Annual Gingerbread Festival
28th Annual Gingerbread Festival
Scroll down to see the results from the 2024 Gingerbread Festival!
Gingerbread Festival Hours
November 28 – December 30, 2025
Sunday through Friday: 1–5 pm
Saturday: 10 am–5 pm
Saturday and Sunday musical performances begin at 2:00 p.m.
Interested in submitting a gingerbread house in 2025?
Read the full guidelines.
Not sure where to start?
Take a look at our Gingerbread Festival Resources here.
2024 Gingerbread Festival Winners
The Kohler Foundation has tallied the votes, revealing the winners of this year’s festival. 57 entries were viewed and voted on by more than 4,000 visitors to the Waelderhaus. Securing the title of the festival's highest vote-getter is “We love little baby Jesus” created by Suzette Schermacher’s 3K class from St. John the Baptist Catholic School in Plymouth.
The first-place winners in each category were awarded $500. They include:
Pre-school: St. John the Baptist Catholic School “We Love Little Baby Jesus”
Grades K-2: Lake Country Academy “Hansel and Gretel”
Grades 3-5: St. John Lutheran School Plymouth “There is NO place like church”
Grades 6-8: St. John Lutheran School Plymouth “Winter Invasion”
Grades 9-12: Elkhart Lake-Glenbeulah High School Culinary Arts Class “Up, Up, and Away”
Community Groups: Beacon Specialized Living “Hogwarts Castle”
Open: TeBeest Family “2024 Olympics in Paris”
Second-place winners earned a $250 cash prize. They include:
Pre-school: John Michael Kohler Arts Center Preschool “Little Legume Lodge “
Grades K-2: St. John Lutheran School Plymouth “Santa’s Village”
Grades 3-5: Sheboygan Christian School “Gingerbread Liberty”
Grades 6-8: St. John Lutheran School Plymouth “Whoville”
Grades 9-12: AFS Intercultural Exchange Elkhart Lake, Kohler, Random Lake “All Paths Lead to the USA”
Community Groups: American Heritage Girls WI0235 “Christmas Island”
Open: Watershed Hotel “Christmas at the Watershed Hotel”
Third-place honorees and recipients of a $100 award are:
Grades K-2: St. John Lutheran School Plymouth “A Cabin in the Forest”
Grades 3-5: St. Sheboygan Christian School “New York Candy Towers”
Grades 6-8: St. John Lutheran School Plymouth Deer Camp”
Grades 9-12: AFS Intercultural Exchange Plymouth “Pathways to International Holidays”
Community Groups: Nourish Farms “Nourish Greenhouses”
Open: RCS Empowers “RCS Candyland Train”
Everyone at Waelderhaus extends their thanks to everyone who joined for the 28th year! Mark your calendars for the 29th Annual Gingerbread Festival, happening from November 28 to December 30, 2025.
