Vancouver Christmas Market

I was lucky to to visit the Vancouver Christmas Market during the 2021 holidays, before the surge in Covid cases that is. I made sure to go without the kids as well(since we wanted them to avoid being in crowded places). It was a lovely kidfree outing for me that day. Here's a look back at our visit in December 2021.

Located at Jack Poole Plaza in downtown Vancouver, this was the 9th year of the festive Christmas market! We visited the market during the "Early Bird" time slot (11:30am to 2:00pm) and this meant a slight discount on the ticket price and fewer people (although there were more people than expected).

It also happened to be the first snowfall for Vancouver that day! It snowed for about 30min before turning into rain ;)

To enter the Christmas Market, you needed to show your Vaccination Certificate, whether or not you were a Resident of BC. There was also a random bag check as my friend told me - they looked in their bag but they didn't bother checking mine. 

 

The Vancouver Christmas Market located by the 2010 Winter Olympics cauldron is just a quick walk over to Canada Place. The Market is very accessible by transit -  Skytrain or bus.

The Vancouver Christmas market featured a variety of vendors and both German and non-German food! The Market's website said around 80 vendors were there in 2021!

Aside from the covered, heated tent area to take your food, there were a few smallers areas to stand under cover to eat your snacks. We opted to stand outside  to avoid eating in the indoors tent area with the crowds.

I had to try a bratwurst and it was delicious! Prices, unfortunately, seemed to have gone up for everything!

The pork knuckle is another great option!

We were disappointed that the spaetzle or potato noodle vendor did not make it this year!! The cheesy noodle dish used to be my favorite German snack at the Market! I've also enjoyed it in Germany as well. It's sooo good!

When it started to drizzle, it started to get chilly. Of course, we had to keep warm with mulled wine! 

This was the Christmas mug design for 2021!

It's so unique to see high rises in the background of the Christmas market! Vancouver really is the city of glass!

One major disappointment was the traditional German decorations vendor Käthe Wohlfahrt, which used to have a large tent selling the ornaments, and German Christmas decorations also did not make. The tent was one of our favorite things to browse through during previous visits to the Christmas market.

Although this was missing, there were still many other things to see, it just meant we didn't need as much time at the market as we initially thought. 

If you have been to Christmas markets in Germany, like we have, then you'd know Vancouver's version is not the same. Although, its not the traditional Christmas market, we still enjoy visiting to try the eats and treats and check out the vendors!

Visiting the Vancouver Christmas Market will definitely get you in a festive mood to start your countdown to the holidays and it's nice to support the local vendors as well. Looking forward to next year's market!

Thanks for reading and remember don't forget your snacks (you can find so many snacks at a Christmas market)!

Vancouver Christmas Market

Jack Poole Plaza, Vancouver, Canada

Check out their website for vendors they have previously featured.