Christkindlmarket Naperville brought delicious food, drinks, handcrafted gifts, and a whole lot of people to Naper Settlement this year.
“Rough estimates right now are about 300,000 people, we haven’t had a chance to go through all of our numbers and visitor surveys, but I would say about 300,000 is what we’re looking at,” said Kate Bleeker, director of expansion and operation for German American Events.
And for its third year, a special Naperville-inspired souvenir mug was on offer and five new booths were added around the Christmas tree to connect to Rotary’s Naper Lights show.
“I thought it was really great to draw crowds more toward Naper Lights to experience everything they have to offer there,” said Bleeker.
The market is also meant to share German culture, having been based on the original Christmas market from Nuremburg.
It’s one of the only places to buy specialty goods from craft vendors from Germany and other places in Europe – like honey-based German gifts or Russian nesting dolls.
The traditional goods go well with the historical nature of Naper Settlement.
“Naper Settlement is such a great location for this event, the grounds are great. It’s been great to see the event grow and be accepted by the community and take on a life of its own,” said Bleeker.
Christkindlmarket Naperville will be back again this year, open as usual from the day after Thanksgiving until Christmas Eve.
Naperville News 17’s Blane Erwin reports.