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WELLSBORO — The 37th Annual Dickens of a Christmas celebration is this Friday through Sunday, Dec. 3, 4 and 5 in downtown Wellsboro.

“Wellsboro’s Dickens of a Christmas is a family, fun event,” said Julie Henry, Wellsboro Area Chamber of Commerce executive director. “Having a good time is what our festival is all about. It’s refreshing to see people enjoying themselves and coming together as Dickens’ characters and willingly sharing their talents as singers and musicians in keeping with the holiday spirit.”

On Saturday only, Wellsboro’s downtown streets will be closed to motorized vehicles and transformed into an early Victorian marketplace with more than 120 outdoor vendors offering delectable fare to eat and delightful wares to keep or for holiday gift giving.

At 9 a.m., the town crier will greet everyone with the ringing of his bell and announcements of the day. The Dickens Fezziwig Street Performers in Victorian garb will take center stage at the Main and Crafton Street intersection to welcome the crowd and perform skits, sing and dance. Visitors are always invited to join in.

Lining the streets will be artists and craftsmen with hand carved Christmas trees, wrought iron and hand-turned wooden pieces, homemade jams, jellies and cheeses, hand-painted Christmas ornaments, pottery, furniture, jewelry, soaps and shampoos, specialty candles, hats, scarves, capes, pet treats, dolls, snowmen and so much more. Also available will be fresh Christmas wreaths and greens.

Outdoor food vendors will tickle the taste buds and warm tummies with hot chocolate, mac and cheese, sticky buns, chili, homemade soups, hot roast beef, barbecued pork, sausage, meatball and crab cake sandwiches, lobster rolls, bread pudding, apple dumplings, fresh roasted peanuts, peanut brittle, candy apples, soft pretzels, ribbon candy, caramel popcorn and other treats.

The United Methodist Church Indoor Craft Show will be from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday and 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday. From 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday only will be the Indoor/Outdoor Dickens Craft Show at the Wellsboro Fireman’s Annex at 21 East Avenue.

Registration for the Dickens Best Dressed Showcase will be from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. on Saturday in the Deane Center at 104 Main Street. The top 10 finalists will be chosen with judging to select the gold and silver winners beginning promptly at 1 p.m. on the Deane Center’s outdoor stage.

Everyone (in costume or not) is welcome to participate in the 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Victorian Strolls on Saturday. The strolls start at the Deane Center’s outdoor stage and continue on Main Street by the grassy boulevards decorated with fresh Christmas trees covered with lights and ornaments and the gaslights with evergreen wreaths and bows.

In the Deane Center lobby on Saturday only between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. will be famed New York City hat designer Christine A. Moore with her “Dickens of A Christmas” hat collection; Shutter Homestead with wines available to sample and purchase by the bottle; Staggering Unicorn Winery with sweet fruit, berry and specialty wines for purchase; Innerstoic Wine & Cider Company with wines and ciders; and the Wellsboro Rotary Club with gun raffle tickets. The Deane Center will have hot chocolate, fresh popcorn and bottled water for purchase.

On display in the front windows at the Deane Center is the Department 56 Dickens Village donated to the Wellsboro Area Chamber of Commerce in August of 2018. The buildings and accessories light up at night.

Hamilton-Gibson Productions will present A Dickens of a Concert Friday night and six performances of “A Christmas Carol” at the Deane Center’s two theaters on Saturday and one performance on Sunday.

On Friday and Saturday, the Arcadia Theatre at 50 Main Street in Wellsboro is showing the film “The Man Who Invented Christmas” about Charles Dickens and his creation of Ebenezer Scrooge, Tiny Tim and other classic characters in his novella “A Christmas Carol”.

There will also be a special showing of “Nessmuk: In Defense of Nature in the Pennsylvania Wilds” at 11 a.m. on Saturday in the Arcadia Theatre. This fascinating film shines a light on the national importance of this man who lived most of his life in Wellsboro and is buried in the Wellsboro Cemetery on Nichols Street.

At 5 p.m. Saturday, the Candlelight Walk for Peace will begin at Packer Park on Queen Street and end on The Green where the annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony with Santa and a carol sing will start at 5:30 p.m.

Visitors can pick up a copy of the full color six-panel Dickens of a Christmas brochure on the chamber’s front porch at 114 Main Street. The free brochure includes a list of the outdoor artists, craftsmen and food vendors and the street block where they can be found, the schedule of events and a map showing the locations.

For more information, contact the Wellsboro Area Chamber of Commerce by calling (570) 724-1926, emailing info@wellsboropa.com, visiting www.wellsboropa.com or stopping in at 114 Main Street in Wellsboro.

Diane Eaton
dianetn@ptd.net
(570) 724-3800