Vilnius Christmas market 2026: dates, opening hours and tree lighting

The Vilnius Christmas market, the Christmas Town (Kalėdų miestelis) on Cathedral Square, runs from Saturday 28 November to Sunday 27 December 2026, and entry is free. The city tree beside it is lit on the evening of 28 November; the time is not announced yet (19:00 in 2024 and 2025). Market hours: Monday to Wednesday 12:00 to 20:00, Thursday 12:00 to 21:00, Friday and Saturday 12:00 to 22:00, Sunday 11:00 to 20:00, and 11:00 to 17:00 on Christmas Eve. The carousel and the Christmas train also start on 28 November, and the Town Hall Square ice rink runs from 29 November to 25 January.

Scope: dates and hours as of 20 October 2026. They come from “Kalėdos sostinėje” (Christmas in the Capital), the city’s official festive programme at kaledossostineje.lt, run by the Vilnius Cultural Centre (Vilniaus kultūros centras), and from Go Vilnius, the official tourism agency. The full programme is due on 12 November, so some times and prices are not known yet. Where that is the case, we say so and give the 2025 figures. Check the official page before you go.

When is the Vilnius Christmas market 2026? Dates, hours and location

The Christmas Town, the main Vilnius Christmas market, runs from Saturday 28 November to Sunday 27 December 2026 inclusive. It stands around the city tree on Cathedral Square (Katedros aikštė) in the Old Town. The official description mentions various goods and treats; in 2025 it had 48 wooden huts. Opening hours for 2026:

• Monday to Wednesday: 12:00 to 20:00.
• Thursday: 12:00 to 21:00.
• Friday and Saturday: 12:00 to 22:00.
• Sunday: 11:00 to 20:00. The last day, 27 December, is a Sunday.
• Christmas Eve, 24 December: 11:00 to 17:00.
• Christmas Day and 26 December: 12:00 to 21:00.

Entry is free; you pay only for what you buy. In 2025 the Christmas Town and the rink used reusable cups: each drink carried a 2 EUR cup deposit, refunded at the collection points on Cathedral Square or by the rink on Town Hall Square. Whether this continues in 2026 is not announced yet. The official page lists the Christmas Town as wheelchair accessible, adapted for blind and deaf visitors, and pet friendly. The hours are published for 2026 but may be adjusted when the full programme comes out.

The Christmas carousel. A two-storey, 10-metre carousel returns next to the market from 28 November to 6 January. Hours: Monday to Thursday 12:00 to 22:00, Friday and Saturday 11:00 to 23:00, Sunday 11:00 to 22:00, and 11:00 to 20:00 on 24 December. The 2026 price is not announced. In 2025 almost 30,000 people rode it.

The Christmas train. A small festive train loops through the Old Town from 28 November to 3 January 2027 inclusive. (Go Vilnius said 6 January in August, but the official train page now says 3 January.) It leaves from Šventaragio g. 2, beside Cathedral Square next to the Ministry of the Interior, and runs along Šventaragio, Pilies, Didžioji, Šv. Jono and Universiteto streets. Hours: Sunday to Thursday 12:00 to 20:00, Friday and Saturday 11:00 to 22:00, and 11:00 to 20:00 on 24 December. The timetable is due from 12 November; the price is not announced. In 2025 a ride took about 20 minutes, and the train carried more than 12,000 passengers.

When is the Vilnius Christmas tree lighting in 2026?

The tree is lit on the evening of Saturday 28 November 2026 on Cathedral Square, which the city calls “the last Saturday of autumn”; the next day is the first Sunday of Advent. Entry is free and the show is in Lithuanian. The start time and performers are not announced yet: the full programme is due on 12 November. For comparison, the 2025 tree was lit on Saturday 29 November at 19:00, and the 2024 tree on Friday 29 November, also at 19:00.

