Sunday shopping in Solothurn: in 2026 the town opens on different Sundays from the canton
✓ Checked at the source · as of 5 October 2026
Anyone following the cantonal calendar to shop in the town of Solothurn in 2026 finds closed shops twice: the canton put its seasonal Sundays on 29 March and 25 October — everywhere except the cantonal capital. There they were 17 May and 27 September. Only in Advent does everyone meet again.
📅 Dates 2026 — when and where
Adventsverkauf Solothurn
✓Sunday, 13 December 2026 · 1 day
- Organiser
- Stadt- und Gewerbevereinigung Solothurn
Source: stadtgewerbevereinigung.ch · checked on 5 October 2026
Adventsverkauf Solothurn
✓Sunday, 20 December 2026 · 1 day
- Organiser
- Stadt- und Gewerbevereinigung Solothurn
Source: stadtgewerbevereinigung.ch · checked on 5 October 2026
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| Session | Run | Opening hours | Date set? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adventsverkauf Solothurn | Sun 13 Dec | 11:00–17:00 in the town of Solothurn (Stadt- und Gewerbevereinigung). The law itself sets no hours. | confirmed |
| Adventsverkauf Solothurn | Sun 20 Dec | 11:00–17:00 in the town of Solothurn (Stadt- und Gewerbevereinigung). The law itself sets no hours. | confirmed |
Calculated from the ConvivaPlus dataset — every row with its own source above.
🕐 Open on Sunday? — the radar
The same radar as on the Swiss overview, set here to this canton: date in, verdict with hours and statutory rule out.
Sunday Radar by Conviva Plus
Pick a canton and a date — and see what actually applies that day.
The law prescribes no opening hours of its own — the shop's usual hours apply.
What the law says: §§ 13, 15 und 16 EG ArG SO (BGS 822.13), vom 13.06.2010 · Source
Next documented date: 13 December 2026 · Solothurn
The rule in 12 cantons — read at the legal source
They are deliberately absent from the table. An unread canton is an open question, not a zero — and while even one is missing, none of our pages claims «all cantons».
Appenzell Innerrhoden · Appenzell Ausserrhoden · Fribourg · Geneva · Glarus · Grisons · Jura · Neuchâtel · Nidwalden · Obwalden · Ticino · Uri · Vaud · Zug
⚖️ Cantonal rule verbatim
Who designates, how many Sundays are permitted and what hours the act sets — that is the canton's business, not the city's. Hence it sits here rather than beside a single date.
- Counted per
- canton
- At most
- 4
- Authorised by
- canton
- Hours in the law
- –
The law prescribes no opening hours of its own — the shop's usual hours apply.
Einfuehrungsgesetz zum Arbeitsgesetz, § 13: «Der Regierungsrat bezeichnet maximal vier Sonntage ... Zwei der bewilligungsfreien Sonntage dienen dem Saisonverkauf und zwei dem Adventsverkauf.» § 15: die zwei Saison-Sonntage werden zwei Jahre im Voraus festgelegt und vor Jahresbeginn im Amtsblatt publiziert; Gewerbeverband und Gewerkschaftsbund haben ein gemeinsames Vorschlagsrecht bis zum 31. Oktober. § 16 stellt die Adventsdaten als Regel ins Gesetz — sie sind damit rechenbar.
Solothurn · §§ 13, 15 und 16 EG ArG SO (BGS 822.13), vom 13.06.2010 · Source
🛍️ Shopping on Sunday — what differs here
The canton of Solothurn designates its shopping Sundays for its whole territory — Olten, Grenchen, Balsthal all have the same days. In 2026, for the first time, that is no longer entirely true. The cantonal association of SMEs and trades puts it in one sentence: the seasonal Sunday openings take place on 29 March and 25 October, except in the town of Solothurn. There they fell on 17 May and 27 September— the second Sunday of the HESO, Solothurn's autumn fair.
With a consequence that is easy to miss: on 25 October the shops are open in Olten, not in Solothurn. Read the cantonal calendar and drive to the capital, and you find closed doors — and if you have the Solothurn dates in mind and head for Olten, you already missed your autumn Sunday in September.
In Advent the order is simple again, and it is the most elegant in Switzerland: the law gives no date but a rule — the two Sundays before 24 December. In 2026 that is 13 December 2026 and 20 December 2026. The Stadt- und Gewerbevereinigung has published them for 2026, with hours from 11:00 to 17:00. On the first of the two, the traditional Wiehnachtsreis is performed. The Conviva Plus Sunday Radar lists both as documented dates.
