The popular Downtown D.C. holiday market is scheduled to make its annual return in less than a month, and a separate market is planning to open in a different part of the city again this winter.
The DowntownD.C. Holiday Market is scheduled to open daily starting Nov. 21. It’ll open in its usual location — on F Street NW, between 7th and 9th streets, near Capital One Arena.
It will have different hours for weekdays and weekends and remain open for holiday shopping until Dec. 23.
Speaking to a full room of city leaders and market supporters at Carmine’s Restaurant on Monday afternoon, Mayor Muriel Bowser said last year’s Downtown market averaged almost 11,000 people every day.
“What we know is how resilient our economy has proven, even given all of the different things that have come at us,” Bowser said.
This year, there will be 119 total vendors at the Downtown market, including 23 new ones. One booth in particular will display products that are made and manufactured in D.C., and another will celebrate businesses east of the Anacostia River.
There will be 15 food and drink vendors, including the S’mores N’ More’s hot chocolate, which received notable attention on social media last year, according to Gerren Price, president and CEO of the DowntownD.C. Business Improvement District.
It’s free to walk through the market, and it will feature live music Thursdays through Sundays.
“This market is incredibly diverse,” Price said. “The vast majority of the vendors that are represented in our market are locally owned, women owned, BIPOC owned and/or LGBTQIA+ owned.”
Police Chief Pamela Smith said D.C. police will have an even greater presence near the DowntownD.C. Holiday Market than last year. The agency will again redeploy recruit officers currently assigned at the D.C. police academy to “bolster our visibility in our city and certainly in the commercial corridor areas.”
The DowntownD.C. Business Improvement District, which includes the stretch where the market sets up, has reported a 21% drop in violent crime, Smith said.
The competitor up the street
While this year will be the DowntownD.C. Holiday Market 21st anniversary, a separate market is being planned for Dupont Circle.
Bill McLeod, executive director of the Dupont Circle Business Improvement District, said while the group hasn’t received the permit yet, it’s planning a holiday market along New Hampshire Avenue.
Last year’s D.C. Holiday Market in Dupont Circle was run by Diverse Markets Management, which used to run the Penn Quarter market.
Now, Makers Show runs the DowntownD.C. Holiday Market. Price said Monday that the new group “brought a new infrastructure, a brand new look and aesthetic, new social media channels and a website, and a renewed commitment to secure an even more diverse group of vendors.”
The D.C. Holiday Market in Dupont Circle rose as a competitor to the iconic Penn Quarter market, boasting its tables of vendors and exhibits as another option for the city’s residents.
Its website says the market is set to open from Nov. 14 to Dec. 23.
The National Mistletoe at Anthem Row is also returning, with the goal of setting a Guinness World Record for most kisses under the mistletoe.
The Winter Skate Spectacular is also back at the National Building Museum, with themed skate nights and opportunities for D.C. Public School kids to skate for free daily.
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
© 2025 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
