Medieval festivals in December 2026

December is Christmas markets and a to-do list. The Esslingen Medieval Market & Christmas Market runs until before Christmas, open daily into the evening, with fire-eaters and stilt-walkers on three stages and craft demonstrations best seen on a weekday afternoon before the S-Bahn from Stuttgart fills up. Over in Bavaria the Nürnberger Christkindlesmarkt goes to Christmas Eve and shuts at lunchtime that day; it is not medieval and does not pretend to be, but the gingerbread, the prune-figure Zwetschgenmännle and the gold-leaf angels are their own tradition. Then the list: beds and a ferry for Gotland in August, a bed in Lerwick for January and, in the years it happens, Landshut’s tickets go long before spring. Use the dark evenings.