Separate shopping Sundays for the town — good idea?
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🎯 Practical tips for this trading Sunday
Four things that work differently in Solothurn in 2026 than in the rest of the canton — and than elsewhere.
- 1The cantonal calendar does not cover the townThe canton's seasonal Sundays (29 March and 25 October 2026) apply everywhere except the town of Solothurn. The town had 17 May and 27 September. If you want to shop in Solothurn on 25 October, you will find the shops closed.
- 2In Advent everyone is equal§ 16 EG ArG sets the Advent days for the whole canton: the two Sundays before 24 December. In 2026 that is 13 December 2026 and 20 December 2026 — in the town of Solothurn just as in Olten and Grenchen.
- 311:00–17:00 — from the trade, not the lawSolothurn's law prescribes no opening hours. The 11:00–17:00 come from the Stadt- und Gewerbevereinigung. Individual shops may differ; the shop's own page is what counts.
- 4Two years' noticeThe cantonal government fixes the seasonal Sundays two years ahead (§ 15 EG ArG); the trade association and the trade-union federation have a joint right of proposal until 31 October. That is the route by which the town's retailers obtained their own days.
📊 Seasonal comparison with neighbouring cities
Where this city sits in the season — and which neighbouring city opens on the same Sunday.
Each bar is a documented trading day. Dark = this city, light = the nearest ones. Sunday trading clusters in Advent — but not all of it does, and two cities on the same date need not share the same hours.
🗺️ Nearby — other cities
Nationally, the ConvivaPlus Sunday-shopping survey lists 218 entries from 70 municipalities, 216 of them with a confirmed date. The documented season runs from 25 January 2026 to 27 December 2026; the densest day is 20 December 2026, with 54 entries. On Solothurn's Advent days, 55 other municipalities in our survey open too.
Of 26 cantons we have read 12 at the legal source; 14 remain open and are named in the radar. All cantonal rules side by side are in the Swiss overview, the Solothurn entries on the canton of Solothurn page.
Sunday trading nearby
❓ Frequent questions — answered
Answers taken from the statutory text and the official publication – no date is carried over from last year.
People also ask
Related questions from our magazine
Basel-Landschaft — «the 2nd and 4th Sundays of Advent», though municipalities may expressly deviate.
On Solothurn's Advent days, 55 other municipalities in our survey open too.
The Chlausemäret on Friedhofplatz on 2 and 3 December — a market without a single weekend day.
The ConvivaPlus verdict
In 2026 Solothurn is the case where every cantonal list fails: it gives 29 March and 25 October — and is wrong twice for the capital. The exception sits in a single subordinate clause at the trade association, not in the law.
For Advent, on the other hand, it is simpler than anywhere: the rule is in the law, the year is published and the hours are uniform. Come on 13 December 2026 and 20 December 2026between 11:00 and 17:00 and the town's shops are open.
Freshness note: Advent dates and hours from the Stadt- und Gewerbevereinigung Solothurn, the canton's and town's seasonal Sundays from the KMU- und Gewerbeverband Kanton Solothurn, both read on 5 October 2026. The rule in § 16 EG ArG is the legal basis; the 11:00–17:00 are a recommendation from the trade, not statutory hours.
Check the latest: ConvivaPlus Sunday trading dataset 2026 – Solothurn →
- ◆Two calendars in one canton. Seasonal Sundays on 29 March and 25 October for every Solothurn municipality — except the town of Solothurn, which opened on 17 May and 27 September. In Advent one calendar applies to everyone again.
- ◆A rule instead of a date. § 16 EG ArG names the two Sundays preceding 24 December. If the 24th itself falls on a Sunday, it does not count. That keeps Advent computable every year — even without a publication.
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.
Where only a fixed rule is published, such as the eve of St Nicholas' Day, we work out the date and label it “calculated from the fixed rule”. Anything not yet published stays open — we don't guess.
Something missing or changed? A note below is enough; we check it at the source.
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In 2026 the canton of Solothurn has two Sunday calendars: seasonal Sundays on 29 March and 25 October for every municipality — except the town of Solothurn, which opened on 17 May and 27 September.
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🛍️ Sunday shopping · 5 October 2026