Thousands of holiday revelers descended upon Bancroft Park on Sunday as the first weekend of the inaugural Old Colorado City Christkindlmarket drew to a close. Building on the popularity of the Denver Christkindlmarket, the Colorado chapter of the German American Chamber of Commerce decided to br ing its festive tradition to Colorado Springs this year. “I think this has been an incredible success,” said Shanoa Franco, who talked and joked with thousands of attendees while handing out tickets for a $5,000 giveaway. “There has been a lot of excitement about us coming here. We’ve gotten a lot of really good feedback. I was super impressed by the turnout, and the vendors are amazing.” Organizers have worked to make the free event as close as possible to Christkindlmarkets in Germany, with 10 wooden huts imported from Germany and an “alpenhütte” (German for “alpine lodge”) serving as a food court and entertainment hub, with traditional German music, authentic European foods and, of course, beer. “This has been fantastic,” said Mark Gunther, who has attended the Denver Christkindlmarket several times. “I always hoped that there would be one of these in Colorado Springs.” Fourteen local vendors offered a variety of wares, including pretzels, bread, imported German cookies, roasted nuts, German steins, personalized ornaments, spice blends crafted in Germany and handcrafted apparel. “This has been a dream come true for me,” said Jessica Able, whose Wander Haus Goods offered handmade, sustainable goods made of responsibly sourced materials. “We lived in Germany for a couple of years while I was in the Air Force, and we loved it there. So when we were accepted as a vendor here, I was overjoyed.” One of the biggest challenges for Abel, she said, has been keeping up with demand as dozens of people queued up outside her hut. “I’ve already got so many lessons learned for next year,” she said. “Like, maybe I should start making things in March.” Business was also booming at Bob’s Roasted Nuts, a Castle Rock-based vendor selling Bavarian-style roasted almonds, pecans and cashews. “It’s an even larger turnout, I think, than people expected,” said manager Caleb Warren. “People have been turning out like crazy.” The increase in foot traffic along Colorado Avenue meant increased business for other local stores as well. “We’re pretty happy any time an event comes to the west side,” said Matt St. Amand, manager of Oddball Store Music and More, across the street from Bancroft Park. He estimates that the market’s soft opening on Thursday boosted business by 50%. “Every day the market has been open, our numbers have gone up. We’re expecting to see an uptick in business even after the event is over. People will tell their friends about the store, and those people will make their way over here.” The Christkindlmarket festivities will resume Dec. 18-23. Franco suggested that next year’s German holiday fest could be even bigger. “Based on this year’s turnout, I think we might need a bigger venue,” she said. “Vendors are already approaching us about how to get into next year’s market. Maybe we could even close off part of the street, like Territory Days.” ...read more read less