Brașov Christmas Market 2026: Dates, Hours and Prices

Dates for 2026/27

What	Date	Status
Preview: stalls open, no festive lights yet	Fri 27 – Sun 29 November 2026	Confirmed
Official opening, Christmas lights and tree switched on	Mon 30 November 2026	Confirmed
Last day	Sun 3 January 2027	Confirmed
Daily opening hours, concerts, New Year’s Eve	Not announced yet	Expected in November

Brașov City Hall announced these dates on 9 October 2026. Brașov County Council’s 2026 fair calendar (PDF) gives the same dates, 27 November – 3 January.

The official opening often falls on 30 November: in 2025 the market opened that day too, and it stayed open until 11 January 2026 (City Hall, 16 October 2025). The 2024 market ran from 29 November 2024 to 7 January 2025. The opening hours and the events programme should come out in November. For everything else that’s on in December, see What’s on in Brașov.

Opening hours

The 2026 hours aren’t out yet. These were the 2025 hours:

• Monday to Friday: 14:00–22:00
• Saturday, Sunday and public holidays: 10:00–22:00
• 31 December: the food and drink area stayed open 14:00–01:00

The lights and the tree stay on in the evening, so the square is still worth a stroll after 22:00, when the stalls have shut.

Where it is

The main market fills Piața Sfatului (Council Square), around the Council House, the old town hall. City Hall’s plan for 2026 is “over 50 stalls in three zones”. One is Piața Sfatului. Another is Piața Sfântul Ioan, a small square nearby, which will have surprises for children. The third zone hasn’t been named yet. In 2025 it was the area in front of the Transilvania University rectorate, on Bd. Eroilor.

In 2025 there were 54 stalls, split like this in the 2025 market regulations (PDF):

• Piața Sfatului: 41 wooden chalets (16 craftspeople, 9 food producers, 8 hot-food stalls, 6 drinks stalls and 2 other traders)
• Piața Sfântul Ioan: 6 food trucks
• Rectorat area: 7 stalls

For 2026, City Hall is keeping more than 70% of the producer and craft stalls for people from Brașov city and county, and handmade goods score extra points when stallholders are chosen. So most of the producers and craftspeople you’ll meet are local.

What’s there

• Food and drink. To warm you up, there’s vin fiert (mulled wine), mulled țuică (plum brandy), hot chocolate and hot apple juice. Hot food includes sarmale (cabbage rolls) with polenta, sausages cooked in a cauldron, kürtőskalács (chimney cake, sold as kurtos), crêpes and roasted chestnuts.
• Local products and crafts. Most chalets go to food producers and craftspeople, and handmade goods get priority.
• The tree and the lights. In 2025 Piața Sfatului had a real 31-metre tree from the forests around Poiana Brașov. It carried 200,000 bulbs and 5,000 baubles, and the city as a whole had about 1.3 million lights (City Hall, 24 November 2025; City Hall, 30 November 2025).
• A stage. In 2025 there was a stage in the square, with concerts, carols and shows on many December evenings (see below).

Photo: Alina Belogolova on Unsplash

Prices

Entry is free. Here’s what things cost at the Brașov market over the last two seasons, going by news reports. Expect much the same, or a little more, in 2026.

Item	2025	2024
Mulled wine (vin fiert)	about 15–20 lei	12–18 lei
Hot chocolate	about 15 lei	15–20 lei
Hot apple juice / cider	about 12 lei	12 lei
Mulled țuică		15 lei
Sarmale with polenta	about 30 lei	20 lei
Sausages	about 30–35 lei	30 lei
Crêpes		20–30 lei
Roasted chestnuts		20 lei
Bread with lard (pâine cu untură)	10 lei

The 2025 prices come from Observator, 22 December 2025 and the 2024 prices from Știrile ProTV, 5 December 2024. As a rough guide, 10 lei is about €2.

We track these prices every year on our Brașov Christmas market prices page. The 2026 prices go up there on opening weekend, and you can download the full dataset as a free CSV.

Events: what to expect

The 2026 programme isn’t out yet. To give you an idea, this is what was on in 2025:

• 30 November: the lights were switched on at 18:00, followed by a laser show and a concert by Fly Project in Piața Sfatului.
• 1 December (Romania’s National Day): the Junii gathered in Piața Unirii at 10:00, a military ceremony followed on Bd. Eroilor at 12:00, and there was a folk show in Piața Sfatului from 18:00.
• 5 December (St Nicholas’ Eve): a children’s theatre show and a concert for children.
• Mid to late December: carol singers and concerts, plus live screenings of Christmas concerts from the Black Church, the Philharmonic and the Opera (City Hall).
• 31 December: a free New Year’s Eve party in Piața Sfatului with DJs and a laser show at midnight instead of fireworks (City Hall, 29 December 2025).

