Mariazell Advent market
Mariazeller Advent47°46′ N 15°19′ EMariazellfrom Nov 19Seasonal
Go to Mariazell if you want a small-town Advent with church music every weekend, in front of Austria's best-known pilgrimage church. The catch is the calendar: the market opens Thursday to Sunday only, and getting there means a branch line or a bus from the main rail routes.
Photo Rinaldo Wurglitsch from Vienna, Austria · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.0 and others, credited in the gallery
Mariazell Advent market runs November 19, 2026 to December 20, 2026 · confirmed by the organizer (source)
Advent SundaysGaudete, 13 DecemberChristmas Eve
Dates and hours
- November 19, 2026 to December 20, 2026Confirmedsourcechecked Oct 10, 2026
- November 20, 2025 to December 21, 2025Announcedsourcechecked Oct 10, 2026
- November 23, 2023 to December 23, 2023Confirmedsourcechecked Oct 10, 2026
Hours · Mon–Wed closed; Thu–Sat 11:00–19:00; Sun 11:00–18:00
- Dec 6, 2026 · 11:00–19:00 (The organizer gives this Sunday the Thursday-to-Saturday hours, so the stalls stay open until 19:00.)
- Dec 7, 2026 · 11:00–19:00 (Extra Monday opening before the holiday.)
- Dec 8, 2026 · 11:00–18:00 (Feast of the Immaculate Conception, a public holiday in Austria.)
Access and crowds
- Getting around
- The organizer publishes no access notes for the square. The Bürgeralpe cable car has step-free cabins.
- Busiest
- Saturdays, and the opening weekend when the Vienna Boys' Choir sings.
- Quieter
- Thursday afternoons.
The market fills the Hauptplatz in front of the basilica, and the organizer bills it as Austria's biggest traditional Christmas market. Above the fountain hangs what the organizer calls the largest hanging Advent wreath in the world. Its 2023 press release gave the wreath a 12-metre diameter and a total weight of six tonnes, and counted around 60 decorated stalls on the square.
The 2026 edition is the 26th, and it runs over five long weekends from 19 November to 20 December. Stalls open Thursday to Saturday 11:00 to 19:00 and Sunday 11:00 to 18:00, and food runs an hour later. The 8 December holiday adds a Monday and Tuesday to the second Advent weekend.
Most evenings end in the basilica. The Vienna Boys' Choir opens the season with concerts on 19 and 20 November at 19:00, and the 2026 programme runs through gospel, brass, yodelling and a Christmas musical on 19 December. Concerts are booked through the market's website. On the first Saturday, 21 November, local Krampus groups parade on the Hauptplatz at 19:00 in their hand-carved masks.
The Bürgeralpe cable car leaves from close to the square. From 16:30 a lit trail called the Lichterzauber runs on the mountain, ticketed apart from the market. In the Raiffeisensaal you can watch woodcarvers and potters at work.
Worth knowing
- The Mariazellerbahn from St. Pölten is replaced by buses from 2 to 20 November 2026, so the opening weekend's concerts mean a bus ride if you come by rail.
- Book the basilica concerts early; the Vienna Boys' Choir added a second night in 2026 because of demand.
- Weekdays from Monday to Wednesday the market is shut, so plan a Thursday-to-Sunday stay.
Quick answers about Mariazell Advent market
When is the Mariazell Advent market open in 2026?
From 19 November to 20 December 2026, Thursday to Sunday, plus Monday 7 and Tuesday 8 December. Stalls open at 11:00 and close at 19:00, or 18:00 on Sundays and 8 December. Sunday 6 December keeps the 19:00 closing.
How big is the Advent wreath in Mariazell?
The organizer's 2023 press release gave it a diameter of 12 metres and a total weight of six tonnes. It hangs above the fountain on the Hauptplatz in front of the basilica.
In the journal and guides
Read more about Mariazell Advent market
Dates guide · 7 min read
When are the Krampus runs in Austria in 2026?
The first runs start on 21 November 2026 and the last Perchten come out on 21 December, and most of them gather around St Nicholas's Eve on 5 December.
Guide · 23 min read
When do Europe's Christmas markets open and close in 2026?
Vienna and Copenhagen open first, on 6 November 2026, and Cologne's Heumarkt keeps its stalls up until 10 January 2027. Every row below names who published the date.