Attendance is up this year at the Christkindlmarket at RiverEdge Park in Aurora, a year after the event drew about 240,000 people.
From its opening Nov. 22 to Dec. 8, the market had drawn 107,000 patrons, which is more than the number of visitors from the same time period last year, said Maren Priebe, CEO and general manager of German American Events, which organizes the Aurora event and a similar Christkindlmarket at Daley Plaza in Chicago.
“We have seen as much as a 110% increase on a single day as compared to last year,” she said. “We have more merchants, it’s a beautiful location, and we have more entertainment and events exclusively in Aurora that I think are adding to our increase in attendance.”
The popular Christmas-time German-American market has made RiverEdge Park its suburban home since 2022. This year, more than five dozen vendors are situated through the park, with more than half offering gifts and ornaments, as well as two dozen food and beverage shops.
“We still have our favorites out here, and we also have new vendors offering beauty products, fresh flowers, centerpieces, a puzzle company and fun events are happening this year that are unique to Aurora,” Priebe said. “Last year, we had 52 vendors so there has been growth which we attribute to more interest from the public. Everybody has been asking us to offer German favorites like Steiff, a popular German stuffed bear company.”
Thursday’s frigid conditions kept attendance down a bit, but Friday’s somewhat milder weather lured thousands back including many out-of-town visitors like Heather Wano from Tampa, Florida, who said that “all of our family is up here.”
“I’ve been to the Christkindlmarket before but I usually go to the one in Chicago,” she said as she was finishing shopping with her husband Eric. “Our family is here so we thought, why not? I bought a present for my sister. I think the market here is nice.”
“I’m originally from here,” Eric Wano added. “We went to the Chicago market years ago and we thought we’d give this a shot. I like some of the German beers.”
Susan Anderson and her husband Al said they were down from Watersmeet, Michigan, and brought their dog along to the market.
“One of our daughters lives in Naperville and the other one in Plainfield, but we used to live in Aurora,” Susan Anderson said. “This is the first time we’ve come here and it’s a nice place to really see what they have and make decisions about what you might like in one location. And being outdoors is great. I love being outdoors and we can take our dog which is wonderful.”
Ken Nickels and his wife Laurie, from Davenport, Iowa, were yet another out-of-town couple visiting the market in Aurora, and admitted they had already bought “a bunch of chocolates.”
“I was born and raised in North Aurora and so this is kind of a homecoming,” Ken Nickels said. “This is the first Christkindlmarket we’ve ever been to, and we’re looking forward to it. We had some friends that came here last week and we found out about it and we’re excited. We’ve bought nothing but food so far. We bought some chocolate-covered almonds and chocolate bars and some licorice.”
“I like the food, but I am also interested in finding a nice pair of mittens,” Laurie Nickels added. “I’m very excited about that.”
Wheaton resident Chris Staum brought his daughter, Lizzy, 11, to the Christkindlmarket.
“I like that everything here is about the holiday season and you’ve got all the European import stuff,” he said. “We’ve got a big bag of chocolates and candy already.”
The Christkindlmarket in Aurora is open Thursdays through Sundays through Dec. 24. It is open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays.
There will be special hours of operation of 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, Dec. 16 to 18; 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday, Dec. 23; and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Christmas Eve (Dec. 24), which is the last day of the festival.
David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