Ice skating

There was no rink in Piața Sfatului in 2025. In recent winters, though, there’s been an outdoor rink at Olimpia. It’s the old home of the Brașov Skating Club, and the building now houses the Sport and Mountain Tourism Museum. The rink was open in January 2026.

In 2025/26 Brașov County Council ran the rink. It opened on 5 December and ran Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00–21:15, in 75-minute sessions. It was closed on Mondays. A session cost 20 lei for adults and 15 lei for children up to 14, the same as in 2024. Skate hire was another 20 lei.

From 1 January 2026 the council raised the adult ticket and skate hire to 25 lei each. Children still paid 15 lei. Over the holidays the rink closed on 25 and 31 December and opened from 14:00 on 1 January.

Our ice skating guide covers both of Brașov’s rinks, with hours, prices and how to get there.

Getting there and parking

• On foot: Piața Sfatului is the centre of the Old Town, so walking is the easiest way to get there.
• By bus: get off at Livada Poștei (lines 1, 2, 2B, 4, 6, 14, 16, 17, 20, 24, 28, 31, 34, 34B, 36, 41 and the A1 airport bus) or Primărie (4, 6, 16, 34, 34B, 36, 41, 52). From either stop, walk down Str. Mureșenilor or Str. Republicii to the square. A single ticket costs 5 lei and lasts 90 minutes, and a day pass costs 20 lei.
• On opening night, City Hall recommends taking the bus. In 2025 Str. Mureșenilor, Str. Gheorghe Barițiu and the square were closed to traffic from 17:30 to 20:30. For tickets and apps, see our guide to getting around Brașov.
• By car: you pay to park in the centre, and spaces fill up in December. The closest public car parks are on Bd. Eroilor, Str. Castelului, Aleea Tiberiu Brediceanu and by the County Library at Livada Poștei. For now you pay 08:00–20:00, and Sundays are free. City Hall is consulting on higher central rates and paid Sundays (City Hall, 18 September 2026), so check the signs when you park.
• From the airport: the A1 bus stops at Livada Poștei. See our Brașov airport guide.

Tips

• Go after dark. The lights are the whole point, and in late December the sun sets at around 16:40.
• Expect crowds on opening night (30 November). In 2025 RAT Brașov put on 29 extra buses on 13 lines for it. If you want to watch the lights go on from the square, get there well before 18:00.
• Dress for the cold. December evenings in Brașov usually hover around freezing or dip below it. Our weather forecast for Brașov tool turns the live forecast into a packing list, and Brașov in winter covers the rest of the season.
• Carry some cash for small purchases, in case a stall doesn’t take cards.
• Combine it with the Black Church, a minute’s walk away. In winter it’s open Tuesday to Saturday 10:00–18:00 and Sunday and Monday 12:00–18:00, and it’s closed on 25 December. Our Black Church guide has more.

Buying a Christmas tree in Brașov

Most visitors won’t need one. If you’re renting a flat over the holidays, though, cut and potted trees go on sale in early December at the big DIY stores and at stalls around the city.

• Dedeman has two stores, at B-dul Griviței 1T and Calea București 246D, open 08:00–21:00. Its website has a section for real trees (Dedeman stores).
• Hornbach, at Str. Bucegi 3, is open Monday to Saturday 08:00–21:00 and Sunday 08:00–19:00 (Hornbach Brașov).

Compare prices between shops before you buy. As for getting rid of it afterwards, City Hall ran a collection campaign for used trees in January 2026.

FAQ

When does the Brașov Christmas market open in 2026?

The stalls open on Friday 27 November 2026 for a preview weekend. The official opening, when the lights go on, is on Monday 30 November.

When does it close?

On 3 January 2027, according to City Hall. That’s earlier than in 2025, when it stayed open until 11 January.

Is it free?

Yes. You only pay for what you eat, drink or buy.

Is it worth visiting?

Yes, if you’re in Brașov anyway or coming on a day trip from Bucharest. It’s a compact market of about 50 stalls in one of Romania’s best-looking squares, with the mountain behind it. Next to the big markets in Vienna or Germany it’s smaller and more local, so come for the setting and the food rather than the shopping.

Is there a skating rink?

There wasn’t one in Piața Sfatului in 2025. The nearest is the outdoor rink at Olimpia, which opened on 5 December in 2025/26. A 75-minute session has cost 25 lei for adults since January 2026, and 15 lei for children. There’s more in the ice skating section above.

Is the market open on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day?

In 2025 the published hours for public holidays were 10:00–22:00, the same as at weekends. The 2026 hours aren’t out yet, so check before you go.

Sources

• Brașov City Hall: 2026 dates (9 October 2026); 2025 dates; 2025 opening and the tree
• Piețe Publice Brașov, the market organiser: 2025 hours, 2025 regulations
• RAT Brașov: fares
• Observator and Știrile ProTV: market prices (2025 and 2024)