"Christkindlesmarkt' is a festival held five Sundays before Christmas in Adamstown, Pennsylvania. The location for this holiday event is the Stoudt brewery/restaurant/antiques complex, one-half hour north of Lancaster, and one hour west of Philadelphia. The Stoudt Black Angus Expo Center hosts fifty seasonal dealers who offer a variety of antiques, Christmas crafts, toys, fresh Victorian Christmas trees and wreaths. Music and festive holiday food are also available from the Stoudt bakery, restaurant and brewery.
The first Sunday features a Victorian Christmas, served by costumed attendants. Traditional English fare includes a wassail bowl, sugar plums, hot-cross buns, spiced beer, bread pudding, mincemeat tarts. Main dishes include bangers (veal and pork sausage), fish and chips, shepherd's pie and roast beef.
The Christmas tree is lit on the second Sunday and visitors are led in caroling. A woodsy menu is offered with slices of yule log, spiced pork, hunter's meat pies and rabbit stew. On the third Sunday St. Nicholas hands out chocolate coins to the children who've been good all year. Seasonal treats from the bakery and German dishes are featured, including pork schnitzel, sauerkraut and spaetzel. The Feast of Saint Lucia is celebrated on the fourth week and a crown of lights illuminates the Expo Center. More cookies and other holiday sweets are available from the bakery, and dishes from the kitchen feature Swedish fare, such as roast pork and swedish meatballs.
The Sunday before Christmas is a Pennsylvania-Dutch celebration of folklore and food. The menu includes chicken pot pie, pot roast and country ham. Christkindlesmarkt is open from 7:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Specail events are held at noon.
Shopping is also available at Stoudt's German style village of more than four-hundred dealers featuring antique furnishings, vintage clothing, jewelry and artwork. Fine dining is available at the Black Angus Restaurant and Pub. The famous Stoudt brewery offers tours, tastings and a retail store.
