Candle dipping St. Gallen: the tent changed host and place — and the old page shows 2025
✓ Checked at the source · as of 5 October 2026
For 35 years the candle-dipping tent in St. Gallen was a Cevi affair by the station. Neither is true any more. Check the Cevi page today and you find the 2025 dates — the 2026 date is only with the new host. And the new host has added a second candle dipping in the city.
📅 Dates 2026 — when and where
Two events that overlap on 10 days – on those days you can choose.
Kerzenziehzelt am Sternenmarkt
✓Saturday, 28 November 2026 – Sunday, 13 December 2026 · 16 days
- Organiser
- Katholisches Dom Zentrum mit der Jugendarbeit und der reformierten Cityseelsorge
After 35 years, Cevi St. Gallen has handed over the candle-dipping marquee: it is now run by the Catholic Dom Zentrum together with the youth ministry and the Reformed city chaplaincy — and it no longer stands by the station, but on Gallusstrasse as part of the Sternenmarkt.
Source: kathsg.ch · checked on 5 October 2026
Kerzenziehen im Pfarreiheim St. Fiden
✓Wednesday, 2 December 2026 – Sunday, 13 December 2026 · 12 days
- Organiser
- Kerzenziehen im Pfarreiheim St. Fiden (Katholische Kirche St. Gallen)
St. Gallen's second candle dipping, in the parish hall in the east of the city: red paraffin or beeswax, with a café corner — and at weekends from 10:00 to 19:00, nine hours straight.
Source: kathsg.ch · checked on 5 October 2026
🕐 Opening hours 2026
Many workshops open on set weekdays only — so each window is listed separately rather than as one continuous run.
Monday to Friday 12:00–18:00 · Saturday and Sunday 11:00–17:00 · schools from middle level Monday to Friday 09:00–12:00 by booking
Wednesday to Friday 14:00–19:00 · Saturday and Sunday 10:00–19:00 · closed Monday and Tuesday
🗓️ Open today?
16 days with something on, 6 of them on a Saturday or Sunday – enter your day and the check tells you what is open.
📅 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? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kerzenziehzelt am Sternenmarkt | Sat 28 Nov – Sun 13 Dec16 days | Monday to Friday 12:00–18:00 · Saturday and Sunday 11:00–17:00 · schools from middle level Monday to Friday 09:00–12:00 by booking | confirmed |
| Kerzenziehen im Pfarreiheim St. Fiden | Wed 2 Dec – Sun 13 Dec12 days | Wednesday to Friday 14:00–19:00 · Saturday and Sunday 10:00–19:00 · closed Monday and Tuesday | confirmed |
Calculated from the ConvivaPlus dataset — every row with its own source above.
🚋 Transport & access with stop
- Meeting point
- Gallusstrasse 16, 9000 St. Gallen
- Nearest stop
- St. Gallen, Stiftsbezirk (BUS) — 176 m as the crow flies
- Meeting point
- Pfarreiheim St. Fiden, 9000 St. Gallen
Coordinates © swisstopo · Stops: opentransportdata.swiss (FOT)
📋 Good to know before you go
- The 2026 edition is now published by the Catholic Church of St. Gallen itself; the old Cevi page still shows the 2025 dates. Groups by booking only.
- Candles are dipped in 60 % beeswax, charged at CHF 5.– per 100 g. Groups by booking only; schools from middle level Monday to Friday 09:00–12:00.
- Anyone searching for the «Cevi candle dipping by the station» is searching for an event that no longer exists under that organisation or in that place.
- School classes and other groups on request, also outside opening hours.
✨ Highlights on site
What sets this candle-dipping session apart is not in its run dates.
Some events you do not search for — you know them: the Cevi, the tent, the station, every Advent. Those are exactly the ones that disappear most quietly. No cancellation notice — the host changes, the place changes, and memory keeps leading people to the old address.
In St. Gallen both happened. The Cevi handed over the tent after 35 years; it is now run by the Catholic Dom Zentrum together with youth work and the Reformed city chaplaincy — on Gallusstrasse, inside the Sternenmarkt. And the Cevi page is still online: check it and you read «29. November - 14. Dezember 2025». The 2026 date is only with the new host, on the Catholic Church of St. Gallen's page.
