Christmas in Gouda: Gouda by Candlelight

On Friday 11 December 2026, Gouda turns off its street lights for the length of a ceremony. Gouda bij Kaarslicht (Gouda by Candlelight), now in its 71st year, takes place in a single evening: thousands of candles in the windows of the houses on the Markt, Christmas carols, then, at 7pm, the lighting of the great tree given by the Norwegian town of Kongsberg. A Gouda Christmas market with chalets and weeks of opening does not feature in the official 2026 programme; the cheese town’s celebration is contained entirely in this event, born in 1956 and described by Dutch Wikipedia as the oldest festival of lights in the Netherlands. The 2026 edition has a change of scenery: the Gothic town hall on the Markt is under renovation until mid-2027, and both the tree and the ceremony move in front of the Waag, the old weigh house designed by Pieter Post.

A tree from Norway and candles since 1958

The ritual has two birth dates. Since 1956, Kongsberg, Gouda’s twin town, has given the tree every year: felled in November, it travels by ship to the port of Rotterdam, then by lorry to the centre of Gouda. Since 1958, the centenary year of the Gouda-Apollo candle factory, the windows of the town hall and the upper-floor windows above the shops on the square have been lit by candle: thousands in all, including around 1,500 for the town hall alone in an ordinary year. During the ceremony, the street lighting and the shop lights are switched off; what remains is the flames, the carols and a tree of 20 to 30 metres that the mayor lights at 7pm, the moment the organiser calls the high point of the evening.

In 2026, the Gothic façade remains under scaffolding and the Waag, at number 35 on the Markt, becomes the centre of the square. Since 2009 the event has been run by the Stichting Gouda bij Kaarslicht, a foundation of volunteers that took over a celebration previously handled by the municipality. The evening draws around 20,000 people each year; the 50th edition, in 2005, brought together more than 30,000, in the presence of Queen Beatrix.

A programme across the whole historic centre

The tree ceremony is only one part of the evening. In 2025, the programme took in 32 venues in the historic centre, including the Agnietenkapel, the Sint-Janskerk and the Museum Gouda, 14 of them with a food point. For 2026, the organiser announces a programme running all day; the start and end times of the evening are not published, only the 7pm lighting is, and the details of the venues and times are on goudabijkaarslicht.nl.

Gouda bij Kaarslicht rather than a Gouda Christmas market: the key facts

• When: Friday 11 December 2026, 71st edition, tree lighting at 7pm; opening and closing times of the evening to be confirmed on the official website.
• Where: the Markt and the historic centre of Gouda; in 2026, the ceremony takes place in front of the Waag, Markt 35, and not in front of the town hall.
• The setting: the classic photos show the town hall lit by candlelight; in 2026, it is under renovation and the Waag carries the celebration.
• The same weekend: the Dordrecht Christmas market, the Decembermarkt, runs from 10 to 13 December 2026, and The Hague Christmas market combines well with the Gouda evening.

Getting to Gouda from France

By train, the Eurostar links Paris-Gare du Nord to Rotterdam Centraal in about 2h37, with up to 13 departures a day; from Rotterdam, an NS train takes you to Gouda. By car, allow 459 km and about 5h20 from Paris, 241 km and a little under 3 hours from Lille, without traffic. As the lighting takes place at 7pm on a Friday, a night in Gouda or Rotterdam saves a late drive home.