Last year's holiday kickoff on Nicollet Mall happened almost entirely indoors. On the Friday after Thanksgiving 2025, the Star Tribune reported a few hundred people in the IDS Center's Crystal Court. They watched a giant tree light up at the same moment as about a dozen skyscrapers, businesses and streetlights across downtown. Out on Nicollet Mall, where the temperature was in the 20s, the paper said the street was "virtually empty."
A vintage Santabear, the character Dayton's created 40 years ago, moved slowly around the room. Its owners had donated the costume to Mich Berthiaume, who runs the Dayton's Holiday Market across the street. The Santabear's walk from one side of the street to the other sums up the season in Downtown West now. It happens inside two buildings that face each other on Nicollet, and in 2026 their markets open a week apart.
Holidazzle left the street, and the season moved indoors
For about three decades, the holidays downtown meant something happening on the street. The Holidazzle parade of lighted floats drew 750,000 people in its first year, 1992. The parade ended in 2013, and Holidazzle became a stationary winter festival.
In October 2025, the Minneapolis Downtown Council said it would stop producing Holidazzle and Aquatennial. The Star Tribune reported that the council cited budget problems and competing priorities and hoped other groups would take the events over. In the same report, organizers said two parts of the season would continue: the holiday markets in the Dayton's Project and the IDS Center. The council also planned to keep hanging lights and decorations in parts of downtown.
When the outdoor festival ended, those two markets were the pieces that continued, and Downtown West's holiday calendar is now built around them.
The IDS pop-up opens today
On the west side of Nicollet, Minneapolis Craft Market is back in the IDS Center with Holidays on Nicollet, a pop-up store featuring 60 local artists and makers.
- Where: IDS Center, 80 S. 8th St.
- When: Thursday, November 5 through Sunday, December 20
- Hours: Daily, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
- Closed: Thanksgiving Day
The store sells jewelry, apparel, home goods, vintage pieces and accessories, plus gifts for kids and pets. Minneapolis Craft Market also keeps a smaller year-round selection of Minnesota-made gifts at the Meet Minneapolis Visitor Center, 505 Nicollet Mall, open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The pop-up keeps a daytime schedule: 10 to 5, seven days a week, for more than six weeks. That works for anyone who can step out at lunch or run an errand on a Tuesday afternoon.
Across the street, the old Dayton's store opens one week later
The Dayton's Holiday Market opens at 700 Nicollet Mall on Thursday, November 12, and runs through December 24. Meet Minneapolis's event listing calls this the market's "6th Glorious Year" and says shoppers can buy from more than 100 local makers.
Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday. The market is closed on Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day.
Much of the market's draw is the food from the old store. The listing promises wild rice soup, hot popovers and ginger cookies, with wine or beer to go with them. On the other side of the market, Earl Giles runs the Jingle Giles Holiday Bar, serving holiday cocktails and mocktails. When the Star Tribune visited in November 2025, it described the smell of roasted almonds and Oak Grill popovers filling the aisles while Christmas music played from the ceiling speakers.
The numbers show how big the market has grown. Organizers told the Star Tribune the 2024 market brought in $2 million in 40 days and drew about 200,000 people downtown. For 2025, Berthiaume started planning in January and recruited 107 vendors, a record, by visiting apple orchards, church bazaars and other markets. She also said shoppers line up at the doors at 4 a.m. on Black Friday, and she credited that mostly to nostalgia.
"Whether you did it with your family, your girlfriends, your grandma, it's a tradition. And tradition is always strong no matter what, people love tradition. It's newness and it's the nostalgia, a combination of both. Because now you're getting the next generation who learned from their parents' generation."
Berthiaume gave that quote to the Star Tribune in 2025.
Why the market matters to the building that hosts it
Most of the year, 700 Nicollet looks very different. New York-based 601W Cos. finished a $350 million redevelopment of the former department store in 2020. A court-appointed receiver took over management of the property in 2024 after the developer defaulted on its mortgage. In June 2026, 601W moved to retake control through a settlement with its lender, Fortress Investment Group, that restructures the building's debt, and attorneys for both sides asked a judge to discharge the receiver. The Star Tribune reported that the building is still largely vacant.
Put those facts next to the market's 2024 total of about 200,000 visitors in 40 days, and the market stands out. For six weeks a year, a landmark that is largely vacant the rest of the time becomes one of the busiest rooms on Nicollet. City officials told the Star Tribune in 2025 that the market had become an anchor for shoppers and for winter events around Minneapolis. A Meet Minneapolis spokesperson called it a touchstone for craft businesses and events across the city.
That's also why the season looks the way it does. The public events now attach themselves to these two buildings. Last year's Winterapolis kickoff, produced by the Downtown Council with the Minneapolis Foundation, Meet Minneapolis and downtown attractions, was held at the IDS tree. Winterapolis also promoted existing events such as Hennepin Arts' winter performances and the Minnesota Orchestra's Nordic Soundscapes series.
How the six weeks line up
Both markets run on the same stretch of Nicollet Mall but keep different calendars. Here is how the 2026 dates fit together, along with one nearby outdoor market.
| Date in 2026 | What changes |
|---|---|
| Thursday, Nov. 5 | Holidays on Nicollet opens in the IDS Center, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily |
| Thursday, Nov. 12 | Dayton's Holiday Market opens at 700 Nicollet Mall |
| Friday, Nov. 20 | Minneapolis Christkindl Market begins its weekend schedule at North Loop Green |
| Thursday, Nov. 26 | Thanksgiving; both Nicollet markets closed |
| Sunday, Dec. 20 | Last day for Holidays on Nicollet and for the Christkindl Market |
| Thursday, Dec. 24 | Last day for Dayton's Holiday Market |
The last four days, December 21 through 24, are when the Dayton's market runs by itself. Sundays also differ. The IDS pop-up opens at 10 a.m. on Sundays, and the Dayton's market opens at 11 a.m. and closes at 5 p.m.
Last year, Winterapolis kicked off on the Friday after Thanksgiving with the tree lighting in the Crystal Court and snowball throwing at Mortenson trucks out on Nicollet Mall.
Beyond the two buildings
The closest outdoor holiday market sits just past Downtown West, at North Loop Green. The Minneapolis Christkindl Market, now in its second year, runs on weekends from November 20 to December 20, 2026. It has more than 42 local vendors, music, dance performances and visits from Santa every Sunday. According to Meet Minneapolis, the alpine-style wooden huts serve German Glühwein, Spätzle and Swiss Raclette.
Closer to the IDS Center, Gavin Kaysen's Bellecour is coming to 90 S. Seventh St. in the Wells Fargo Center. Minnesota Monthly reported in June 2026 that the bakery, cafe and bistro was expected to open in late fall 2026, with croissants, cardamom buns, sandwiches and soups on the menu. That would put one more stop within a block or two of 7th and Nicollet.
If you're thinking about a condo within walking distance of the IDS Center and the Dayton's Project, or want to know how buildings near Nicollet Mall compare in winter, our team at Roost Real Estate knows this part of downtown well. Request a Private Consultation and we'll walk you through it.
