Several Christmas markets across Germany have been called off this year amid fears of Islamist terrorist attacks and due to the rising cost of guaranteeing participants’ safety. Alongside the Christmas events, an autumn festival has also been cancelled.

In the town of Overath, North Rhine-Westphalia, revellers will have to look elsewhere this year for mulled wine, grilled sausages and roasted chestnuts, after organisers announced this week that the annual Christmas market would not go ahead. The organisers admitted that previous terrorist attacks had achieved their aim, but said

they simply could not afford the security measures needed to prevent another assault — including hiring additional guards and closing off the market area to protect against vehicle attacks.

Although they attempted to secure extra funding from the local municipal government, those efforts failed, according to the Rheinische Post.

Der Weihnachtsmarkt in Overath musste wegen der Kosten für Terrorabwehrmaßnahmen von den Veranstaltern abgesagt werden. Sie hatten sich eine Übernahme durch die Stadt erhofft – doch die lehnt die Ausgaben für Absperrungen und Sicherheitspersonal ab.https://t.co/7U8U9BMNYf pic.twitter.com/oGm59LftxM

— Apollo News (@apollo_news_de) November 3, 2025

The Christmas market in Kerpen has also been cancelled, Kölner City Gazette reported

“We were informed that we must seal off Stiftsplatz from all sides. Yet we receive no financial support from the city and have to handle everything ourselves,”

– organiser Rene Hövel explained to Die Welt.

But it is not only Christmas markets being scrapped due to the heightened threat. The Kessenich Autumn Festival in Bonn has also been cancelled because organisers were unable to implement “a viable security concept that meets current requirements.” The organiser said:

“An autumn fair without protective measures against potential dangers such as uncontrolled vehicles is not an option for us.”

Christmas Markets Have Become Targets

The stepped-up security measures are far from baseless. In recent years, several Christmas markets have been struck by terrorist attacks. The first major incident occurred in Berlin in 2016.

Tunisian asylum seeker Anis Amri, whose application had been rejected, deliberately drove a lorry into crowds at the market, killing 12 people and injuring dozens more.

Amri was shot dead days later in a gunfight with police in Milan.

Last year, a Saudi refugee activist, who had been granted asylum in Germany, drove at high speed into revellers at the Magdeburg Christmas market, killing six people and injuring 323 others. The attack came just months after a Syrian asylum seeker carried out a stabbing spree at a “diversity festival” in Solingen, killing three and wounding eight.

France has also introduced strict security measures, particularly after the Strasbourg Christmas market attack in 2018, which claimed five lives.

Similarly brutal assaults have also occurred at Christmas markets in Austria, Belgium and England.