Rudower Weihnachtsmeile (Adventsmeile)

Advent spirit on the southern edge of Berlin

Rudow is the southernmost district of the Neukölln borough, a suburban atmosphere characterized primarily by single-family homes and terraced housing estates, which has little to do with the hip Neukölln cliché. That's precisely why the Rudower Weihnachtsmeile works so well: it's a classic neighborhood Christmas market for residents, their families, and local associations — and not a tourist spectacle like the markets at Alexanderplatz or Gendarmenmarkt.

Three stages, many stalls

The concept of the festival is musically well-thought-out: three smaller stages distribute the program across Krokusstraße and Alt-Rudow. Local choirs, school clubs, the brass band, small bands, and solo musicians perform on the stages. Between the stages, there are craft stalls — candles, jewelry, woodwork, crochet items — as well as food stalls with mulled wine, bratwurst, crêpes, and gingerbread. A children's carousel completes the program.

District Neukölln, AG Rudow, and the South of Berlin

The organizer is the AG Rudow, a voluntary initiative of the district's residents. The festival belongs to the family of Rudow's local festivals, which also include the Lichterfest in November and the Buckower Dorfangerfest in summer. The Neukölln district, with almost 330,000 inhabitants, is one of Berlin's most populous districts and ranges from hyper-urban inner-city Neukölln to Gropiusstadt and the more village-like districts of Buckow and Rudow on the southern edge.