100 Days to Christmas: Kaufland Opens the Season's First Christmas Market at Hamburg's Reeperbahn
Kaufland fired the starting gun on Christmas roughly 100 days early, opening Germany's first Christmas market of the season — the 'Winter Wonderland' pop-up at Hamburg's Reeperbahn Festival through 19 September 2026 — under the line "Christmas is when you feel it," with streamer Knossi on hand.
Christmas in September — and a festival crowd to match
With roughly 100 days to go until Christmas, Kaufland has fired the starting gun on the season, opening what it calls Germany's first Christmas market of the year. The "Kaufland Winter Wonderland" pop-up ran at the Reeperbahn Festival on Hamburg's Heiligengeistfeld through 19 September 2026.
Placing a Christmas market inside a music festival is the whole idea. Rather than wait for shoppers to feel festive in November, Kaufland took the season to a young, culture-hungry crowd in September — and let the incongruity do the talking.
Feeling over calendar
The activation runs under the line "Weihnachten ist, wenn du es fühlst" — Christmas is when you feel it — a neat piece of positioning that reframes the too-early timing as a feature, not a bug. If Christmas is a feeling, it can arrive whenever the brand says so.
The pop-up came fully loaded: snow cannons, mulled wine, Christmas bakes, a decorating station, ugly-sweater moments, a Christmas post station and an advent prize wheel. Streamer and entertainer Jens "Knossi" Knossalla — a Kaufland ambassador since 2021 — appeared for a meet-and-greet at the opening.
Why 'Christmas creep' keeps working
Retailers are pilloried every year for starting Christmas earlier, yet they keep doing it because it works. The first mover owns the mental territory before rivals arrive, and an experiential stunt earns social reach that a November leaflet never will. The Reeperbahn setting is the multiplier: festival-goers are there to share.
Marketing Minute's read: the smart move isn't simply "early," it's early plus a reason. Tying the launch to a feeling — and to an ambassador with a built-in streaming audience — gives Kaufland permission to be first without looking purely opportunistic.
What businesses should take from it
If you're going to break a seasonal norm, give people a story that justifies it. "Christmas is when you feel it" converts an eye-roll ("already?") into a shrug-and-share ("why not"). The framing is doing as much work as the snow cannon.
And match the venue to the audience you actually want. Kaufland didn't build this for existing Christmas shoppers; it built it for a younger festival crowd it wants to recruit — meeting them where they already are, with a creator they already follow.
Quick FAQ
What is Kaufland's Winter Wonderland?
A pop-up Christmas market — billed as Germany's first of the 2026 season — that Kaufland staged at the Reeperbahn Festival in Hamburg, running through 19 September 2026, roughly 100 days before Christmas.
Why is Kaufland doing Christmas in September?
To own the season first and earn social reach. Its line "Christmas is when you feel it" reframes the early timing as intentional, and the festival setting targets a younger, shareable audience.
Who is the Kaufland ambassador involved?
Streamer and entertainer Jens "Knossi" Knossalla, a Kaufland ambassador since 2021, appeared for a meet-and-greet at the market's opening.
Everyone mocks Christmas creep, then everyone copies it. Kaufland's twist is the reason it gives: 'Christmas is when you feel it.' That single line turns 'far too early' into a shareable moment — and a festival crowd into next year's Christmas shoppers. Timing plus a story beats timing alone. — Daniel Nikolla, Founder of Merx Marketing
Breaking a seasonal norm only works if you hand people a reason to forgive it — the story matters as much as the stunt.
If you launched your peak season 100 days early, what story would make customers cheer rather than groan?
If you would like to know more about this topic, please contact us on danieln@merxmarketing.co.uk
Sources: Campaign Germany.
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Written by Daniel Nikolla, Founder of Merx Marketing Ltd and Marketing Minute
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