Berner Sternenmarkt: the market that is still open after Christmas
✓ Checked at the source · as of 8 September 2026
On 25 December, Bern's Kleine Schanze is shut — for exactly one day. On the 26th the Sternenmarkt is back and runs until the 27th. That is the great exception in this calendar: almost every other market packs up on Christmas Eve.
📅 Dates 2026 — when and where
Berner Sternenmarkt
✓Thursday, 19 November 2026 – Sunday, 27 December 2026 · 39 days
- Organiser
- Berner Sternenmarkt
Source: bernersternenmarkt.ch · checked on 8 September 2026
🕐 Opening hours 2026
Where stalls, food and bars close at different times, each window is listed separately.
Market: Mon–Sat 11:00–22:00, Sun 11:00–20:00 · Food and drink: Mon–Sat 11:00–24:00, Sun 11:00–22:00 · 24 December until 16:00 · 25 December closed · Opening Thu 19 November at 16:00
Each bar is a documented run. Dark = this market, pale = the nearest ones. Read only a single date and you miss that a neighbouring market has already closed when this one opens.
- Bern · Kleine SchanzeBerner Sternenmarkt
- HuttwilBE
🗓️ Open today?
12 days fall on a Saturday or Sunday – enter your day and the check tells you what is open.
📅 Visit-Day Check by ConvivaPlus
Pick the day you are free — the answer comes from the verified ConvivaPlus dataset, not from a run you have to work out in your head.
Calculated from the ConvivaPlus dataset — every date with its own source above.
⚖️ Sunday shopping — market and shops
On 29 November, 6 December, 13 December and 20 December, Bern also has Sunday shopping – market and shops open on the same Sunday.
Sunday shopping: all dates🚋 Transport & access
- Meeting point
- Kleine Schanze, Bern
📋 Good to know before you go
- Around 80 huts with changing offerings; a children's chalet on the square.
- Closed on 25 December – the market pauses for exactly one day and reopens on the 26th.
- There is no parking around Taubenstrasse and Rainmattstrasse; the organiser expressly asks visitors to come by public transport.
✨ Highlights on site
What sets this market apart from every other one is not in its run dates.
Another peculiarity also appears on only one entry in the calendar: the Sternenmarkt is entirely cashless. Cards and Twint, nothing else.
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More Christmas markets in the canton of Bern
All of the canton of Bern →❓ FAQ — answered
Answers from the verified dataset – nothing carried over from last year.
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The ConvivaPlus verdict
The catch: without a card or Twint the evening is over. And planning by car means planning against the organiser — who states outright that there is no parking around the square. If you want Bern with cash, go to Waisenhausplatz, for which no such rule is published.
When we last checked: Run, hours, rest day, cashless policy, hut count and the parking note come from bernersternenmarkt.ch, source read on 8 September 2026. The exclusivity claims are counted in the dataset: exactly one entry names a cashless rule; the number of markets running past 25 December is calculated (Lausanne, Lugano and Stein am Rhein have been among them since October). No operation is published for 28 to 31 December.
Check the latest: ConvivaPlus Christmas market dataset 2026 – Bern · Kleine Schanze →
- ◆A rest day is an offer, not a shortfall: almost every market in this calendar ends on 24 December — the very day the present pressure stops and the time begins.
🗓️ At the same time in the canton of Bern
- ✨ Light trails in the canton of BernSat 17 Oct – Sun 10 Jan
- 🏊 Winter swimming in the canton of Bernfrom Sat 24 Oct
- 🕯️ Candle dipping in the canton of BernWed 11 Nov – Wed 23 Dec
- 🚂 Festive rides in the canton of BernFri 27 Nov – Fri 26 Feb
- 🏮 Turnip lanterns in the canton of BernSat 28 Nov
- 🛍️ Sunday shopping in the canton of BernSun 29 Nov · Sun 6 Dec · Sun 13 Dec · Sun 20 Dec
- 🎅 St Nicholas in the canton of BernSun 6 Dec
How we check
According to the ConvivaPlus calendar, one of the 78 confirmed events this season starts earlier than this one and 67 later.
Every date comes from the organiser's, the municipality's or the canton's own site — never from an aggregator, never copied over from last year. Next to each source is the date we last read it.
Something missing or changed? A note below is enough; we check it at the source.
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All information without guarantee. Found an error? → support@conviva-plus.ch
No other event in the whole canton starts earlier.
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✨ Christmas markets · 5 October 2026