Christkindlmarket HSV 2026

Christkindlmarket Huntsville is a juried holiday-inspired art market that brings together exceptional artists, enthusiastic shoppers, and the festive spirit of the season. Featuring more than 60 regional visual artists, the market offers visitors the opportunity to purchase original, handcrafted artwork in a wide variety of mediums while discovering unique holiday gifts.

Hosted at the award-winning Orion Amphitheater, the art-focused market combines fine art with seasonal food and beverages, live holiday music, and a festive atmosphere that encourages guests to linger, shop, and celebrate. Produced by Arts Huntsville—an organization with more than 60 years of experience presenting nationally recognized arts festivals—Christkindlmarket is thoughtfully curated to showcase the quality and diversity of regional artists.

With free admission, free parking, and average attendance exceeding 8,000 visitors, Christkindlmarket has become the largest community event hosted at the Orion Amphitheater and one of North Alabama's premier holiday shopping destinations.

December 11-13, 2026
Friday, Dec. 11: 5:00 - 8:00 pm
Saturday, Dec. 12: 11:00 am - 5:00 pm
Sunday, Dec. 13: 11:00 am - 4:00 pm
Load-in: 8 am - 4 pm on Friday, Dec. 11


ACCEPTED MEDIUM CATEGORIES: 

• Clay: Original clay and porcelain work, functional or sculptural
• Fiber: Includes wearable and non-wearable. No machine-tooled, machine-screen printed, or other forms of mass production are accepted.
• Glass: Functional and sculptural work is accepted.
• Jewelry: All jewelry, whether produced from metal, glass, clay, fiber, or other materials must apply in this category. Original artwork only, no buy-sell, and no permanent jewelry booths. 
• Metal: Sculptural or decorative work made from metal. Jewelry will NOT be accepted in this category.
• Mixed Media: Any work that combines materials from two or more mediums in one piece
• Painting: Two-dimensional works created with acrylics, oils, watercolors, gouache, or other paints. Reproduction prints are only allowed as signed and numbered limited editions. These must be displayed in a bin or basket of some type. 
• Photography: Includes traditional film photography, hand-colored images, emulsion transfers, and digital photography. Only artist's original material is acceptable. 
• Sculpture: Three-dimensional work using additive or subtractive processes in a single medium. 
• Two Dimensional: Drawing, printmaking, and digital works. Reproduction prints are only allowed as signed and numbered limited editions. These must be displayed in a bin or basket of some type. 
• Wood: Original works that are hand tooled, machine-worked, turned, or carved.
• Other: Only HANDMADE ARTWORK that does not fall into other categories listed - must show signifant manipulation of medium used. If we feel you have entered this category but should be judged in one of the other categories above, we will switch your entry to the appropriate category. No kits, flea market items, candles, bath/beauty products, oils, knives/weapons, or other non-art items are accepted. 

JURIED ARTS FESTIVAL
Christkindlmarket is a juried art festival - this means the artists selected to attend are invited based on jury scores in their submitted category. We have a new jury for each festival.

The Jury will select approximately 60 artists in the categories listed above through a blind jury process which begins after the application deadline. If you are unsure if the items you sell would qualify to be part of a juried art show, please contact us prior to applying. We do not offer refunds for application fees. A wait list will be established by category based on jury scores. Wait-listed artists will be notified when a space becomes available.


ARTWORK ELIGIBILITY
Work submitted to Christkindlmarket MUST be produced by the exhibiting artist, showing significant manipulation and originality in the chosen medium. No kits, flea market items, candles, bath/beauty products, oils, knives/weapons, or other non-art items are accepted. If you are unsure if the items you sell would qualify to be part of a juried art show, please contact us prior to applying. Only the medium accepted by the jurors will be permitted in booths. Please view the artwork submission eligibility below: 

• No buy-sell or resale - original artwork only produced by the artist submitting the application. 
• Medium of the art must show significant manipulation by the exhibiting artist.
• Molds, patterns, and forms are allowed but must be made and designed by the artist - no commercially made molds, patterns, or forms. 
• Copyrighted designs not owned by the artist are not permitted.
• Arts Huntsville reserves the right to remove any work, which in its judgement does not reflect the caliber of the work presented in the digital images, is primarily commercially made, or work considered to be in poor taste.
• No knives/weapons will be accepted.
• Applications with ineligible artwork will not be considered for the jury. The jury fee is non-refundable. 