That page also lists something no overview mentions: a second candle dipping, in the St. Fiden parish hall, from 2 December 2026. If the tent in the old town is too crowded, there is an alternative in the east of the city with a café corner — and at weekends nine hours straight, from 10:00 to 19:00.
Where do you dip in St. Gallen?
One click – anonymous, no sign-up required.
🎯 Practical tips for your visit
Two places, two rhythms — and the old address in your head helps with neither. Four points.
- 1Not to the station — to GallusstrasseThe tent is now part of the Sternenmarkt at Gallusstrasse 16, in the middle of the old town. Set off with the old picture in mind and you will find nothing.
- 2Late in the seasonA date for late deciders: 34 of the season's 47 events have already started before.
- 3Beeswax at CHF 5.– per 100 gIn the tent you dip 60 % beeswax, charged by weight. St. Fiden also has red paraffin.
- 4St. Fiden at weekends from 10:00 to 19:00The St. Fiden parish hall opens Wednesday to Friday 14:00–19:00 and at weekends 10:00–19:00; closed Monday and Tuesday. Groups on request, also outside these hours.
📊 Season comparison with nearby places
Where this session sits in the season — and which neighbour has already closed when it opens.
Each bar is a documented run. Dark = this session, pale = the nearest ones. Read a single date and you miss that the neighbouring village has already packed up when the wax here is only just warming.
- St. GallenKerzenziehzelt am Sternenmarkt · Kerzenziehen im Pfarreiheim St. Fiden
- TeufenAR
🗺️ Nearby sessions
In the canton of St. Gallen the ConvivaPlus candle-dipping survey records 2 events. Nationwide there are 58 entries, 47 of them with a verified date — both St. Gallen places have been among them since early October.
The busiest day of the whole season is 2 December 2026 with 26 events running at once. If you want to go further afield, you will find published runs in Winterthur and Basel. The busiest day is a figure from the ConvivaPlus analysis: it can only be calculated when start AND end are documented for every location — which is why St. Gallen only now appears here with a date and was previously listed as «open» rather than filled with last year's.
Candle dipping nearby
❓ FAQ — answered
Answers from the verified dataset – no date carried over from last year.
People also ask
Related questions from our magazine
In Winterthur several offerings have published runs, including school slots and public days.
Because we only show verified dates as dates. The Cevi page showed 2025; only the Catholic Church of St. Gallen published 2026. A date carried over from last year looks helpful and is the most common cause of wasted trips.
In Thalwil: the event is biennial and is not held in 2026 because the parish hall is being renovated.
The ConvivaPlus verdict
For St. Gallen locals with childhood memories this is the region's most important page: it explains why the search for the old event leads nowhere and names the two places where it happens today. The tent is central and open every day, St. Fiden quieter and longer at weekends.
If you have the choice: weekdays over lunch in the tent, weekends in St. Fiden. Further afield, published runs await in Winterthur.
Freshness note: Both places, runs, opening hours and the price come from the Catholic Church of St. Gallen's page (kathsg.ch), source read on 5 October 2026. The change of host is stated on the Cevi St. Gallen page, which still shows the 2025 edition of the dipping. Until early October St. Gallen was listed here as «open» rather than filled with those dates from last year.
Check the latest: ConvivaPlus candle-dipping dataset 2026 – St. Gallen →
- ◆The old page is the most dangerous information: it is still there, shows «29. November - 14. Dezember 2025» and looks like a date. Copy it for 2026 and you make people miss the first day — and stand in front of a dismantled tent on 14 December.
- ◆From the St. Gallen, Stiftsbezirk stop it is 176 metres as the crow flies.
- ◆In 2026 the first day falls on a Saturday.
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.
- Day trips
- Family
- Local
- Cities & regions
All information without guarantee. Found an error? → support@conviva-plus.ch
The period spans 3 weekends – miss one and there is still another.
Found an error or have feedback? Let us know or write to us directly.
🕯️ Candle dipping · 5 October 2026