Christmas Craft Fairs and Holiday Markets Around Fredericton: The 2026 Dates, Weekend by Weekend

How the season is shaped

Craft fairs in the capital region cluster the way they do because the makers are the same people. A potter who sells at Holly Jolly on the third weekend of November is at Christmas in the Village the next weekend and the Ex show after that, and the schedule is built so they can be. For you, that means two things: the fairs in the second half of November are the ones with the widest range of makers, and the very first fairs (the church bazaars and the Lions market in the first half of the month) are where the baking and the knitting are, before the professionals arrive.

Admission is either free or a toonie-to-five-dollars affair, often with a food-bank donation requested. Cash still rules at the smaller tables; the big shows have card readers and an ATM with a line. Parking is the real cost at UNB and the Ex; arrive at opening or after two.

Confirmed 2026 dates

Saturday, November 14: Northside Christmas Market, Nashwaaksis Lions Club, 148 Killarney Road, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., with Santa. Now in its sixth year; free entry last year. The right first fair of the season: small, local, and the baked goods table is serious.

Saturday and Sunday, November 21 and 22: Holly Jolly Holiday Market, Richard J. Currie Center, 15 Peter Kelly Drive, UNB, 10 to 4 both days, sixth year. The biggest juried makers' market in the city, more than a hundred vendors across the field house. Admission was $5 at the door last year with children under twelve free; 2026 admission had not been posted. Vendor applications run through hollyjollynb.ca.

Friday and Saturday, November 27 and 28: Santa's Side Hustle, Fredericton Inn, Friday noon to 8, Saturday 9 to 4. A hotel-ballroom market of small makers and side businesses; the Friday evening slot is the one to hit after work.

Saturday and Sunday, November 28 and 29: Christmas in the Village, Front Street, Gagetown. The village opens its shops, halls and porches to vendors who must be Arcadia residents or Gagetown Farmers Market sellers, which keeps it local by rule. Last year it ran 10 to 5 and was free. Vendor registration closes October 16 ($60 for the weekend). Pair it with the Gagetown Distilling and Cidery shop and the drive down Route 102.

Sunday, December 13: Hanwell Christmas Market, Kingswood Lodge, 10 to 3. The last of the season, and the one with a fireplace.

The Ex show, and a warning for vendors

The NBEX Christmas Craft Show at the Capital Exhibition Centre, 361 Smythe Street, is the region's largest commercial craft show, filling the Ex buildings for a weekend in late November or early December (2023 was December 1 to 3). Vendor applications for 2026 are open and final booth payments were due mid-September, so the show is on; the public dates had not been posted when we checked. The Ex has also posted a scam warning: vendors are being contacted by imposters, and the only legitimate contacts are [email protected] and [email protected]. Expect a modest admission at the door and the biggest parking scrum of the season; the Smythe Street lots fill by 11 on the Saturday.

Still to post 2026 dates: last year's, for planning

These ran in 2025 on the dates below and are annual; expect 2026 to land on the same weekend, and check the organizer before you drive.

Christmas at the Market, Fredericton Boyce Farmers Market, 665 George Street: Thursday and Friday, November 20 and 21, 2025, noon to 8 and 10 to 8, free, a hundred-plus vendors under the market roof. The market's regular Saturday hours (7 to 1) continue through December.

Oromocto Market Christmas Bazaar, Hazen Centre, 994 Onondaga Street: Thursday, November 20, 2025, 6 to 9 p.m., free.

Christmas in the Greenhouse, Scott's Nursery, 2192 Route 102, Lincoln: Thursday, November 20, 2025, 4 to 8 p.m., with Santa, cookies, cider and vendors among the poinsettias. The prettiest room of the season.

St. Mary's Christmas Craft Fair, Maqiyahtimok Centre, 247 Maliseet Drive, St. Mary's First Nation: Saturday, November 22, 2025, 10 to 3; bring a non-perishable item for the food bank. Indigenous makers, beadwork and baskets you will not find at the Ex.

Christmas in New Maryland Craft Show, New Maryland Centre: November 16 and December 7, 2025, 11 to 3. Christmas Makers Market, Picaroons Roundhouse, 912 Union Street: November 16, 2025, 11 to 4, with beer. Merry and Bright Holiday Market, Delta Fredericton: November 30, 2025, 9 to 4. Hospice Fredericton Christmas Market, Boyce Market: November 30, 2025, 10 to 4, free. Esoterica Holiday Market, Charlotte Street Arts Centre, 732 Charlotte Street: Saturday, December 6, 2025, 11 to 4, free, the artists' own fair. The Craft NB Christmas Festival, the province's juried fine-craft show, was at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery on December 7 and 8 in 2024, free; its 2025 and 2026 plans were not published when we checked.

Kings Landing, the tree lighting and the parade

The season's non-fair fixtures fall on the same weekends. Christmas Village Aglow at Kings Landing ran Wednesday to Sunday evenings, 5 to 9:30, from November 26 to December 21 in 2025 (plus December 27 and 28), with adult admission around $19.55; season-pass holders get in free. The 2026 dates had not been announced. The Mayor's Christmas Tree Lighting and Downtown Spectacular was Friday, November 28, 2025, 7:30 to 9 p.m. at City Hall, 397 Queen Street, with the Legislature's own tree lit at 6; free cider and hot chocolate. The Santa Claus Parade, run by the Kin Club of Nashwaaksis for fifty-one years, was Saturday, November 29, 2025 at 5 p.m., looping from Point Sainte Anne Boulevard east on Regent, west along King, up Westmorland and back along Queen. Queen Street and St. Anne's Point Drive close from Regent to Smythe from about 4 to 7. Expect the same weekend in 2026: the last one in November.

A plan for the two weeks

Saturday, November 14: the Northside Market at the Lions Club, then the Nashwaak trail with the coffee. The week of November 16 to 20: the Thursday evening triple, if last year's pattern holds: Scott's greenhouse at 4, the Oromocto bazaar or Christmas at the Market at 6. Saturday and Sunday, November 21 and 22: Holly Jolly at the Currie Center, and St. Mary's on the Saturday if it lands on the same weekend again. Friday, November 27: Santa's Side Hustle after work, then the tree lighting at City Hall if it repeats. Saturday, November 28: Gagetown in the morning, the parade downtown at 5. The first weekend of December: the Ex show, Esoterica on Charlotte Street, and Village Aglow on the way home. By the 13th you are in Hanwell by the fireplace, and the shopping is done, made by someone you met.