Take a trip to Christmas past, in a more pleasant way than Scrooge did, by visiting one of the many Dickens, Victorian and medieval themed events taking place across the UK this festive season.
Victorian Festival of Christmas at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard (Photo: Portsmouth Historic Dockyard)
Warwick Victorian Christmas Evening
When: 29th November 2018, 5pm – 9pm
Where: Warwick town centre
£: Free
What is it?
There will be attractions throughout the town centre including a traditional steam-powered carousel, a Victorian Ferris wheel, fairground organs, fire spinners, morris dancing, Victorian scallywags, children’s rides and entertainment, a Victorian market, festive food and craft stalls.
There will also be a Christmas Tree Festival at St. Mary’s Church. Shopkeepers and stallholders will be in period costume, and visitors are encouraged to enter into the spirit of the evening.
More info: www.enjoywarwick.co.uk
Worcester Victorian Christmas Fayre
When: 29th November – 2nd December 2018
Where: Worcester city centre
£: Free
What is it?
This is the 26th Victorian fayre and this year there will be a traditional carousel, carols, and more than 200 stalls selling local produce and unique gifts. There will also be a Victorian themed bar, Victorian characters in Gin Lane, entertainers on stilts, live music and buskers on every street corner. Look out for the Victorian Flower Seller and her roaming photo-booth.
More info: www.worcesterchristmasfayre.co.uk
Victorian Festival of Christmas
When: 30th November – 2nd December 2018, 10am – 6pm
Where: Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, HM Naval Base, Portsmouth PO1 3LJ
£: Tickets priced from £13.50 – £43
What is it?
At this year’s festival, visitors will be able to enjoy a tipple in Fagin’s Real Ale Tavern, sing-a-longs with Victorian entertainers, a traditional Father Christmas dressed in green, a living snow globe, and stalls selling handmade gifts and curiosities. New for this year, there will be a Gin & Prosecco Parlour for visitors to indulge in.
More info: www.historicdockyard.co.uk
The costumed parade at Ulverston’s Dickensian Festival
Ulverston Dickensian Festival
When: 24th & 25th November 2018, 10am – 4.30pm
Where: Ulverston town centre, Cumbria
£: Free (some events are ticketed)
What is it?
This is the twentieth annual Dickensian Christmas Festival, and the event attracts thousands of people looking to savour the atmosphere of a traditional market town in the Dickensian era. This year there will be a Christmas market, a fun fair, a Grand Promenade of costumed characters, a Dickensian tea room, storytelling, a giant tombola, a vintage steam wagon and street entertainers. Expect a grand exhibition of curiosities, strong lady Betty Brawn, miniature steam railway rides, carol singing, a Dickensian photo booth, mulled wine and a period costume competition.
More info: www.dickensianfestival.co.uk and www.facebook.com/ulverstondickensianfestival
Ludlow Medieval Christmas Fayre
When: 24th & 25th November 2018
Where: Ludlow Castle, Ludlow, Shropshire
£: Admission costs £5 – £31. Under 5s go free
What is it?
A medieval fayre that encourages you to eat, drink and be merry, Ludlow’s event will have medieval jesters, live music, stalls selling gifts and produce, fighting knights, theatre and puppets, as well as the chance to try archery and circus skills. Visitors can see knights fighting with fire, enjoy hot cocktails at a pop up bar, eat hog roast and roasted chestnuts, and try some hands-on history, including medieval games.
More info: www.ludlowmedievalchristmas.co.uk
Grassington Dickensian Festival
Grassington Dickensian Festival
When: 1st – 9th December 2018
Where: Grassington, North Yorkshire
£: Free
What is it?
On the first two weekends in December, Grassington travels back in time for their annual Dickensian Festival. Visitors are treated to a glorious array of sights, tastes and smells from a bygone era. The village is adorned in Christmas lights, whilst the square and streets come alive with a traditional market where shopkeepers and villagers are dressed in Victorian costume. Visitors can enjoy buskers, brass bands, street entertainers, a torchlit procession, a mummers’ play, an open brazier and mulled wine.
More info: grassingtondickensian.co.uk
Ware Dickensian Evening
When: 7th December 2018, 6pm – 10pm
Where: Ware, Hertfordshire
£: Free
What is it?
Step back in time with an evening of traditional entertainment. This year’s event will have stalls selling handmade gifts, hot food and drink. At about 7pm, the Mayor, hailed by the Ware Town Crier, will turn on the lights on the mighty horse-chestnut tree in Tudor Square, to the accompaniment of carols. There will be live music in the square during the evening, along with entertainment throughout the town, including a fun fair, a rock choir and samba band.
More info: www.dickensian.org.uk
Victorian Christmas at Blists Hill
When: 8th – 9th and 15th – 16th December 2018, 10am – 4pm
Where: Blists Hill Victorian Town, Ironbridge, Shropshire
£: Tickets cost £17.95 for adults, £12.70 for the 60 Plus, £10.90 for children, and £55 for a family (two adults and two children)
What is it?
