The German Christmas Market in Taiwan 2026: three weekends, three cities

The short answer: The German Christmas Market 2026, organised by the German Trade Office Taipei, runs across three December weekends in three cities. It opens at Christmasland in Banqiao, New Taipei City, from Friday 4 to Sunday 6 December, moves to Taipei Expo Park from Friday 11 to Sunday 13 December, and finishes at Taoyuan Arts Plaza from Friday 18 to Sunday 20 December. Admission is free; you pay for what you eat, drink and take home. The dates and venues are from the organiser's own events listing, checked for this guide.

What the market is

Christmas markets in Germany run back seven to eight hundred years, and the German Trade Office has staged its Taiwan version since 2020 to bring that tradition to a Taiwanese December. The formula travels well because it is mostly about eating outside in the cold, or at least in what passes for cold in northern Taiwan. Expect wooden stalls, German sausages and pork knuckle, Christmas stollen, pastries and gifts, and the market's essential drink, hot mulled wine, with the lights and music doing the rest. Since 2025 the market has toured three cities rather than sitting in one, which is why the same stalls turn up in Banqiao, Taipei and Taoyuan on successive weekends.

Leg one: Banqiao, inside Christmasland

The opening weekend, 4 to 6 December, is the one with the biggest backdrop. The market sits at New Taipei City Plaza in Banqiao, inside Christmasland in New Taipei City 2026, so a sausage and a mulled wine come with the projection mapping, the themed light zones and the crowds of Taiwan's largest Christmas event around you. Banqiao station, serving the MRT, Taiwan Railways and the high speed rail, is a few minutes from the plaza, which makes this the easiest leg to reach from anywhere in the north. Our Christmasland guide covers the lights themselves; treat the market as the food quarter of that bigger night out, and go on the Friday if you want the stalls at their calmest.

Leg two: Taipei Expo Park

From 11 to 13 December the market is on home ground in Taipei, at Taipei Expo Park in Zhongshan District, by Yuanshan MRT station. This is the leg to choose if you are staying in central Taipei and want the market as a destination in itself rather than as part of a bigger light show. The Expo Park grounds give the stalls room to spread out, and the surrounding neighbourhood pairs well with a daytime run at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum or an evening that drifts on to Shilin Night Market afterwards. Opening hours are published by the organiser for each leg, so check the German Trade Office listing before you set out rather than relying on last year's times.

Leg three: Taoyuan Arts Plaza

The final weekend, 18 to 20 December, takes the market to Taoyuan Arts Plaza on Zhongzheng Road in Taoyuan District. This is the smallest and most local of the three legs, and for many visitors the most useful: Taoyuan is where the international airport is, and the plaza sits in the city itself, a short hop from Taoyuan station. If your Taiwan trip ends that weekend, this leg is a gentle last evening before a flight. If you live in Taoyuan, it is simply your turn: the market that Taipei and New Taipei had first closes the season with you.

How to plan it

Three practical points. First, entry is free everywhere, so the only budget is food, drink and gifts, and the popular stalls sell out of their best lines by mid evening. Second, all three legs are weekend only, and Saturday nights are the crush; Friday evenings and Sunday afternoons are the same market with breathing room. Third, pick your leg by where you already are that weekend rather than travelling across the north for a bratwurst: Banqiao for the full Christmasland night, Expo Park for a Taipei based weekend, Taoyuan for the airport side of the trip. The event listing keeps the three legs, venues and the organiser source in one place.

More reading on the articles page, or go straight to the events calendar.