History and culture - Mountains
Georgetown's Christmas Market keeps an old-world December alive
For two December weekends, Georgetown's historic streets fill with roasted chestnuts, horse-drawn wagons, and a children's Santa Lucia procession at an event Historic Georgetown has run for more than six decades.
Published June 10, 2026 - Last verified June 15, 2026
Some towns string up lights and call it a season. Georgetown turns the clock back about a hundred years.
For the first and second weekends of December, the historic 6th Street district becomes an outdoor European marketplace. The smell of roasted chestnuts drifts down the block. Horse-drawn wagons clop past Victorian storefronts. St. Nicholas appears in traditional dress, and carolers in period costume sing between the shops.
The quiet heart of it comes at noon each day, when students from Georgetown Community School perform the Santa Lucia procession - a Scandinavian midwinter tradition of children carrying candles, led by a girl wearing a crown of lights. It is a small, local thing, and that is the point.
Historic Georgetown, Inc. has put on this market for more than six decades; the 2026 edition is the 66th. Admission and the parking shuttle are free, though the tiny mountain town fills up fast, so an early start helps. While you are there, you can tour landmarks like the Hamill House and Hotel de Paris on the same weekend.
For dates, hours, and the day’s schedule, check Historic Georgetown’s Christmas Market page at historicgeorgetown.org.