair from 2:30 PM. From 5 to 20 December it runs Wednesdays and Sundays until 9 PM, Fridays and Saturdays until 10:30 PM. From 21 to 24 December it runs until 10 PM; there is no service on Christmas Day. The last services end at 10:30 PM on 26 December and 9 PM on 27 December.
Gare Centre and Stade Delaune appear on both City pages. Their full stop lists differ, so check the route with Grand Reims Mobilités before travelling. A 2026 frequency has not been specified in the programme.
By car: city-centre car parks
The City gives these walking times to the market: Erlon 4 minutes, République 5, Hôtel de Ville 8, Clairmarais-Effia 9, Buirette 12 and Cathédrale 15. It lists Clairmarais-Effia at €1.90 an hour.
Joffre is a free blue-zone car park with a five-hour limit and a parking disc required, about a three-minute walk according to the City. Stade Delaune and Marchandeau are other free parking options mentioned for using the Christmas shuttle. Spaces are not guaranteed.
For its own car parks, Champagne Parc Auto lists for Erlon, Hôtel de Ville, Cathédrale and Buirette: first 30 minutes free, then 0.60 € per quarter-hour up to 2 hours and 0.50 € per quarter-hour from 2 to 8 hours, capped at 17 € for 24 hours. At République, the free 30 minutes are followed by 0.60 € per quarter-hour up to 3 hours, capped at 21.50 € for 24 hours. These prices are a guide only: the rates displayed in the car parks apply. Maximum height is 1.90 m. Watch out on Sundays and public holidays: the entrances of the Hôtel de Ville, Cathédrale and Buirette car parks are closed on those days, while the market is open. Use Erlon or République instead, or the park-and-ride car parks.
On-street parking in paid zones is free from noon to 2 PM, from 7 PM to 9 AM, and on Sundays and public holidays. This does not apply to multi-storey or underground car parks.
Arriving by coach
Coach passengers can be dropped off and collected on Cours Anatole France throughout the year. During the market, Rue Andrieux beside the Boulingrin market hall is also available, except on Saturdays until 3 PM. Coaches may park on Esplanade Roland Garros on Friday evenings and weekends, and on Avenue du Général Giraud on weekdays.
What you will find at the Christmas market
The 150 or so chalets sell food, crafts and decorations from several regions and from abroad; the local weekly l’Hebdo du Vendredi sees it as a chance to find out about other countries’ Christmas traditions. In 2025, the market highlighted hundreds of local products, from beers and jams to soaps, ceramics and handmade candles, according to Le Parisien. For Reims specialities, the regional daily L’Union listed in 2019 the biscuit rose, the pink Reims biscuit, and the bouchon au marc; the French Wikipedia adds champagne, mustard and the pink biscuits of the Fossier bakery, alongside specialities from Alsace.
Alongside the chalets are a craftspeople’s village and the Boutique #rémoise. A separate ALC market for local makers and producers runs on the station forecourt from 25 November to 27 December: Monday 2–7 PM, Tuesday to Sunday 10 AM–7 PM. It closes at 5 PM on Christmas Eve, is closed on Christmas Day and opens 2–7 PM on 26 December.
The City does not mention any entry fee. A guide to the 2025 season (Carrefour Location) states that entry to the market is free: you only pay for what you buy and for some attractions, such as the Ferris wheel.
What else to do in Reims at Christmas?
For more ideas, see our list of the best things to do in Reims.
History of the Reims Christmas Market
The market dates back to the 1990s. Les Vitrines de Reims counted 28 editions in 2025. For its first 19 years, it was held on Place d’Erlon.
In 2016, it moved to the square in front of the cathedral: after security measures were tightened because of the terrorist threat, Place d’Erlon and its many entrances had become too expensive to secure. In 2022, the chalets left the cathedral square for the Hautes Promenades and the Porte de Mars esplanade. The Hautes Promenades had already hosted the art craftspeople’s village since 2021.
Attendance reached 725,000 visitors in 2022 and more than one million in 2023, then a record 1.1 million in 2024. With one million visitors in 2025, it fell slightly, according to l’Hebdo du Vendredi, but a single day drew up to 70,000 people, a first according to the local radio station ici.