• The tree: for the fourth year running Vilnius is decorating a live spruce. The design is by Lumidėja, which won the open competition for the Cathedral Square decorations; LRT puts the cost at 119,800 EUR.
• How long it stands: until 6 January 2027 inclusive.
• Getting there: on the 2025 lighting day all public transport in Vilnius was free from 15:00 to 24:00, and T. Vrublevskio, Šventaragio and Barboros Radvilaitės streets were closed to traffic from 17:00 to 24:00. The 2026 arrangements are not announced; on 26 August LRT reported that free public transport is planned for the lighting.

Christmas events in Vilnius 2026: every date announced so far

By 20 October the city and organizers had announced 2026 dates for 12 Christmas events in Vilnius. They start between 28 November and 31 December, and several run into January.

Is the Vilnius Christmas market worth it?

Yes for an evening, if you treat it as part of a walk through the Old Town rather than a destination on its own. It is one compact market around the tree on Cathedral Square (48 wooden huts in 2025), not a sprawling one. The tree, the two-storey carousel and the little train all start from the same square. The Town Hall Square rink is at the far end of Pilies and Didžioji streets, on the train’s route. Entry is free, and Go Vilnius billed the city as the official European Christmas Capital 2025.

Plan for two things. The sun sets before 16:00 in mid-December, so the lights take over from late afternoon. December averages -2 °C in Vilnius, so dress for standing outside. If you want designer gifts rather than food and drinks, time your visit for the Christmas Design Square from 15 to 20 December.

What other Christmas markets are there in Vilnius in 2026?

• Charity Market: Go Vilnius lists a Charity Market on Town Hall Square on Saturday 28 November; times and stallholders are not announced. In 2025 the 23rd International Christmas Charity Fair opened on Town Hall Square and was held at the Contemporary Art Centre (ŠMC); it raised 110,000 EUR.
• Christmas Design Square: a designers’ and makers’ market from 15 to 20 December; the 2026 location is not announced. In 2025 it ran on Vinco Kudirkos aikštė from 17 to 21 December, with more than 60 designers and makers from Lithuania and abroad.
• Kalėdinis Pop-Up: a gift market of makers, designers and brands at LITEXPO (Laisvės pr. 5) on Saturday 21 November, 10:00 to 18:00; vilnius-events.lt lists it as a free event.
• Lukiškės Prison 2.0 and Loftas: in 2024 Go Vilnius listed a Christmas gastro fair at the former Lukiškės prison (13 to 15 and 20 to 22 December). It also listed a last-minute Christmas market at Menų fabrikas Loftas (20 to 22 December). We found no 2026 dates for either by 20 October.

Ice skating in Vilnius 2026: when is the Town Hall Square rink open?

The Christmas rink “Vilniaus ledas” on Town Hall Square (Rotušės aikštė) opens with a celebration on 29 November and runs until 25 January 2027. Hours: Monday to Thursday and Sunday 10:00 to 22:00, Friday and Saturday 10:00 to 23:15. Sessions last 45 minutes and places are limited. The 2026 prices are not announced yet; the official page says “more information soon”.

For reference, 2025 prices: adults paid 6 EUR with their own skates or 8 EUR with skate hire, children under 14 paid 4 or 6 EUR, and under 5s skated free. The first two sessions of each day were free, and you could book a time in advance on bilietai.lt. Over the 2025 season the rink had more than 27,000 visitors from 47 countries. We found no official 2026 dates or prices for other rinks in Vilnius by 20 October.

