On Saturday and Sunday from 2 p.m., Christmas crafts, gifts, liqueurs, jams, woodwork and much more will be on sale in festively decorated wooden stalls and stands in the main street and behind the Old Town Hall. A large number of private vendors, clubs and associations contribute to the varied Christmas programme.
A large selection of mulled wine, Feuerzangenbowle, Christmas treats such as Mutzenmandeln, quark balls, freshly baked waffles, potato pancakes, coffee and cake as well as freshly grilled food will be on offer. On Sunday, the traditional Woastebroad and Kettelhänschen will be served in the tent behind the Old Town Hall. On both days, children can look forward to baking bread on a stick, a children's carousel, stalls with sweets and the animals from the Zwafink GbR sheep farm. In front of the Protestant church, mini cows, donkeys, sheep and lambs will delight guests of all ages.
On Saturday afternoon from 15:00, the programme on the stage behind the Old Town Hall will alternate between the Dutch choir N'JOY and the brass band of the Neuenhaus rifle club. Visitors will be treated to both traditional and modern Christmas carols. From 16:00, the children's wait for Father Christmas will be shortened by a children's puzzle in the tent behind the Old Town Hall, where they can win great prizes. The puzzle cups will be ready for the adults from 6.00 pm to challenge their luck in the traditional way.
At 17:00, Carl-Hendrik Staal, the honorary mayor of Neuenhaus, opens the Christmas market on stage and presents the winners of the social media raffle with their prizes. St Nicholas arrives at 6.00 pm with his companions and presents the waiting children with sweets. The evening ends behind the Old Town Hall with music and a great atmosphere.
The stage programme also begins on Sunday at 15:00. Under the direction of Ulrike Sumbeck, the children from the Veldhausen Ecumenical Children's Choir will begin the programme on stage. From 4.00 pm, Biggi Henschel will sing well-known Christmas carols for young and old.
The Middewinterhorn wind players from Denekamp, Ootmarsum, Hoogstede, Wilsum / Uelsen and Neuenhaus / Veldhausen will meet on Sunday at 16:00 at the Mühlenkolk. The first candle will be lit on the floating Advent wreath in the Mühlenkolk. At 4.30 pm, the Middewinterhorn blowers will then set off from the Mühlenkolk in individual groups on various routes of different lengths (1-3 km) with the final destination being the Christmas market behind the Old Town Hall. In between, the sounds of the Middewinter horns will be heard again and again. Anyone interested is cordially invited to accompany the Middewinter horn players on their hike.
From 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. on both days, photos of the wedding service will be exhibited and Low German stories read aloud in the Old Town Hall, organised by the Heimatfreunde Neuenhaus e.V.. The new mug from the Neuenhaus Christmas market can also be purchased there.
The Kunstverein Grafschaft Bentheim e.V. is open on both days from 14:00 to 18:00. During this time there will be an open creative workshop for young and old. On both days, the series of works by artist Libuše Jarcovjáková can also be seen while enjoying drinks and biscuits. This project is one of the first that the artist has photographed digitally. It was created with her first iPhone. In mostly spontaneous shots, Jarcovjáková provides intimate insights into her private and everyday life. There is no charge for admission.
The Günter Frank House will also be open on both days from 15:00 to 18:00. It serves as a memorial to the Holocaust and the Jewish population of Neuenhaus, as a meeting place and as a place to search for ways into a future without anti-Semitism, racism and xenophobia. The permanent exhibition tells the story of the Jewish families in Neuenhaus who fell victim to the Holocaust. The central theme is the biography of Günter Frank, who was the only Jewish child to grow up in Neuenhaus during the Nazi era and was murdered in Auschwitz in 1944 at the age of 16.
The exhibition "The most beautiful pictures from the Seventyfive Festival" will take place on Sunday from 15:00 to 18:00 in the "Galerie Lichtblick" of the Grafschaft Bentheim Photo Association. Sixteen large-format, framed photographs by photographers Maik Neekamp, Jörg Preukschat, Ralf Prigge, Hermann Brünink and Jennifer Hövelkamp will be on display. A multimedia presentation with more than 150 images of the concert will also be shown.