The practice of holding a Christmas market or Weinachstmarkt in Germany, Austria and Switzerland among other countries dates back to the Middle Ages. Markets are held in accordance with Advent traditions, namely opening on the Sunday four weeks before Christmas. These markets are traditionally held in the main plaza of the city or town and spill out into adjacent streets. The size of the market depends on the size of the town. Some of the more famous markets are held in the cities of Nuremberg, Dresden, Berlin and Munich.

Christmas markets feature regional food and beverages. Numerous temporary stalls built out of wood sell local crafts, food products such as chocolates as well as handmade ornaments. For entertainment, there are musicians, dancers and other entertainers performing, often in local traditional clothing. For children, there may be some games and carousel rides.

The most popular beverage by far is mulled wine or Glühwein. This beverage is served hot to help you warm up on cold winter nights and is made of a combination of red wine, sugar and spices. For a recipe click here. To eat, there are numerous local vendors selling sausages, sauerkraut, German pretzels and of course Lebkuchen. Lebkuchen is a German variety of gingerbread often sold in large sizes of hearts or other shapes with icing of varying colors. See the featured image for this blog.

For the last three years, a Christmas market has been held in the Queen Elizabeth Plaza near the downtown Vancouver public library. I’ve had the pleasure of visiting every year and highly recommend it. For more information on market hours and to purchase tickets visit www.vancouverchristmasmarket.com

Meetup.com is an excellent resource to meet members of your community with similar interests. Create a quick profile, find the groups that interest you and get out there and meet people. I have been attending Spanish and German language meetup groups in Vancouver for the last five years and have had a very positive experience.

The Vancouver Spanish Language Meetup and Vancouver Spanish Meetup (VSM) are two groups that offer the opportunity for learners to get together with other speakers of Spanish. The speaking ability of those attending ranges from beginner through to native speakers but anyone who can hold a basic conversation in Spanish is welcome. Common events include informal conversations in pubs, cafés and restaurants, movie screenings for Spanish-language films, potlucks and cultural events.

The Greater Vancouver German Language Meetup regularly holds events around the Lower Mainland for members to meet and speak German. This group also has events for children to help parents pass on their heritage language. The speaking ability of those attending is generally in the upper intermediate or advanced level with many native speakers participating as well. A large number of members have either lived in a German-speaking country or have moved from German-speaking countries to Canada. Common events include informal conversations in pubs, cafés and restaurants, movie screenings for German-language films and cultural events.