Last December, the St. Johns Area Chamber of Commerce's holiday event opened at 9 a.m. on a Saturday and was done by 3 p.m. It ran as the Annual Christmas Craft Show on December 6, 2025, with Breakfast with Santa and bingo on the schedule. This December it opens at 5 p.m. on a Friday at a farm market on Old U.S. 27, and it has a new name.
The St. Johns Christkindl Market runs Friday, December 4, from 5 to 8 p.m. and Saturday, December 5, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Andy T's Farm Market, 3131 Old U.S. 27. Admission is free. The new Friday evening matters most. The Friday of the first weekend in December is when the downtown St. Nick Parade runs on Clinton Avenue, as it did in 2025. That parade is on the Downtown St. Johns calendar for December 4 this year. So for the first time, the parade night has two places to be in St. Johns, and Saturday now runs from late morning into the evening.
| 2025 | 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| Chamber event name | Annual Christmas Craft Show | St. Johns Christkindl Market |
| Location | St. Johns High School | Andy T's Farm Market, 3131 Old U.S. 27 |
| Days | Saturday only | Friday and Saturday |
| Hours | 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. | Fri. 5 to 8 p.m.; Sat. 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. |
| Breakfast with Santa | Included | Not part of this year's event |
| Downtown St. Nick Parade | Friday, Dec. 5, 6 p.m. | Friday, Dec. 4 |
The Chamber rebuilt the event instead of just moving it
The Chamber's own description on Choose Lansing is direct. "This year, we are completely revamping the event and transforming it into an all-new Christkindl Market," it reads. The listing says guests can "sip & shop around Andy T's bakery and Christmas Wonderland while shopping the vendors, food trucks and more." The same listing says the event will no longer be held at the high school, and Breakfast with Santa will not be part of this year's event.
The model is the German Christmas market. The 517 Living event listing calls it a two-day holiday celebration "inspired by traditional German Christmas markets." It lists roughly 30 vendors selling handmade goods, boutique merchandise and gifts, a souvenir-mug hot cocoa station, and a free holiday selfie station. A cafeteria craft show is built for a morning of browsing tables. A market with cocoa mugs, food trucks and a bakery is built for an evening out, and that explains the Friday slot.
The Chamber calls this its first Christkindl Market, put on in partnership with Andy T's. The listing also says the Chamber is looking for sponsors to help make it "a festive new holiday tradition for our community."
Friday, December 4 now has two addresses
Downtown has the parade. In 2025, WLNS reported that the St. Nick Parade stepped off at 6 p.m. on Friday, December 5, with face painting, cookie decorating and visits with Santa. The station spoke with Monica Ladiski, owner of Lotus Health & Hydration and chair of the St. Johns DDA. That night, the cookie decorating station was set up at Main Street Cafe, 205 N. Clinton Ave., starting at 5 p.m. Downtown is also trying to grow the parade. Events and Marketing Committee minutes from March 12, 2026 record a discussion about making the St. Nick Parade bigger and better, and a committee member volunteered to lead it.
Andy T's has the market's opening night, with two hands-on crafts on the schedule:
- 5 p.m. The market opens, and Lansing Makers Network hosts a make-your-own holiday wrapping paper session.
- 6 p.m. Nina's Notions leads a Beach Glass Trees craft.
- 8 p.m. The market closes for the night.
The Friday hours line up almost exactly with the parade's usual evening. If the 2026 parade keeps last year's 6 p.m. start, the market's first hour comes before the floats, and its last two hours run during and after them. Families with young kids have a choice to make. Parade first and then out to Old U.S. 27 for cocoa before the market closes at 8 p.m. is one way to do the night. Friday at the parade and Saturday at the market is another, since Saturday gives the market seven hours.
If you stay downtown after the parade, the Downtown St. Johns dining directory lists Hills Corner Pub at 200 N. Clinton Ave., Main Street Café at 205 N. Clinton Ave., and Global Coffee at 127 N. Clinton Ave., along with other eateries along the avenue.
Saturday moves from morning to afternoon
Last year's Saturday was a morning event. Doors opened at 9 a.m., Breakfast with Santa was on the schedule, and the craft show closed at 3 p.m. This year, Saturday starts at 11 a.m. and runs until 6 p.m. Without the breakfast, the day now begins at late morning and runs through the afternoon.
Purse Bingo moved with the event. In 2025 it was held in the St. Johns High School cafeteria during the craft show. This year it's at Andy T's on Saturday, December 5. According to the Chamber's Purse Bingo listing, doors open at noon and games start at 1 p.m. Updates to the activity schedule will be posted on the market's Facebook event page. The St. Johns Area Chamber of Commerce and the St. Johns Rotary Club host it together, and the prizes are name-brand purses.
Later in the day, Nina's Notions hosts a guided holiday Paint & Sip at 4:30 p.m. That session and the Friday crafts are the ones to plan ahead for. The market listing says some workshops and activities need advance registration and may cost extra, and that sign-ups are handled through the Christkindl Market Facebook event page.
A Saturday at the market might look like this:
- 11 a.m. The market opens with vendors, the bakery and Andy T's trees and wreaths.
- Noon Purse Bingo doors open.
- 1 p.m. Bingo games begin.
- 4:30 p.m. Paint & Sip with Nina's Notions.
- 6 p.m. The market closes.
Why Andy T's works as the new venue
Andy T's describes a farm-market operation with greenhouses, locally grown produce, and a scratch bakery. The bakery menu includes breads, cookies, doughnuts and pies. The Christkindl listing points to the market's on-site Christmas trees, fresh wreaths and bakery as part of the draw. That means a visit can cover a gift list, a tree and a box of cookies in one stop.
Andy T's already had its own December events. Last year it held its own Santa event on December 13 and 14 and December 20 and 21, 2025, and visitors could pick out a Christmas tree and take it home. The Chamber's market adds a vendor weekend at the start of that season, at a place that already sells trees. On regular days, Andy T's website lists hours of 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily. That's handy if you want to come back for a wreath after the market's Saturday close.
Planning the weekend
The St. Nick Parade is the downtown piece. Watch Downtown St. Johns for the 2026 start time and family activities, since last year's cookie decorating and Santa visits were part of the parade evening. The Chamber's Christkindl listing and the Facebook event cover the market, and that's where workshop registration happens.
For Friday, the two places split the evening. The parade has Clinton Avenue, and the market has the vendors, the bakery and the cocoa. On Saturday, Andy T's has the day to itself from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., with bingo in the early afternoon and painting late in the day. If your family's tradition was breakfast with Santa at the high school, that slot isn't on this year's Chamber schedule. The closest new tradition is a Friday that starts on Clinton Avenue and ends at 3131 Old U.S. 27.
If you're planning a December move, a showing or a build around a busy weekend like this one, Nicole Giguere and the Giguere Estates team can help you set up the timeline around the parade and the market. Let me lead you home.