Things to do in Vilnius in December 2026

• Run or walk. The Eurovaistinė Christmas Run is on Saturday 5 December, and this year it is run after dark: 3, 6 or 12 km, plus a children’s race. Its 50th edition, in 2025, had 4,568 runners. The Slowest Christmas Marathon starts at 12:00 on Saturday 12 December on Cathedral Square: walk 3, 10, 21 or 42.195 km with Christmas stops. It is free, and a medal waits at the Vilnius Tourist Information Centre.
• Kalėdiškiausios dienos (the Most Christmassy Days), 12 and 13 December: a city-wide festive weekend in a different format from 2025; the programme has not been announced. On the first such day, in 2025, more than 73,000 people came to the main city spaces.
• Nutcracker and concerts. There is no Nutcracker at the Lithuanian National Opera and Ballet Theatre this December: it is not in the theatre’s November and December 2026 programme. Touring productions play at Compensa concert hall on 20 December at 18:00 and 25 December at 20:00, and at Žalgirio arena in Kaunas on 21 December at 19:00. The National Organists’ Association runs free Advent and Christmas organ concerts, “Vox organi Cathedralis”, at Vilnius Cathedral: 29 November at 16:00, 3, 10 and 17 December at 12:00, and 26 December at 16:00.
• Lights. The Lumina light park “Kino magija” is at the Vilnius University Botanical Garden in Kairėnai (Kairėnų g. 43), with its season running to 22 February. From mid-November it is open Thursday to Sunday, 16:30 to 22:00; standard tickets cost 16.90 EUR as of 20 October.
• With children. The Lithuanian National Philharmonic has a family concert, “Žvėrių karnavalas” (The Carnival of the Animals), on Sunday 13 December at 12:00 (from 12 EUR). The Ąžuoliukas boys’ choir sings its Christmas concert there on Sunday 20 December at 12:00 (from 16 EUR; prices as of 20 October).

Christmas tree lighting in Kaunas and Klaipėda 2026

• Kaunas: the tree will be lit on Friday 27 November at 18:00 on Town Hall Square, a day before Vilnius. The programme is still being prepared.
• Klaipėda: no 2026 date had been announced by 20 October. In 2025 the tree on Theatre Square (Teatro aikštė) was lit on Saturday 29 November at 17:00. The Christmas fair ran from 29 November to 6 January, 16:00 to 21:00 on weekdays and 12:00 to 22:00 at weekends.

What is open in Vilnius on 24, 25 and 26 December?

24, 25 and 26 December are public holidays in Lithuania (Labour Code, article 123). In 2026 they fall on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, so with Sunday 27 December anyone on a Monday to Friday week gets four days off in a row. 24 December is Kūčios, Lithuanian Christmas Eve: the Universal Lithuanian Encyclopaedia describes it as the day that ends the pre-Christmas fast, with the Kūčios meal in the evening.

• Christmas Town: 11:00 to 17:00 on 24 December, 12:00 to 21:00 on 25 and 26 December, and the last day is Sunday 27 December.
• The carousel and the train run 11:00 to 20:00 on Christmas Eve.
• Shops: in 2025 Maxima and Rimi closed at 20:00 on 24 December, and Iki, Lidl and Norfa at 18:00. All of them, and Akropolis, were closed on 25 December. The 2026 hours are not announced yet.
• Public transport: in 2025 Vilnius buses and trolleybuses ran weekend and holiday timetables from 24 to 26 December.
• Christmas Eve Mass: in 2025 LRT broadcast the Bernelių Mišios (Shepherds’ Mass) live from Vilnius Cathedral at 20:30 on 24 December. The 2026 time is not announced.

What is Vilnius like in December? Daylight, weather and transport

• Daylight. The earliest sunset of 2026 in Vilnius is 15:51, from 11 to 17 December; on Christmas Eve the sun rises at 08:41 and sets at 15:55. After 16:00 it is already getting dark.
• Weather. Under the LHMT 1991 to 2020 climate normals, December in Vilnius averages -2.0 °C (November 1.9 °C, January -3.7 °C), with 51 mm of precipitation and only 24.6 hours of sunshine in the whole month. December has snow cover on about 17 days on average, so a white Christmas is not guaranteed.
• Christmas trains between cities. In 2025 LTG Link ran decorated trains from 20 November to 11 January on the Vilnius to Kaunas, Trakai, Klaipėda and Mockava lines. The 2026 dates are not announced.

Are there fireworks in Vilnius on New Year’s Eve?

Not from the city. On 31 December the Cathedral Bell Tower again becomes a video projection installation, shown from 22:00 to 01:00 according to the official programme. The organizers call it a sustainable, modern alternative to fireworks, and on 31 December 2025 Vilnius saw in the New Year without city fireworks for the sixth year in a row. Parties, concerts and other places to see in the New Year are in a separate guide.

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