Although attendance numbers fell short because of the weather, Aurora’s Christkindlmarket still had “another fantastic year,” according to organizers.
Before the final stretch of this season’s outdoor holiday market in Aurora, which takes place at RiverEdge Park near downtown, attendance had been up during good weather but down overall, according to Maren Priebe. She’s the CEO and general manager of German American Events, which puts on the Chicago-area Christkindlmarkets.
Now that the market has closed for the season, the final attendance numbers are in, and they show a similar trend to what Priebe had described before. Attendance was up 20% over last year on good weather days, but the event saw fewer attendees overall because of serious winter weather during some of the market’s busiest times, she said.
The region has seen unusually heavy and record-breaking snowfall this season, with one Saturday in November even breaking a Chicago daily snowfall record set in 1951. Weather officials have said this year had the “quickest start to winter” since 1978, according to the Chicago Tribune.
The snow forced the market to close early on Nov. 29 because of the major snowfall, according to Priebe. She said that weekend is typically “super successful” with attendance.
Another very popular day, Dec. 13, saw extremely cold temperatures that forced the market to again close early, Priebe said. Still, she was “pleasantly surprised” by the turnout the next day, even with the very cold temperatures.
Overall, Aurora’s Christkindlmarket saw 220,000 visitors this season, which was about 55,000 less than the year before. Before opening day, officials told Beacon-News columnist Denise Crosby that the market could easily see 325,000–350,000 attendees this year, barring any kind of weather occurrence.
The market ran from Nov. 21 to Christmas Eve and was generally open Thursdays to Sundays, but also ran the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday before Christmas.
Priebe had attributed to repeat business much of the increase in attendance seen this season during days with more standard weather. The Aurora market has a good following now and is becoming a family tradition, one that people are bringing others along for, she previously said.
RiverEdge Park’s General Manager Jim Jarvis recently said he was hearing the same thing from greeters: that Aurora’s Christkindlmarket is becoming a tradition.
Plus, Aurora’s event is larger than other markets and also convenient, with a Metra station and free parking within walking distance, Priebe previously said.
Although attendance numbers were down this season, vendors at the holiday market still saw higher sales than in years past, she said recently. They are “elated” at how things went, she said, and on some days even saw higher sales in Aurora than at the Chicago locations.
Christkindlmarket’s economic impact extends beyond just the vendors who participate in it. The city of Aurora’s director of economic development, David Dibo, said that local businesses and restaurants are feeling a significant positive impact from the market, both this year and in years past.
The same days that the market’s attendance dropped because of weather, he said, businesses also felt it.
Still, Aurora is working on further moving people from the market to local businesses, especially those in the nearby downtown, according to Dibo. Jarvis said that, when construction at both the park and nearby buildings is complete, it’s going to be a “beautiful walk” from the park to the downtown core of the city.
Christkindlmarket is honored to be the first group to be hosted at the newly-renovated RiverEdge Park, Priebe said, although that work is still ongoing. According to Jarvis, some construction was actually happening while the market was open, although people wouldn’t have known.
The market this season was up to 70 vendors, and because of the renovations that number is set to further increase next season, Priebe said. New vendors are already looking to participate, she said, and typically finding good vendors is the hardest part, so that’s one problem the Aurora location doesn’t have.
Plus, Christkindlmarket is planning to bring some new events and attractions to RiverEdge Park, she said.
Planning for next season’s market is actually set to begin within the month, according to Jarvis. He said that people often don’t realize the amount of work that goes into planning this event.
rsmith@chicagotribune.com
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2026/01/20/aurora-christkindlmarket-2025-weather/
