Charlotte Christmas Village

I've been going to this Christmas market since its first year. It used to be a lot better, but it's gone down hill. It used to be at Romare Bearden Park and I think that's the when it was at its best. After that, it moved to a random parking lot and then most recently to BB&T Ballpark. The number of vendors has gone down significantly. They added a lights display last year which was kind of cool. They also started charging an entrance fee. I might go back if it goes back to being free, but I definitely don't think it's worth paying to get into.

I was very excited to visit the Christmas Village while visiting Charlotte during the holidays. I thought it'd be a perfect thing to do!i was very disappointed and underwhelmed. The market was crowded in a small parking lot with very small stands for vendors. It was very crowded so it was hard to go in and check all the stands. Some were empty, they weren't too many to begin with. I even witnessed somebody breaking an ornament inside a stand, a first for me! Holiday craziness, I guess? More like lack of space.The decorations were minimal and subdued, Santa was crawling along to take his place in his house, guess he was on a break?Prices were high for the merchandise on sale. I got a cheese strudel, a parmesan pretzel and 2 hot apple ciders (small sizes) for $23? Seriously? They ran out of cherry and apple strudels and I settled for cheese, left with no choices. It was the worst I ever had, I couldn't taste the marzipan, the cheese was barely any, no raisins or anything, pretty bland.The market is free and for what they have to offer, they better not charge admission. Worst Christmas market I ever visited! And the smallest!

I love that they're having everyone buy tickets with a specific entry time slot (you get a 3 hour entry window) in order to stagger visitors and prevent big crowds. Also they have a suggested directional traffic flow. We came during the middle of the day on a Sunday. It was pretty empty. We probably should have come in the evening or with a smaller child. There were more things to enjoy if you had a little one with you, such as a "write and mail a letter to Santa" section, and a "Christmas tree forest."We thought there would be a few more vendor tents than there were. I think there were about 12 or so. I'm sure it was difficult to fill up this year with Covid19 precautions, etc. As an adult, I think I'd go back at night next time. But I do hope they do well this year and I appreciate the covid precautions they've taken (masks required, staggered entry, one way suggested traffic flow, etc.).

Miss it being in the old place. Have been coming for years and this is the first year at the stadium. I do not like having to pay to go in, it being smaller, and the beer places not being able to participate. This has been the highlight of our year the past few years and this year I give it a 4 out of 10. Not worth the money paying to get in. Not sure if it is because fo covid or not. However, if next year remains the same we will pob not attend.

Cute?...yes. Something to do...yes. Worth $20 ($10 a ticket)....no. I've never been so I was super exited to check it out this year. We walked right up to the ticket counter at 5:20pm and bought 2 tickets with no hassle. Walked around, saw the pretty trees and decor, took a picture with Santa and finished the whole "trail" by 5:45pm. Cute photo ops, something to do, food and drink available, a couple of vendors (dog treats, jewelry, ornaments etc) but not really worth the ticket price.

This year the Christmas village was moved to the knights Ball Park, the venue itself is nice, but now you must purchase a ticket to get in. Past years there was no charge for admission, so that's kind of a bummer. The lights are very nice, but I found there were a lot less vendors here this year and very limited selections of beverages, especially beer, I also found the prices to be a bit on the high side. I don't think I will come back next year if they keep the same venue.

We had a great little outing to the Charlotte Christmas Village Saturday afternoon! After reading some negative reviews on FB, my expectations must have been aligned because I was actually pleased with the number of merchandise vendors and food options. There was a fun tent selling pet supplies (loved the "I kissed a dog and I liked it!" shirts for humans and "Little spoon" shirts for pups), a couple jewelry vendors, someone selling bacon jam (that's right folks... Bacon! Jam!), a cute tent full of Christmas collectibles from all over the world, and several others. We loved all the food and drink options! Bratwurst, strudel, gluhwein... Oh, my! Blue Blaze was there selling beer. You could get warm, spiked cider, although I don't know who would choose that over gluhwein. The mini donuts were warm and sugary and delicious! I just wish there were more places to sit. We ended up perching on the edge of a stage that thankfully wasn't being used at the time. If it hadn't been for that little spot to sit, the brats with full on kraut and mustard could have gotten seriously messy! I loved how child and dog friendly the village is. The park had indoor, clean public restrooms. Hooray for no portapotties in December! For their first year, the organizers did a really good job. I'm so excited to watch this village grow over the years and really become a staple Charlotte holiday tradition

Pretty cool little German Christmas Market (Weihnachtsmarkt) free to enter, easy to find. Not as many good options as I expected but the alcoholic Gluhwein rocks! I thought a better location would be better, it literally is in a parking lot.

The lights at the village were nice along with the fake snow made it look like a white Christmas. I really enjoyed the shops that were on site. There were some vendors I found that I will shop from over the next year! I definitely recommend the Christmas Village to anyone who wants a nice walk with hot cocoa or gluwein and some holiday shopping!

We decided to stop by last night since the bf hasn't checked out the Christmas Village since it opened right after the Thanksgiving parade. Yesterday seemed a little dead, some vendors weren't even open.. I don't blame them, I can't handle the cold either. But, we still got to stroll around and enjoy the atmosphere. There were quite a few handmade craft vendors including: candles, clothing, and jewelry. My favorite was the Christmas decorations from around the world tent, I forgot what it was called. Most of their deco is European, was nice to learn a little about them. There was a few food vendors as well. My favorite was the vendor selling strudels! We got the broccoli cheddar puff to split alongside a warm hot chocolate. So comforting! We also purchased some apple butter and honey from the vendor who was also selling some nut butters and jam. I love Christmas... worth a stroll!