Pendleton's Christkindlmarkt Weekends: How to Plan Your Holiday Evenings on the Village Green

On the Friday after Thanksgiving, white canopy tents will go up on the Village Green at 105 Exchange Street. They'll fill the space between the lit Christmas tree and Farmers Hall. Santa will take photos inside the Guardhouse. Across Exchange Street, the brick building that was Evans Drug Store for most of the last century will have shops lit up on its ground floor for its first Christmas since reopening.

Pendleton's holiday season is a set of evenings spent inside and around its restored buildings. The best way to plan December is to plan around them.

A market framed by Farmers Hall and the tree

The Pendleton Christkindlmarkt is modeled on the Christmas markets of Germany and the rest of Europe. Local resident Ginny Gaulin started it during the pandemic as a way to reconnect with the Pendleton community. Starting in 2025, the Town of Pendleton took over as market manager. This is the second season under Town management.

That handoff changed some practical details. Vendor applications open July 1, and a panel of jurors picks each year's vendors. The jurors look for festive displays, high-quality products and unique offerings. The Town's 2026 vendor rules call for uniform white 10-by-10-foot canopy tents. That gives the Green a consistent look from one end to the other.

The 2026 vendor map shows the mix. Food and drink include hot cocoa, cider, sandwiches and a Brews station. A school band is on the map, and so is Santa. Vendors sell pottery, jewelry, candles, wooden gifts, ornaments, soap and other handmade goods. If you go more than once, you're seeing the same jury-selected vendors on different nights. Many people like to browse on the first weekend and come back to buy on a later one.

The season at a glance

Everything below takes place downtown or within a short drive of the Green. Dates come from the Town of Pendleton events directory and the Pendleton Historic Foundation events page.

Santa photo hours at the Guardhouse differ by weekend. They run 4 to 8 p.m. on November 27 and 28, then 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. on both December weekends. If you're bringing small children on a December night, plan to arrive after 4:30 and get in line before 7:30.

Opening night is the busiest overlap of the season. The tree lighting begins at 6 p.m. on November 27, two hours after the market opens. Arriving at 4 gives you two hours of shopping before the crowd for the lighting gathers on the Green.

First up: Woodburn after dark

The first date on the calendar arrives before any tents go up. The Pendleton Historic Foundation scheduled new Ghosts of Woodburn tours for Friday and Saturday, November 13 and 14, at 8 p.m. You book through the Foundation Events page by scrolling to the date you want. The Foundation reminds visitors that its museums are not climate controlled, which matters for a mid-November night tour.

December 11 and 12: the weekend everything overlaps

On one weekend this season, the market and the Foundation's best-known holiday event run at the same time. Christkindlmarkt's final weekend is December 11 and 12, from 4 to 8 p.m. Christmas at Ashtabula, billed as "A Quiet Evening at Home," runs on the same two evenings from 5 to 8 p.m. It also has a Sunday session on December 13 from 2 to 5 p.m.

Ashtabula tours run in timed groups. A new group enters every 30 minutes for a 40-minute tour. Tickets go on sale November 23. If you want both events on the same night, book an early Ashtabula slot and then drive back to the Green. The market stays open until 8, so there's time for cocoa afterward. The Sunday afternoon session on December 13 falls after the market's final night, so it suits anyone who would rather keep Friday and Saturday evenings for the tents.

The building across the street

The biggest change downtown this year faces the Green. The former Evans Drug Store at 102 Exchange Street reopened in June after a restoration that took years. FOX Carolina reported that the brick building went up around 1905. It housed four generations of Evans family pharmacists, and two physicians practiced upstairs. After the drugstore closed in 1996, the upper floors sat empty for years.

Main Exchange LLC, a group of local investors, started the restoration in 2020. The work kept the original floors, doors and other historic features. "We really wanted to do it right," partner Susan Jezek told FOX Carolina. "It was worth every minute, every delay, every surprise."

The building's tenants are Newtique, Sutherland Hill Farms Photography and financial adviser Bray Friar. Krista Sutherland told the station she chose the space partly for its look and partly because Pendleton is her hometown. "I wanted to come back to this community," she said. For a market-goer, 102 Exchange Street is the closest storefront to the tents, and this is the first holiday season it has been open for business in its restored form.

Where else to step in around the square

The Town's market page asks visitors to "stay and shop local on the Town Square" after the market. Several long-standing spots sit a short walk from the Green:

• Raines on Exchange, 164 Exchange St., for a sit-down dinner after the market closes.
• The Village Bakery & Cafe, 108 East Main St. in Pendleton Square.
• BREWS at the Square, 182 East Queen St., which opened in 2021 as the company's third location. It pours a rotating craft beer list that changes weekly, sells retail wine and beer, and announces live music on its social channels.
• The Pendleton Bookshop, 125 East Queen St. Its posted hours run Wednesday through Saturday. It closes at 5 p.m. on Fridays and 3 p.m. on Saturdays, so plan a visit before the market rather than after it.

For a few more names, the Town's PABA member directory lists Brooklyn Style Pizza, Mama Rae's Ice Cream Shoppe, Pendleton Candy Company, PF Meat Co. and Swamp Fox Distilling.

Parking for a night downtown

The Town says on-street parking along Exchange and Main streets is limited during the market. It points visitors to several public lots within walking distance, shown on its downtown parking map. One of the lots on that map is the Brews parking lot. In his October message, the mayor said work was underway on the municipal lot behind Brews. That work includes stormwater improvements and preparation for electric vehicle charging stations. On parade Sunday, December 6, the Town's Christmas Parade page is the place to check for registration and event details before the 4 p.m. start.

Preservation projects beyond the Green

The Evans Drug building isn't the only newly restored space in town this December. The Pendleton Historic Foundation opened the Jenkins House and Farm at Kirkley Hill, 244 Cherry Street, in January 2026 after more than three years of restoration. It now hosts community events. The Foundation describes it as a venue for anything from organization meetings to catered gatherings and weddings. That makes it worth knowing about if you're planning a holiday get-together of your own next year.

Town Council is also working on preservation. In October, it approved the first reading of a Bailey Bill ordinance. The ordinance would offer a property-tax incentive to owners who rehabilitate qualifying historic homes and businesses. The mayor wrote that he hopes to finalize it before the end of the year. The same October message announced new bleachers at Veterans Park. It also invited residents to a November 9 public meeting on the park's future.

If you have family coming in for the market or the Ashtabula tours and want help deciding which weekend fits their visit, I'm happy to talk it through. Pendleton is one of my favorite places to spend a December evening. Clay Vassey | Let's Connect