Covered home entry with a timber door, gray lap siding, sandstone steps and copper-colored maple leaves.

Christkindlmarket and the Mile High Tree Run on Ball Arena's Calendar

The Denver Christkindlmarket opens Friday, Nov. 20, on Tivoli Quad at the Auraria Campus and runs through Dec. 23. The Mile High Tree lights up the same night and stays until Dec. 31. Both are free. What you spend on a visit, in money and in patience, mostly depends on what's happening at Ball Arena, a short walk away.

The Christkindlmarket's own FAQ points this out quietly. It sends visitors to the Holly Lot, 7th Street Garage, Elm Lot, Cherry Lot and 5th Street Garage because those get less use during Ball Arena events. Between opening night and New Year's Eve, the arena's posted schedule has 14 Nuggets and Avalanche home games and five concert dates. Opening night is one of them. So the best way to plan is with the arena calendar open next to the market's.

The streets around Tivoli Quad are already closed

By the time you read this, setup has been going for days. Auraria Campus started load-in Monday, Nov. 2. The Mile High Tree went up first, and the market huts come in Nov. 9 through 19. Here's what that means if you drive or walk through campus:

11th Street between Walnut and Larimer is closed Nov. 2 through Jan. 9, along with the west sidewalk on that block.
Larimer Street west of 12th is closed to through traffic for the same period. The parking meters on Larimer stay reachable, and so does 11th Street between the Events Center and North Classroom.
Walnut Street between 10th and 11th closes Nov. 9 through Dec. 28, and so does its sidewalk.

Buses are affected too. RTD lists stop closures on routes 6 and 43 from Nov. 2 through Jan. 9. Both directions at 11th Street and Auraria Parkway are closed, plus the westbound stop at Larimer and 12th. The market's FAQ still says those two lines stop "right in front of the event," so check the route 43 alerts before you count on getting off at the gate.

Fourteen game nights and five concerts share the season

The market is open Monday through Thursday from 1 to 9 p.m. and Friday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. The Festival Hall stays open until 10 p.m. The tree runs 5 to 10 p.m. every night, and VISIT DENVER lists a drone show over downtown each evening at 7. Most arena events start between 7 and 8:30 p.m., so the busiest part of a market evening and the pregame rush happen at the same time.

Here's how the two calendars line up, using the Nuggets schedule and Ball Arena's event list:

Date	At the market	At Ball Arena
Fri, Nov. 20	Opening ceremony, 5:50–6:30 p.m.	Nuggets vs. Rockets, 8 p.m.
Sat, Nov. 21	Regular hours	Trans-Siberian Orchestra, 3 and 7:30 p.m.
Sun, Nov. 22	Family Day	Journey, 7:30 p.m.
Mon, Nov. 23	Canine Christmas	Nothing listed
Tue, Nov. 24	Regular hours	Nuggets vs. Mavericks, 8 p.m.
Wed, Nov. 25	Regular hours	Avalanche vs. Montreal, 7:30 p.m.
Sat, Nov. 28	Trachten Nacht	Avalanche vs. San Jose, 7 p.m.
Sun, Nov. 29	Family Day	Nothing listed
Mon, Nov. 30	Auraria Campus Night	Nothing listed
Wed–Thu, Dec. 2–3	Regular hours	Gracie Abrams, 8 p.m.
Sat, Dec. 5	Krampus Nacht	Nothing listed
Sun, Dec. 6	St. Nikolaus Day and Family Day	Nothing listed
Wed, Dec. 9	Regular hours	Jonas Brothers, 7:30 p.m.
Sat, Dec. 12	Regular hours	Avalanche vs. Washington, 7 p.m.
Sun, Dec. 13	Family Day	Nothing listed
Mon, Dec. 14	Regular hours	Avalanche vs. Utah, 7 p.m.
Wed, Dec. 16	Ugly Sweater Day	Avalanche vs. NY Islanders, 7 p.m.
Thu, Dec. 17	Regular hours	Nuggets vs. Hawks, 7 p.m.
Fri, Dec. 18	Regular hours	Avalanche vs. Carolina, 7 p.m.
Sat, Dec. 19	Regular hours	Nuggets vs. Lakers, 7 p.m.
Sun, Dec. 20	Family Day	Avalanche vs. Seattle, 6 p.m.