Experience the atmosphere of a bygone era and enjoy an array of traditional celebrations from the 1800s. Enjoy the town’s festive decorations, meet Father Christmas, hear about Victorian Christmas traditions, and listen to carol singers and brass bands.
More info: www.ironbridge.org.uk
The turkeyman at Rochester Dickensian Christmas Festival
Rochester Dickensian Christmas Festival
When: 1st & 2nd December 2018, 10am – 5pm
Where: Rochester, Kent
£: Free
What is it?
Expect street entertainment, song, dance and classic readings. Visitors can rub shoulders with some of Dickens’ most beloved and infamous characters. Highlights will include the Seven Poor Travellers’ Procession, led by the Lamplighter, complete with a speech by Charles Dickens and the carving of the turkey. There will also be a candlelit parade, carols, a one horse open sleigh, bell ringers and historic walking tours. Watch out for the ghost of Christmas past floating by, and don’t miss having your photo taken with Fagin!
More info: www.rochesterdickensfestival.org.uk and new.medway.gov.uk
Dickens of a Christmas
When: 9th December 2018, 10am – 4pm
Where: Olney, Buckinghamshire
£: Free
What is it?
This popular event attracts many thousands of visitors wishing to enjoy the sense of days gone by. Stallholders dress in outfits from the period and there is also the chance to visit one of three craft fairs. Expect traditional festivities such as mulled wine and carol singing.
More info: www.visitolney.com
Otley Victorian Fayre
When: 2nd December 2018, 12pm – 6pm
Where: Otley, West Yorkshire
£: Free
What is it?
Otley Victorian Fayre will have a wide variety of stalls offering gifts and food, and street entertainment. The entertainment usually includes Mummers, Morris dance troupes, school singers, dancers, children’s rides, traditional organs and brass bands. Take a visit to the local public houses where staff will be dressed in Victorian clothes whilst offering great Yorkshire ales.
More info: www.victorianfayre.co.uk and www.facebook.com/otleyvictorianchristmasfayre
Garstang Victorian Christmas
When: 10th & 11th December 2018, 6pm – 9pm
Where: Garstang, Lancashire
£: Free
What is it?
Enjoy an array of street entertainment with bands, singers, street stalls, Punch & Judy, and Santa himself who arrives in style and sets up shop in his grotto on the High Street. There will be a vast array of stalls selling everything from hog roast and German sausages, to candy floss and doughnuts. Most of the shops stay open in the evening for gift shopping.
More info: www.garstangvictorianfestival.co.uk
Victorian Christmas at Brunel’s ss Great Britain
When: 8th – 9th December 2018
Where: Brunel’s ss Great Britain, Great Western Dockyard, Bristol
£: Admission costs £15.70 for adults, and £9 for children. Student and senior concessions available. There is an additional fee to climb the rigging
What is it?
Step back in time and meet ragged Victorians and passengers from the past. Meet Mr Brunel, make your own Victorian Christmas card, enjoy festive food and drink, climb the rigging and listen to carols. There will also be traditional gifts on offer for those doing their Christmas shopping.
More info: www.ssgreatbritain.org
Christmas in the Home
When: 24th November – 24th December 2018
Where: Black Country Living Museum, Tipton Road, Dudley DY1 4SQ
£: Admission cost £17.95 for adults and £8.95 for young people
What is it?
Stroll around the living museum and discover the sights and sounds of Christmases past, from Victorian lavishness to wartime Christmas on the ration. See tradtional plum puddings being made, hear festive tunes on the wireless, enjoy a classic film in the 1920s cinema and pen a Christmas card.
More info: www.bclm.co.uk/whatson/christmas-in-the-home
The Charles Dickens Museum in London
Tales and Traditions of a Victorian Christmas
When: 20th – 22nd December 2018
Where: Edinburgh Castle, Castlehill, Edinburgh EH1 2NG
£: Admission to the castle costs £17 for adults, £13.60 for concessions and £10.20 for children
What is it?
Head along to Edinburgh Castle and find out about the origins of Christmas traditions from Victorian times. Learn about the origins of the Christmas cracker, Christmas cards, and other festive traditions.
More info: www.edinburghcastle.gov.uk
Christmas at the Charles Dickens Museum
When: until 24th December 2018
Where: Charles Dickens Museum, 48 Doughty Street, London WC1N 2LX
£: Ticket prices vary depending on the event
What is it?
Have a Christmas to remember at Doughty Street, Charles Dickens’ only remaining London family home. This year there will be events including Punch and Puddings with Pen Vogler, Ghost Stories for Christmas performed by James Swanton, A Christmas Carol performed by Dominic Gerrard, Costumed Christmas Walks, A Very Dickensian Christmas Eve and Christmas Lates.
More info: dickensmuseum.com