Torvet on the Second Sunday of Advent
It is early afternoon and the light is already going. Torvet is packed: the Christmas market fills the square from noon to six, stalls lit against the dark, the Christmas City Sausage Stand working through the afternoon until seven. The ice rink at Torvet, Kompis, has been open since nine in the morning and runs until ten at night, so you can rent skates and join the slow loop of families while the market hums behind you. This is the city's winter living room, and on the Second Sunday of Advent it is at its fullest. In the 2025–26 season the Second Sunday fell on 7 December, which was also a Sunday-open-shops day — the second of the two, alongside 14 December — so the streets around Torvet stay busy well past the market's closing time.
What the Second Sunday Itself Holds
The 2025 programme listed no event specifically labelled for the Second Sunday of Advent, but that Sunday was one of the season's most densely scheduled days, and the pattern is what you can count on: the market and the rink running as normal, the surrounding quarter open for business, and a full evening of concerts. On 7 December that meant:
- Christmas Market at Torvet, 12:00–18:00 — daily through Saturday 20 December.
- Ice Rink Kompis at Torvet, 09:00–22:00 — open daily from 30 November.
- Art Market & Historic Christmas Tree Exhibition, Rådhuskvartalet, 12:00–18:00 — the same hours as Saturday 6 December.
- Baldrian and Musa Christmas Buffet and Show, 13:00, Hotel Norge — puppet theatre for the youngest, with food.
- Our Christmas, 18:30, Kilden — the evening's big concert.
- Sunday open shops across the city centre.
Note the market's own rhythm: the Christmas City Sausage Stand keeps longer hours, 12:00–19:00, on 6 and 7 December. If you are planning for 2026, treat the Second Sunday as a Sunday of market, rink, open shops and a Kilden or Domkirken concert, and check the season programme for the exact listing.
Concerts, Churches and the Sound of the Season
Kristiansand's Advent is carried as much by its concert halls as by its square. Kilden is the engine of it: in the weeks around the Second Sunday the 2025 programme ran Snøsøstera (The Snow Sister) with frequent 17:30 performances from 15 November through 23 December, plus a matinee at 14:00 on 29 November and 6 December. The Domkirken holds the more solemn evenings — Bazaar at 18:30 on 22 November, Hymns for Shepherds and Kings on 26 November, Händel's Messiah on 3 December, the Kilden Vocal Ensemble's Merry Christmas on 10 December, and Silent Night, Holy Night at 18:00 on 14 December. Teateret and Kick Kulturhus take the film-and-pop end, from The Snow Queen and the ABBA Christmas Show to deLillos. Services at the Domkirken follow the season's own calendar: Christmas Eve at 14:00 and 16:00, 25 December at 11:00, 26 December at 12:00, and a Midnight Service at 23:00 on 31 December.
Lucia, Fiskebrygga and the Rest of Advent
If you can stretch your stay, the season's other fixed points are worth building a trip around. Lucia Day, Saturday 13 December, brings the Lucia Parade to Torvet at 12:00, with the market running its usual 12:00–18:00. Earlier, on Saturday 15 November, Fiskebrygga hosts Kirkens Bymisjon's Christmas Market from 14:00 to 17:00, with tastings and entertainment, and switches on its Christmas lights at 17:00 — the harbour district's own smaller, food-led version of the Torvet ritual. The season opens on Thursday 13 November with the Pre-Christmas Evening in the City: a free gingerbread workshop, mulled wine and gingerbread at Sandens from 16:00, Santa and the Christmas tree lighting at Sandens at 17:00, the city lights and the Christmas bauble at Torvet at 18:00, and concerts at Kilden and Bare Studenthus into the night. The Historic Christmas Tree Exhibition and Art Market at Rådhuskvartalet runs 1–5 December, 08:30–15:00 on weekdays with late opening to 21:00 on Tuesday 2 and Thursday 4, then 12:00–18:00 across the weekend of 6–7 December. And if you stay to the end: fireworks from Tangen at 24:00 on 31 December, and the New Year's Concert at Kilden at 12:00 on 1 January.
Eating and Warming Up
The seasonal eating is where the city is at its most straightforward. The Christmas City Sausage Stand at Torvet is the anchor — open 12:00–19:00 through the market period, and the easy answer when the rink has left you cold. Fiskebrygga's market on 15 November is the tasting event of the run-up, with Kirkens Bymisjon's stalls and entertainment along the waterfront. For something indoors, Spiren Kafé ran a free plant-based cooking class at 17:30 on 19 November, repeated 27 November, and Hotel Norge's Baldrian and Musa Christmas Buffet and Show on 7 December pairs a meal with puppet theatre. Gingerbread and mulled wine appear at Sandens on opening night. Between them you have the full range: sausage and skating at Torvet, tastings at the harbour, and a table with a show.
Start with the season programme for the year you are travelling, mark the Second Sunday, and build the rest of your days around it — the market and rink at Torvet, a concert at Kilden or the Domkirken, and one excursion to Fiskebrygga or Rådhuskvartalet. Book the concerts early; the Advent calendar in this city fills its halls.