Christkindlmarkt Bethlehem is a multi-week holiday season event that takes place Thursday-Sunday starting the weekend after Thanksgiving and ending the weekend before Christmas. This annual holiday event held in eastern Pennsylvania features a shopping market under big tents filled with vendors selling fine arts, toys, ornaments, gifts, Christmas decorations, crafts and food. The annual shopping and entertainment festival includes indoor and outdoor events, so weather won't stop the celebration. Visitors and locals alike celebrate the holidays at this unique Old World-style family marketplace voted one of the top 100 events in North America by the American Bus Association. During the four week run of the event, more than 150 artisans are featured. Christkindlmarkt Bethlehem is a world-renowned holiday marketplace recognized by Travel and Leisure Magazine as one of the world's best Christmas festivals.

Pennsylvania?s Christkindlmarkt was modeled after Germany's festive open-air holiday market which dates back to medieval times and brought the community together in celebrating the holiday season. Christkindlmarkt was established in downtown Bethlehem in 1993 by ArtsQuest. The event has grown steadily and is now recognized to be one of the premiere holiday attractions in the Northeastern United States. Visitors can browse through aisles of exquisite handmade works by the nation's finest artisans, listen to live holiday music, and sample delicious, authentic German and Austrian food. Christkindlmarkt also offers liquid fireworks display, Christmas City Trolley, live theatrical performances, ice sculpting, children's rides, and guided nighttime walking tours to see the city's historic 18th-century buildings and beautiful holiday lights.

Event-goers can browse through an amazing array of exquisite gifts and fine arts and crafts, from jewelry to hand-made quilts and the perfect atmosphere in which to relax, enjoy a hot cocoa or apple strudel and listen to the musicians performing an assortment of holiday classics and original Christmas music. St. Nicholas is on-hand for the children, who can also explore rides, ice carving demonstrations and other holiday-related activities.