Vendors at the Chicago's festive Christkindlmarket in Daley Plaza were urging city officials to reconsider new last-minute limits placed on capacity for the popular German-themed Christmas market, saying their survival depends on the changes they are seeking.

Lines to get inside Christkindlmarket, which opened one week ago, often have appeared to be larger than the crowds inside.

For a band that jams in finger-freezing weather during the Chicago winter, the long lines to get inside Christkindlmarket have been a silver lining.

"Yeah, I mean, this is basically the best time of the year to play on the street for sure," said busker Gordon Walters, who plays bass for a Chicago street orchestra. "Now we have, like, a captive audience with the line the whole time."

But what's good for Walters and his bandmates has been bad for vendors inside Christkindlmarket.

Wolfgang Poennighaus has been a vendor for 22 years.

"We have the famous Kim & Scott's Gourmet Pretzel booth right behind us, and on that side the Gift and Candle Palace, with the paper stars and all items which you can illuminate," he said.

Poenninghaus said business is down 40% so far this year at Christkindlmarket, because of new capacity limits at Daley Plaza.

Christkindlmarket organizers said the city capped capacity to just over 1,500 people.

"Every day this goes on is a day too long for all of our vendors, and quite frankly for all the people standing out in the lines," said Mark Tomkins, president and CEO of The German American Chamber of Commerce of the Midwest, which runs Christkindlmarket.

Organizers claimed the city made the change based on a new interpretation of Chicago's municipal code, informing vendors just 12 hours before opening day of the new capacity limit.

"Even with social distancing during COVID, our capacity limits were more than double what they are now, as of last week," Tomkins said.

Organizers said they're working with the city on a compromise that can't come soon enough.

"If we have 40% less, we will not survive," Poenninghaus said.

Vendors need their customers like a band needs its audience.

"I want the vendors to make money, too, so I don't know, I support them," Walters said.

Mayor Brandon Johnson's office did not respond to questions about the new capacity limits at Christkindlmarket or why the change was made.