The Marché de Noël médiéval runs the length of the Grand’Rue, the single medieval main street of Ribeauvillé, from the lower town up through the Tour des Bouchers gate. The 2026 dates are Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 December and Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 December, Saturdays 10:00–19:00 and Sundays 10:00–18:00, as published by the town. Entry is free. The town organises it with all the local associations, which run the taverns and stalls, and describes it as one of the most popular Christmas markets in Alsace.
What makes it medieval is the street theatre. Troupes of gueux, manants, danseurs et baladins — beggars, peasants, dancers and strolling players in costume — wander the street; there is medieval music, jugglers, fire performers, knights’ combats, medieval games and craft demonstrations, farm animals for children, and the Three Kings arrive with their camels. The food follows: wild boar on the spit, cervoise (barley beer) and mulled wine, and the town insists that stalls use regional and French products. The stalls sell crafts and Christmas goods as well.
The crowds are the practical problem. The town centre is closed to traffic; visitors park at the park-and-ride in Bergheim (€10 per vehicle in 2025) and take the shuttles that run every 20 minutes, or use the Navettes de Noël du Pays des Étoiles, the Christmas shuttle buses linking Colmar, Kaysersberg, Riquewihr and Ribeauvillé. Motorhomes can use the municipal campsite. Ribeauvillé station, about 3 km from the centre on the Strasbourg–Colmar line, is the rail option. Saturday afternoons are the busiest; Sunday mornings are the calmest.
The market is held on the first two weekends of December every year, so 4–5 and 11–12 December 2027 is expected. Ribeauvillé’s other great festival, the Pfifferdaj on the first Sunday of September, is the oldest in Alsace.
