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City Cast Twin Cities

🎁 Best Twin Cities holiday markets

December 3, 2025

Brrr, Twin Cities! Tiffany here. Do you want to get paid to shovel your neighbor’s driveway? Whittier’s neighborhood organization is partnering with the city of Minneapolis to pilot a “Snow Patrol” program. People who need the help can apply to get their sidewalks and driveways shoveled for free. Whittier Alliance will also pay shovelers $25 an hour. ⛄

What the Cities Are Talking About

A crowd of people wearing coats and beanies at a Christmas market decked in Christmas decorations and lights in the evening in Minneapolis.
The European Christmas Market at Union Depot in St. Paul. (Courtesy of European Christmas Market)

Top 3 Holiday Markets in the Twin Cities 🎄

I’m really serious about my holiday markets, and there are more than a hundred you could visit this season. That’s why I went on a mission to find my top three, judged by their selection of vendors, location, and grasp of the holiday spirit. Did I miss something? Reply to this email and let me know. [City Cast Twin Cities]

  • 1. European Christmas Market at Union Depot. It’s a classic for a reason. Walking through the neatly lined cabins of vendors, feeling the cold on my cheeks as I looked at alpaca-fur gloves, sipping mulled wine in a commemorative cup – that’s what this market is all about. I ate a strawberry churro and spaetzle and felt like I was floating on a snowbank of dreams. Fridays and weekends through Dec. 21. Times vary by day.
  • 2. Field and Festival Holiday Market at Wagner’s Garden Center. The vibes at this holiday market/greenhouse are fantastic. I loved perusing baked goods and handmade art beneath the glass ceilings of the Wagner’s Garden Center. You can even pick up a seasonal plant on your way out. Weekends through Dec. 21, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
  • 3. Raging Art On at Gamut Gallery. This market probably has the best name out of all of these. Each holiday season, Gamut Gallery covers as much of its walls as possible with pieces from local artists. If you like something, you can buy it on the spot, which makes you feel like a baller connoisseur of fine stuff. This year, they’re featuring works from 71 artists, and you can even shop online. Thursdays to Sundays through Dec. 21, 11 a.m.-7 p.m.
More Holiday Markets

Also Worth Your Time

About those “easy” loans: Minnesota’s Attorney General is picking up the federal slack on overseeing buy now, pay later firms. Keith Ellison is joining a multi-state inquiry into companies like Sezzle and Klarna to check if they are in compliance with state law. [Star Tribune]

TSA checklist: Starting February, travelers without a REAL ID will be charged $45, which will go toward verifying their identity through an alternative TSA system. You can still present a passport, military ID, permanent resident card, or tribal identification. Did you know you can add your passport to your Apple Wallet? [MPR News]

World AIDS Day: For the first time since 1993, the federal government is not recognizing World AIDS Day, which was on Monday. But Minneapolis-based Aliveness Project is still putting in the work. Leader Matt Toburen told MPR: “Sadly, nearly every day in Minnesota, someone is newly diagnosed with HIV. And it's unacceptable. It doesn't need to be that way.” [MPR]

  • Listen to today's episode to hear a conversation about the Aliveness Project and World AIDS Day. [ 🎧 City Cast Twin Cities]
Three Minnesota Gophers hockey players play a game on the ice rink against a player from the Wisconsin Badgers who is trying to get the puck into the net.
The Gophers play against the Badgers in the NCAA Women’s Ice Hockey championship semifinals in March. (Carlos Gonzalez/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)

Go team: Minnesota Field Trip Day is how sports teams are getting kids into games for little or no money, as a way to recruit their youngest fans. This is especially thrilling for women’s teams, who are seeing the stands filled with cheers like they haven’t heard before. [MinnPost]

More fraud: Jonathan Weinhagen, the Minneapolis Regional Chamber of Commerce’s former CEO, admitted to embezzling $200,000. He also stole money that the Chamber donated to Crime Stoppers of Minnesota following the shooting of three North Minneapolis children. [MPR]

Last team standing: St. Paul only has one high school boys’ hockey team, which is terrible news for the “State of Hockey.” An important factor is the city’s changing demographics, as hockey remains a predominantly white sport. Several teams have folded into one based at Highland Park under the St. Paul Hockey banner. [Strib Varsity]

What to Do

Wednesday, December 3

Thursday, December 4

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A person wearing glasses, dark lipstick and dark clothes holds a guitar and poses in front of a piano.
The musician and magician Carlisle Evans Peck. (Courtesy of Carlisle Evans Peck)

I’ll leave you with the melodic voice of local artist Carlisle Evans Peck. Peck shared their song “Lover, I’m An Anthem,” which was recorded in an attic. Want to share your music with us? Fill this out, and we might feature it on the show!

— Tiffany

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