Beauvais Christmas Market

Beauvais Christmas market takes place at the foot of Saint-Pierre cathedral, whose Gothic choir rises to 48.5 metres under the vaults, the highest in the world. The chalets line up right in front, beneath this vessel of stone. At dusk, the façade lights up and becomes the screen for a sound and light show projected every ten minutes. You sip your hot drink, look up, and the medieval stone starts telling eight centuries of history.

The Féeries de Noël set up in the pedestrian centre, between Place Jeanne-Hachette and the Rue Carnot and Rue Saint-Pierre. A compact, very walkable format that you can do in one evening without ever hurrying.

What makes Beauvais Christmas market different

The trump card is the setting. Saint-Pierre cathedral has the tallest Gothic choir ever built, a 13th-century architectural gamble that was never completed. The show “Beauvais, la cathédrale infinie”, by the Skertzo agency, is projected free of charge onto the façades after dark. Around thirty minutes of poetic and musical storytelling, on a loop, no booking required.

In 2025, for the building’s 800th anniversary, a monumental mapping show called “Entre Ciel et Terre” redrew the whole architecture in projected light, with tens of thousands of polygons traced to follow every rib. This kind of event returns from one year to the next around the festive season, running continuously from Wednesday to Sunday in the evening. Check the programme for the current edition before you come, as it changes every year.

Chalets, entertainment and treats

The craft market stretches along Rue Carnot and Rue Saint-Pierre: producers, designers and artisans set up their stalls of decorations, handmade gifts and seasonal sweets. On Place Jeanne-Hachette, the illuminated Ferris wheel gives a bird’s-eye view over the centre and its lights. Around it, an ice rink open to all (gloves compulsory, not provided), a toboggan run in a reconstructed mountain setting, and Father Christmas’s house for the little ones.

When it comes to food, you are in Picardy. The ficelle picarde, a rolled crêpe filled with ham and mushrooms and baked in cream, keeps you warm before an evening outdoors. On the sweet side, the gâteau battu, a tall, fluted brioche with a lovely yellow colour, slips easily into a bag. Bêtises de Cambrai, the emblematic boiled sweets of the Hauts-de-France, are found on many stalls. For the hot drink to go with them, our home-made mulled wine recipe (in French) does the job once you are home.

On 20 December 2025, the grand fairy-tale parade crossed the town from 9pm to 10.30pm, from the Jules-Ferry school to Place Jeanne-Hachette. A highlight that returns every year in a similar form.

Beauvais Christmas market: practical information and access

Beauvais is easy to reach from Paris. A TER regional train links Paris-Nord to Beauvais in about 1 hour 15 minutes, and the station is ten minutes’ walk from the pedestrian centre, which takes parking out of the equation. If you are driving, several car parks frame the town centre; go for those on the edge of the pedestrian zone on busy evenings.

Entry to the market is free. The Ferris wheel, the ice rink and the toboggan run remain paid activities, per session. Bring gloves for the ice, as they are not provided. The pedestrian zone is on the level and suits pushchairs and people with reduced mobility.

If you are extending the weekend in the Hauts-de-France, carry on to Amiens Christmas market, one of the largest in northern France, as well as the one in Lille with its Ferris wheel on the Grand-Place. From the capital, our guide to the Christmas markets of Paris completes the tour.