Chlausemäret Solothurn: the market that pays no attention to the weekend
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.
📅 Run, opening hours and what the organiser actually published
Chlausemäret Solothurn
confirmedWednesday, 2 December 2026 – Thursday, 3 December 2026 · 2 days
- Meeting point
- Altstadt Solothurn
- 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.
- More than 70 market stalls.
- The Samichlaus comes to the square with his donkey and hands out mandarins and peanuts.
Source: To the organiser's page · checked on 8 September 2026
📅 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 | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chlausemäret Solothurn | Wed 2 Dec – Thu 3 Dec2 days | — | confirmed |
Calculated from the ConvivaPlus dataset — every row with its own source above.
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
🔎 What sets this market apart from every other one
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.
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🎯 How to plan the visit without standing in an empty square
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. If you put market visits on weekends on principle, you will never see Solothurn.
- 2Two days means no second chanceUnlike a four-week market, there is no shifting to next week here. A missed evening is a missed year.
- 3With children, for the SamichlausHe comes onto the square with his donkey and hands out mandarins and peanuts. For many families in the region that is the actual reason to go into the old town on a Wednesday evening.
- 4The whole old town, not one squareMore than 70 stalls spread across the old town. Two days, but the entire centre – that density is what carries a short market.
🗺️ Where this market sits in the season
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 3 December 2026, when 20 of the 23 confirmed markets are open at once. The season spans 18 November 2026 to 27 December 2026.
Markets nearby
Frequently asked questions about this market
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.
Lucerne Franziskanerplatz Christmas market →The Einsiedeln Christmas market: it runs for just ten days and is over on 6 December, while elsewhere the season is only getting going.
Einsiedeln Christmas market →In the ConvivaPlus Christmas market calendar: 23 confirmed markets with run, opening hours and closed days, filterable by canton and weekday.
To the verified Christmas market calendar →The ConvivaPlus verdict
For families in the region this is one of the densest evenings of the season: more than 70 stalls in one of the country's loveliest old towns, plus the Samichlaus with his donkey – all on a single Wednesday. Live nearby, diarise the date, and you are well served.
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.
- ◆Two days is a property, not a detail: in a list of date ranges, a two-day market looks like a rounding error. Which is why it usually appears wrong there.
- ◆The Samichlaus is not a scheduled act: he comes onto the square with his donkey and hands out mandarins and peanuts – for many local families, the actual reason.
ConvivaPlus Editor · Family & Day Trips
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Solothurn's Chlausemäret always falls on the first Wednesday and Thursday in December – the only multi-day market in the ConvivaPlus overview that does without a weekend day entirely. Baden also falls on a Wednesday, but lasts only one day.
Discussion
4 voices from the community
Mir hei jahrelang gmeint, mir syge eifach immer am falsche Wucheänd cho. Bis öpper gseit het: dä Märit isch gar nid am Wucheänd. Sithär chlappt s.
Genau das ist die Regel, die der Veranstalter publiziert: jeweils am ersten Mittwoch und Donnerstag im Dezember. Wer auf ein Wochenende plant, verpasst ihn systematisch – nicht zufällig.
Für d Chind isch de Samichlaus mit em Esel s Highlight. Mandarine und Erdnüssli, wie scho immer. Das isch kei Show, das isch eifach so.
Deux jours seulement, mais toute la vieille ville. C'est très différent d'un marché qui dure un mois – ici, si tu rates, tu rates pour un an.
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✨ Christmas markets · 8 September 2026