Two stretches stand out. Opening weekend has an arena event all three nights: a Nuggets game Friday, two Trans-Siberian Orchestra shows Saturday and Journey on Sunday. Then Dec. 16 through 20 brings five straight nights of hockey or basketball, right in the final full week before the market closes. If you want the last-minute gift-shopping energy without the game-night traffic, Dec. 21, 22 and 23 have nothing on the arena's list. "Nothing listed" means nothing on the posted schedule as of late October. Arenas add dates, so check again the week you go.

Parking costs depend on how close you park

Auraria Campus is charging special event rates in every garage and lot from Nov. 20 through Dec. 31, and you pay through the ParkMobile app:

Surface lots: $10
5th Street and 7th Street garages: $15, covered, with a short walk
Tivoli Garage: $30, the closest to the market

Tivoli Garage isn't on the market's recommended list. The two garages it does name, 5th Street and 7th Street, are in the $15 tier, and the FAQ says those garages, along with the Holly, Elm and Cherry lots, see less use during arena events. On a game night, paying $30 for Tivoli Garage means competing with the arena crowd for the most convenient spaces on campus.

Light rail has the same issue. The FAQ lists Ball Arena/Elitch Gardens as the closest station at about a 10-minute walk. Auraria West Campus is about 12 minutes, and Union Station is about 15. On a Nuggets or Avalanche night, Ball Arena/Elitch is the arena's own station. The few extra minutes from Auraria West or Union Station can be the calmer trip, especially if you're leaving around the time a game lets out.

The quiet nights have the market's best programming

Several of the arena-free dates carry the market's themed days. Canine Christmas falls on Monday, Nov. 23, and Auraria Campus Night is Monday, Nov. 30. Krampus Nacht is Saturday, Dec. 5, and St. Nikolaus Day follows on Sunday, Dec. 6. Family Day runs on five Sundays: Nov. 22 and 29 and Dec. 6, 13 and 20, with story reading, activities and live music. Three of those Sundays have nothing at the arena. The Dec. 20 Family Day shares the night with a 6 p.m. Avalanche game, so the afternoon is the easier time that day.

There's new programming this year too. The market's What's New page lists glass-ornament workshops with Mack Glass and a German-style pyramid bar it describes as making its first U.S. appearance. The Western Carousel is also back. The 2026 vendor map hadn't been posted yet in late October, and the map currently online is last year's.

On a weekday, the hours line up neatly. The market opens at 1 p.m. and the tree at 5. If you arrive around 5, you can catch a few tree shows, which start every 15 minutes, watch the 7 p.m. drones from the quad and still have two hours of shopping before the huts close at 9. VISIT DENVER also names the Sculpture Park at the Denver Performing Arts Complex as a good place to watch the drones if Tivoli Quad gets crowded. Weather can change the drone schedule. On Thanksgiving Day, the market is open 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and nothing is listed at the arena that day.

After Dec. 23, the tree stays and the games come back

The huts are taken down Dec. 24 through 28, but the Mile High Tree stays on the quad through Dec. 31. The tree is 110 feet tall and covered in 60,000 LEDs, and up to 140 people at a time can stand underneath it. That last week is short but busy at the arena. The Nuggets host the Pacers at 6 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 27, and the Timberwolves at 8:30 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 28. The Avalanche play St. Louis at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 29. Thursday, Dec. 31 closes the season with a ball-drop-style countdown at the tree at 9 p.m., three hours before midnight. Load-out runs Jan. 2 through 9, and 11th and Larimer streets reopen after Jan. 9.

Are you picking a Christkindlmarket night for family visiting over the holidays, or trying to fit a Krampus Nacht visit into a December that's already full? I'm happy to share what I know about getting to Auraria and back. Vicki Zeeb loves talking about Colorado holiday traditions any time of year. Let's Connect.