Chlausemäret Solothurn: the market that pays no attention to the weekend
✓ Checked at the source · as of 8 September 2026
Most Christmas markets put their best days on the weekend. Solothurn's Chlausemäret does not: it always falls on the first Wednesday and Thursday in December – and lasts exactly those two days. Plan it by weekend logic and you do not miss it by accident, you miss it systematically, year after year.
📅 Dates 2026 — when and where
2 days in a row, no weekend included.
Chlausemäret Solothurn
✓Wednesday, 2 December 2026 – Thursday, 3 December 2026 · 2 days
- Organiser
- Chlausemäret Solothurn
A market that pays no heed to the weekend: it always falls on the first Wednesday and Thursday in December – plan for the weekend and you miss it every time.
Source: solothurn-city.ch · checked on 8 September 2026
🗓️ Open today?
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📅 Visit-day check
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.
| Session | Run | Opening hours | Date set? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chlausemäret Solothurn | Wed 2 Dec – Thu 3 Dec2 days | — | confirmed |
Calculated from the ConvivaPlus dataset — every row with its own source above.
🚋 Transport & access with stop
- Meeting point
- Altstadt Solothurn
📋 Good to know before you go
- More than 70 market stalls.
- The Samichlaus comes to the square with his donkey and hands out mandarins and peanuts.
✨ Highlights on site
What sets this market apart from every other one is not in its run dates.
This market's calendar rule is its defining feature – and the reason people from the region miss it for years without understanding why. It does not happen at the weekend. It happens on the first Wednesday and Thursday in December, because that is how it has always been. Reserve your Advent Saturdays for market visits out of habit and you delete Solothurn from your own calendar every year without noticing.
The second difference is the length. The Chlausemäret runs two days, not four weeks. That changes the whole planning logic: with a month-long market a missed evening is a postponement; here it is a missed year. Which is exactly why this market usually appears wrong in overviews – in a list of date ranges, a two-day event looks like a rounding error.
And because it is short, it is dense: more than 70 stalls across the old town, and the Samichlaus arriving with his donkey to hand out mandarins and peanuts. That is not a scheduled act, it is part of the market – the reason families in the region block out that Wednesday.
How do you handle the Wednesday date?
One click – anonymous, no sign-up required.
🎯 Practical tips for your visit
For a market that lasts only two working days, planning is half the job – and the rule matters more than the date.
- 1Diarise the Wednesday, not the SaturdayThe organiser's rule is: first Wednesday and Thursday in December.
- 2A date for late deciders: 35 of the season's 69 events have already started before.
- 3No weekend in the period – plan a weekday to go.
- 4In 2026 the first day falls on a Wednesday.
📊 Season comparison with nearby markets
Where this market sits in the season — and which neighbour has already closed when it opens.
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.
- SolothurnChlausemäret Solothurn
🗺️ Nearby markets
The bar above makes the difference visible at a glance: next to its multi-week neighbours the Chlausemäret is a narrow stripe. That is precisely the information a date list does not carry – for markets, length is a property, not an aside.
Nationally: the densest day of the 2026 season is 5 December 2026, when 41 of the 69 confirmed markets are open at once. The season spans 18 November 2026 to 10 January 2027.
Markets nearby
❓ FAQ — answered
Answers from the verified dataset – nothing carried over from last year.
People also ask
Related questions from our magazine
The Lozärner Wiehnachtsmärt on Franziskanerplatz only begins on 3 December – two weeks after Zurich, Bern and Zug.
The Einsiedeln Christmas market: it runs for just ten days and is over on 6 December, while elsewhere the season is only getting going.
In the ConvivaPlus Christmas market calendar: 69 confirmed markets with run, opening hours and closed days, filterable by canton and weekday.
The ConvivaPlus verdict
For anyone travelling in from further away it is the riskiest market in the overview: two working days, no fallback date, no second chance. If you need flexibility, take one of the multi-week markets – say Basel or Winterthur, open every day for weeks.
Freshness note: The dates follow a rule published by the organiser. We read it on 8 September 2026 – check again shortly before, precisely because it is only two days.
Check the latest: ConvivaPlus Christmas market dataset 2026 – Solothurn →
- ◆The rule beats the date: «first Wednesday and Thursday in December» holds every year – know it and you never have to look it up again.
- ◆The window lasts 2 days – enough time, but not a standing offer.
- ◆Can't make the date? The nearest place with this event is Delémont, 24 km away.
How we check
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.
ConvivaPlus Editor · Family & Day Trips
Writes about day trips, family and local life – honestly assessing what's worth it.
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✨ Christmas markets · 8 September 2026