PHOTO SUBMISSIONS

• Five images must be submitted for each individual media category.
• Four images must be of individual pieces of work. Each photo submitted for jury should feature one piece of work with price, title, and dimensions given.
• The fifth image must be of a display of the artist's booth - showing the overall continuity and presentation of your current body of work. The fifth image is mandatory - if you do not have a booth image, submit an a photo of a grouping of works representative of the body of work to be exhibited at the show. Artists will be expected to have their own tent by the date of the show. 
• When submitting your photos and booth shot, do not include any identifying information - no identifying banners, signatures, people in the photos, etc. This is a blind jury process, any artist who submits photos who identifying information will be asked to update their photos before being submitted to the jury. 

ARTIST AMENITIES:

• Indoor restrooms
• Booth sitters available 
• Refreshments and hot soups available in artist hospitality area all weekend
• Access to local food trucks on-site

WAIT LIST: 
A wait list will be established by category based on jury scores. Wait-listed artists will be notified when a space becomes available via email. 

SPACE ASSIGNMENTS:
Spaces are 10' x 10' and are intended to be used by one artist. Artists who work as a team to produce one product must have indicated this on their application. We are unable to offer double booth requests. Artists will be located inside the concourse area and on the walkways surrounding the amphitheatre. Some spots will be covered and some will not. Those that are covered will require short distance carting to location. Artists will be able to drive into the amphitheatre grounds for load-in and load-out. Load-in will occur on the Friday morning of the festival. Load-out will be Sunday after the festival closes.

Please understand that all artist site requests are considered; however, we cannot guarantee that all requests will be met. We will do our best to accommodate artists who travel in teams or have certain medical or physical needs. 

SALES:
Arts Huntsville does not take a comission on artist sales. Artists will transact their own sales and will comply with all sales tax regulations. Necessary tax information and paperwork will be provided to artists in pre-show packets and check-in. 

WEATHER:
Artists need to prepare to exhibit in the inclement weather. In the event of severe or threatening weather, the festival will close. Artists will be notified of the official closing time by the festival team. 

ADMISSION/PARKING: 
There is no admission fee to the Christkindlmarket. Parking is also free for vendors and attendees. 

GENERAL RULES:

1. Artists MUST be present for the length of the festival. The exhibitor's family and/or friends may not substitute for the artist. 
2. All work must be the artist's original work. Commercially manufactured items or pieces made from commercial kits or molds may not be exhibited. Artists who bring unacceptable items will be asked to remove them from display. 
3. Accepted artists may not exhibit at other festivals during the dates of the Christkindlmarket.
4. Artists may exhibit artwork only in the category for which they were accepted (ex: an artist juried in only for Clay will not be allowed to sell jewelry).
5. Posters, t-shirts, or personal merchandise may not be sold at the festival. 
6. Work may not be created/sold specifically for the festival, i.e. that references Christkindlmarket, festival dates, Arts Huntsville, Orion Amphitheater, etc.
7. All artists are responsible for collecting and paying State of Alabama sales tax, City of Huntsville tax, and Madison County tax. 
8. Tents MUST be weighted and secured. No less and 50 lbs. per leg. No stakes are permitted.
9. Official Christkindlmarket Festival Booth signs provided for the selected artists must be placed in full view near the front of the tent. Artists must also wear festival badges provided to them. 
10. Other than the booth shot, each photo submitted for jury should feature one piece of work with price, title, and dimensions given with no identifying information (no signatures). Please do not submit pictures of yourself with the artwork. 
11. Artists must remove all items and display parts at the end of the festival. Artists who leave items in the park may be suspended from the festival for one year. 
12. No applications will be accepted after the deadline.
13. Artists must be 18 years old by the time of the festival to apply. 
14. By submitting this application, you consent to and authorize the use of any and/or all images of works in promotional literature and other promotional endeavors by Christkindlmarket and Arts Huntsville including but not limited to brochure, print, and television advertisements and web promotions. Artist statements may also be used for promotional purposes.

FESTIVAL AI POLICY: 
Work that is primarily generated by artificial intelligence tools (including but not limited to AI image generators, text-to-image models, and generative design software) does not meet the festival's standard of significant manipulation and originality by the exhibiting artist, and is not eligible for application, jury, or sale at Christkindlmarket HSV. Work found to be in violation of this standard is subject to removal under the festival's existing policies. 

Artists who use AI tools as part of a broader, artist-directed process (e.g., as a reference or preliminary step in a workflow where the artist's hand and creative judgement produce the final work) must disclose this use in their application. The festival reserves the right to determine whether the submitted work reflects sufficient original creation by the artist. 

Jury images must depict work made by the applicant. AI-generated images submitted as jury photos - whether to represent or to misrepresent the artist's work - will result in disqualification.