Michigan Travel · Holland
Downtown Holland’s holiday season: Shop ’Til You Drop on Nov. 13, the Holiday Open House on Nov. 21 and free Kerstmarkt weekends
HOLLAND — Downtown Holland’s holiday calendar starts in two weeks, and the three biggest November dates are already set: a late-night shopping Friday, an open house with Santa and carolers, and the first weekends of the Kerstmarkt, the city’s Dutch-style Christmas market.
None of the three lists an admission charge, and the Kerstmarkt is listed as free. Here is what is on the calendar, according to event listings from the Holland Area Visitors Bureau and Downtown Holland.
Shop ’Til You Drop: Friday, Nov. 13
From 6 to 9 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 13, nearly 40 downtown shops and restaurants will stay open late with holiday discounts, the visitors bureau says. Deals are set by each business, so savings will vary from store to store. The event is held once a year and is billed as the kickoff to holiday shopping downtown.
Holiday Open House: Saturday, Nov. 21
The bigger night comes a week later. From 5 to 8 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 21, more than 50 shops and restaurants will open their doors with free gift wrapping, holiday refreshments, discounts and giveaways, according to the listing.
Santa and an elf will make appearances, and there will be a reindeer petting corral. The Holland Chorale’s Dickens Carolers will stroll in costume, joined by carolers from Central Wesleyan Church and Ventura Baptist Church. Downtown Holland staff and volunteers will roast chestnuts outside GDK Park on Eighth Street and hand out free samples. The heated streets will be decorated with thousands of lights and a lit Christmas tree, and the city’s Parks Department installs custom urn planters.
Kerstmarkt: Fridays and Saturdays from Nov. 20
The Kerstmarkt, named for the Dutch word for Christmas market, opens Friday, Nov. 20. Downtown Holland’s listing shows these free market days:
Nov. 20, 3 to 8 p.m.; Nov. 21, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Nov. 27, 3 to 8 p.m.; Nov. 28, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Dec. 4, 3 to 8 p.m.; Dec. 5, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Dec. 11, 3 to 8 p.m.; and Dec. 18, 3 to 8 p.m.
That puts a full Kerstmarkt day and the Holiday Open House on the same Saturday, Nov. 21, which makes it the busiest day of the month downtown. Nov. 28, another market Saturday, is Small Business Saturday, the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
What comes next
The market keeps going into Dutch Winterfest, Dec. 1 to 5, with the Sinterklaas Shuffle and a new Dutch Skate. Check Downtown Holland’s event page for any changes before you go.
Sources:
Holland Area Visitors Bureau, “Shop ’Til You Drop” (Nov. 13, 2026, 6–9 p.m., nearly 40 businesses), https://www.holland.org/shop-til-you-drop/
Holland Area Visitors Bureau, “Downtown Holland Holiday Open House” (Nov. 21, 2026, 5–8 p.m., activities and carolers), https://www.holland.org/holiday-open-house/
Downtown Holland, “Kerstmarkt” event series (dates, hours, free admission), https://downtownholland.com/series/kerstmarkt/
Photo: GD333, “Holland, MI Downtown,” Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped and color-adjusted, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Holland,_MI_Downtown.jpg
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