Warm Up at Dóm Square
The smell of mulled wine reaches you before the lights do. You step into Dóm Square and the Votive Church rises above a market of wooden stalls, steam curling off warm dishes and sweets, while a 50-metre enclosed-cabin Ferris wheel turns slowly overhead and lifts you above the illuminated downtown. This is the heart of Szeged Advent, the city's Christmas Weeks, which in 2026 runs from 27 November to 24 December. The market is the anchor of a December day here: you eat, you drink, you ride, and you stay until the cold finally wins.
Ride, Wander and Make Something
Dóm Square is not only for eating and drinking. The programme is built for lingering, and most of it costs you nothing but time:
- Walk the straw labyrinth laid out on the square.
- Ride the 50-metre enclosed-cabin Ferris wheel for a view over the lit-up downtown.
- Step into the storytelling corner.
- Join a craft workshop and make a gift or a Christmas tree ornament to take home.
- Sit down for screenings of classic slide films.
Downtown, keep an eye out for the giant reindeer and Santa's sleigh among the decorations.
Watch the Advent Wreath Candles Being Lit
On each Advent Sunday, local public figures and church representatives light the candles on the city's Advent wreath together. It is the ceremonial pulse of the season in Szeged, and the reason the square fills on those evenings. If your visit falls on an Advent Sunday, plan your day around it; if it does not, the market, the wheel and the workshops run throughout the Christmas Weeks.
Follow the Celebrations Across the City
Dóm Square is the main venue, but the programme spreads. Klauzál Square and Dugonics Square host additional events during Szeged Advent, so you can move between squares through the decorated centre rather than staying in one place. For current details and programme times, the city's tourism office is reachable at +36-62/472-204 or [email protected], and updates appear on facebook.com/szegedikaracsony.
Eat and Drink Your Way Through the Market
The stalls at Dóm Square are where you eat: mulled wine to keep your hands warm, warm dishes for a proper meal, and sweets to finish. Build your day around it — arrive in the afternoon, ride the wheel as the lights come on, eat at the market, then walk the decorated downtown past the reindeer and the sleigh before returning to the square for one more cup.
Szeged Advent 2026 runs 27 November to 24 December, which gives you a full month of Christmas Weeks to choose from — and Christmas Day itself falls at the end of it, after the market closes. Book your stay in the centre so Dóm, Klauzál and Dugonics squares are all within walking distance, check the programme before you travel, and let a December evening in Szeged do the rest.