Place Verte on the Last Night of the Year
The Christmas village is still standing on Place Verte when 31 December arrives, its wooden chalets packed shoulder to shoulder, the scent of mulled wine and grilled sausage drifting between them. Strings of lights run overhead. Somewhere beyond the stalls, skates scrape across the ice rink. By late evening the square fills with people who have come out to see the old year off together, and the crowd spills along the route toward Place de la Digue, where the city's New Year's Eve celebrations also centre. Charleroi doesn't stage a single headline spectacle so much as turn its two central squares into a place to be.
Skate, Stroll the Village, and Warm Up Between the Squares
The Christmas village and ice rink on Place Verte are free to enter and stay open through the season, which means 31 December is your last chance to use them before the year turns. Build the evening around them:
- Lace up at the ice rink on Place Verte and skate beneath the lights while the village is still busy.
- Work the chalets for warm food and drink, then carry it with you as you walk the short distance to Place de la Digue, the second hub of the night's celebrations.
- Treat the two squares as one continuous circuit rather than separate stops; the walk between them is part of the evening.
- If you want a seated, ticketed evening rather than a street one, look into the paid réveillon dinners that the city's venues put on for the night.
What the City Confirms, and What to Check Before You Book
Charleroi's official programme for 31 December 2026 is still being finalised. The listing for the night centres the celebrations on Place Verte and Place de la Digue, with the free Christmas village, ice rink and lights as the anchors, alongside paid réveillon nights. Specific concerts, parades and fireworks for the night are not confirmed in the current listing, and the official shows and the opening hours for 1 January 2027 are to be confirmed on charleroi.be in autumn 2026. Plan your travel around the squares and the village, and check the city's site in the autumn before you commit to anything that depends on a particular stage or start time.
Winter Eating in the Village and at the Réveillon Table
The food of the night is the food of the season: the Christmas village on Place Verte is where you eat standing up, moving between chalets with something hot in your hands, and it stays open through 31 December. For something slower, the paid réveillon dinners are the city's sit-down answer to the evening, a meal that carries you across midnight rather than a countdown in the cold. Choose the village if you want to be outdoors among the crowd; choose a réveillon table if you want the night to unfold over courses.
Getting Your Bearings Between the Two Squares
Place Verte and Place de la Digue are close enough to cover on foot, and on New Year's Eve that short walk is the neighbourhood worth knowing: start at the village and the rink on Place Verte while the light is still in the sky, eat your way through the chalets as the evening cools, then move to Place de la Digue for the later hours. Because the city's programme for the night is confirmed in autumn, keep your plans loose enough to follow whatever is announced for the squares, and check charleroi.be before you travel for the official shows and for what will be open on 1 January 2027.
Book your bed in Charleroi for the last night of 2026, put Place Verte and Place de la Digue at the centre of your map, and set a reminder to read the city's autumn announcement. The village, the rink and the lights will be there; the rest of the night you can shape once the programme is out.