Christmas Village in Baltimore — Local services in Baltimore

2019 Christmas Season was our first year vending at Baltimore's Christmas Village, and we have many great things to say!

Coming from Philly, and having previously participated as a vendor in Philadelphia's Christmas Village, we were hopeful that Baltimore would live up to our wonderful experience there.

It was SO MUCH BETTER!

Baltimore's Christmas Village was on the small side, when compared to our home-town Philly's Village. But the quaint size is not a negative aspect, conversely there was a better group of vendors - more thoughtfully selected, more professionally presented, and most often the makers themselves were there to represent their small businesses instead of hired help.

The city of Baltimore took safety and security seriously. My business experienced NO issues with break-ins, theft, harassment or general riffraff. I don't know about other vendors, but I'm willing to bet there were no issues within the entire village. Word of this type of thing travels fast. Police were always present, kept a great relationship with each vendor, and continually checked in to see how we felt security-wise. Baltimore Police should know that their efforts were greatly appreciated and definitely didn't go unnoticed!

The smaller size allows for a more charming feel. Occasionally lines will be longer - maybe 5 to 10 people wanting for Glühwein, but the lines move quickly. Many vendors are excited to talk to you and tell you about what they make, how they do it, where they're from and more. Everyone has a unique story and you could spend a couple hours enjoying each vendor's wares.

The visitor center is next door and has real bathrooms available for use until they close for the day, at that time there are porto-potties available, which were always clean and stocked with sanitizer and toilet paper in addition to smelling clean.

There is an indoor heated tent, and YES - IT'S DOG FRIENDLY! There was much speculation amongst festival-goers that dogs couldn't be brought along, but that's just false! Dogs are welcome inside the heated tent and also to all the vendor booths outside! My business makes treats for pets and we LOVE seeing the pups come along to enjoy the social festivities! (Of course, they must be comfortable in a social setting and owners must be in control of their pups!)

Live music, great food and drink selections! Event pricing but not outrageous, so come prepared. Glühwein can be purchased in one of the Christmas Village mugs and you can get refills at a discount! (Yes, you can bring this mug back day after day!)

Parking? You can get your ticket validated reducing the cost significantly, as long as you park in the garage that they list on their website!

If you're in the Baltimore area, come visit! It's a lovely way to spend an evening either solo, with a group of friends, or with the kids! (There's a ferris wheel and also an ice skating rink just a few steps down...

It’s OK for something to do. $22ish to park in the lot across the street. Lots of vendors and things to look at, but their spaces are very tight. Lots of things without prices marked so you have to ask. Gives you the feeling that they are pricing by the person vs. the item. Expect the typical inconsiderate/in their own world behavior of the surrounding general public. There was a terrible smell near the raclette stand. Truly rancid. I don’t know if it was some harbor area smell or what, but it was very unfortunate for that smell to be happening around the food stands. Brat stand was super crowded. Brats weren’t ready however the hot dog was piping hot and tasty, but the centralized condiment station had only yellow mustard and ketchup. Surprised to find no other mustard (unless you bought a pretzel) or mayo (unless you buy it for $2 at the fries stand) at a GERMAN Christmas market. Didn’t realize this when I bought my schnitzel sandwich. Ended up eating schnitzel on a dry roll. Latkes we’re tasty, but not really latkes. More like mashed potato cakes. Fries are good, but definitely not Belgian. The glühwein did not taste like it had any alcohol in it. The Käthe Wohlfahrt section in the heated tent was extremely disappointing. Empty in some areas. There were no towers (windmills). Maybe because it’s so late in the markets season. They had plenty of ornaments but many were like what you could find at Hobby Lobby but priced 3X higher. The Ferris wheel and funnel cake stand weren’t running when we walked down to them because the generator had to be refilled. Overall if you’re looking for a true GERMAN Christmas Market and food experience, this is not it. It’s fine if you have no expectations and are just...

We haven’t been here for a few years, and it has improved significantly! There is a great selection of gifts and food/drinks, the vendors are all really nice and helpful, and the decor has been significantly upgraded. Wow! We had so much fun that I want to go back!

The woman working the entrance booth on the right on the night of 12/14 was awful. She was rude, nasty, and completely unhelpful when we realized that we needed cash to get in. Our friends were with us and volunteered to take our freezing kids inside while we found an ATM (kids are free), and she rushed out of the booth and said they couldn’t go in without an adult (they were with our friends who were adults). I just ignored her and sent my kids inside with them. Then I learned that they have an ATM 10 feet inside the door. She could have mentioned that they have an ATM instead of telling us she had no idea and we went searching around the Inner Harbor for 20 mins! She was the ONLY person we encountered who made it her mission to bring down the Christmas spirit. Everyone else was awesome!

The only other thing desperately needed are port-o-potties or bathrooms that aren’t absolutely disgusting. I had to hold my kids above the toilet seats in the dark because the toilets were so filthy. That’s not fun! It’s gross! How about the trailers that are warm and have lights and are usually clean? Those are nice. It would go well with the rest of your event, which is really awesome!

I know - more negative than positive here, but overall it really was a great experience. We enjoyed the food and drinks, and found gifts for almost everyone on our lists. We’ll be back next year for sure and recommend...