Christkindl Market

As mentioned ad nauseam, at least it's starting to feel that way a bit, I was on the quest for Christmas Markets in Ontario. I'm sure there are lots of little community fairs, sales, and markets at this time of year, but after my very brief Google search, I discovered the only 2 that take place in Ontario and coincidentally they were close enough for a visit. 

Who am I kidding, I would have been willing to make an epic trek to get my Christmas Market fix.

The first market was the annual Christkindl Market taking place in Kitchener, Ontario. Fun fact: the town of Kitchener gets its name from Lord Kitchener (yeah, this guy) when it was renamed from Berlin during the Second World War. Although the residence of the city wanted to cut ties from Deutschland, the city is still strong in its Germanic culture. Kitchener also yearly plays host to a large Oktoberfest.

After my visit to the Brampton Christmas Market, I didn't want to get my hopes up too high. That said, the market certainly exceeded my expectations, I was slightly disappointed more of the stalls weren't outside in the charming wooden huts, but I know, windchill. 

This market had all the hallmarks of a magical European Christmas Market; skating rink, wooden huts, sausage in a bun, Christmas ornaments, mulled wine (albeit only to be consumed in the beer garden), sugared almonds etc. However, this market also had traditional German dancing, Klaus the Organ Grinder, German carols, kartoffelpuffer, the pickle ornament, lederhosen, and lots of Stollen. 

Klaus the Organ Grinder

Honestly, it felt like the most German Market I've ever been to (I'm including the ones in Germany). The markets in Germany felt more authentic as if saying, 'this is our tradition, enjoy it with us here in Germany', whereas the Christkindl Market felt more like, 'this is German! This is a Christmas market!'. Not a bad thing in the least! 
In Kitchener, this is how they do.