Above: Christkindlmarket in Chicago. Image taken by Flickr user Ben Miller. Used under a Creative Commons license.

The Holidazzle parade marched down Nicollet Mall for the last time last December, but the holiday celebration will return as a European-style marketplace.

Downtown Council president Steve Cramer said Friday that they hope to reinvent Holidazzle as a shopping, eating and entertainment experience centered in Peavey Plaza.

"It would be a concentrated opportunity to do some gift shopping, to have some food items, some beer, mulled wine, that kind of thing," Cramer said.

The city's ways and means committee will review committing $395,000 to the concept, coupled with $1.3 million in private support.

Cramer said that unlike the parade, where people come downtown and then leave, the market would be more of an ongoing event.

"It's a much longer experience, so it would be seven days a week, open most of the day, well into the evening," Cramer said.

Other cities that have implemented similar markets include Chicago and Vancouver, Cramer said.