The long-anticipated weekend has finally arrived, and the Carlyle Dickens Village Festival is here!
Blessed with a truly white winter, the historically-themed Christmas celebration offers enough for the visitor and resident alike to keep you busy for both days of the event.
Starting in the morning of Friday, Dec. 3, the first venue that will be opening up is Fezziwig's Pub, located in Memorial Hall on Main Street.
Fezziwig's, which will be operating throughout the event, will open its doors at 11 a.m. and will be offering a selection of eats, treats, and live entertainment throughout.
Beginning right after opening on Friday, Fezziwig's is proud to welcome to its stage 'The Happy Wanderers,' who will perform from 11 a.m. until 11:45 a.m. on Friday, and from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Saturday.
Next up, 'The Pleasant Company Singers' will take their turn on stage between 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. on Friday only.
Forget resident and Juno award-winning musician Ken Hamm will be visiting Fezziwig's stage both days of the Dickens festival, on Friday from 2:30 p.m. until 3:30 p.m. and on Saturday from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Between 3:45 p.m. and 4:45 p.m. Glenna Stewart will be entertaining at Fezziwig's Pub on Friday, the only day she will be appearing.
Finally on Friday, Tianna Martin will be on stage for her sole show between 5:- and 5:30 p.m.
On Saturday only, Magic will be performing between 1:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. and the band Â鶹´«Ã½AVern Country will be on stage at Fezziwig's between 3 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.
Fezziwig's will be open from 11 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. on both days of the festival.
Also on both days of the Dickens Village Festival, the High Tea will be taking place between 1:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m.
An opportunity to have a mid-afternoon tea, just like the Victorian British, the High Tea also includes a dress code that will make sure you can feel the spirit of the age that the Dickens festival represents.
A fancy hat must be worn at the High Tea, which is hosted at the Carlyle United Church, on the corner of Souris Ave. West and 2nd Street West, but fear not, should you find yourself sans a chapeau of the appropriate sort, a large selection of suitable headwear is available at no charge at the tea.
At 2 p.m. the doors to the English Market Craft Sale will be open for the first time on Friday.
A wonderful opportunity to shop for some unique, obscure, crafty, arty, and interesting goods, the English Market draws vendors from a far distance, all in an attempt to temp your shopping interest.
The English Market, located on Main Street next to the Â鶹´«Ã½AVern Plains Co-op grocers, will be open until 6 p.m. on Friday evening.
Saturday, the market will open doors at 11 a.m. with closing again slated at 6 p.m.
Running between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. on both days of the festival, free carriage rides will be available.
Scheduled to pass all the venues where events are taking place, the carriage rides are a wonderful and appropriate-to-the-time way of getting from one of Dickens great events to the next.
Rolling out at 4:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday will be the food vendors.
With warm and hearty fare that harkens to the dim days of the mid-19th century, these treats will help warm you up and ready you for more events to come.
The vendors will be located in the lot at the corner of Souris Ave. and Main Street, inside of Cratchit's Warming Place, a large tent that will be seen there, behind the Chowder Shack.
The vendors, each of which is run by a local service group, use their efforts to help raise funds for the various and worthy community projects they pursue, so be sure to eat heartily! It's all for a good cause.
At 6 p.m. one of the highlights of the Dickens Village Festival will be taking to the streets in the form of the Lighted Parade.
The beautiful and colourful floats, each representing a community business, organization, or family, will be following a route that will bring them twice down Main Street.
Traditionally, there is a rain of candy from the floats as they past, so those with little ones would do well to be there for both passes of the parade!
Closing out the evening on both days of the festival will be a presentation by Carlyle's extremely talented amateur stage group, Cornerstone Theatre.
The actual theatre is located on the second floor of Memorial Hall, and will be coming alive with the sights and sounds of 'A Cornerstone Christmas Carol,' at 7 p.m. both Friday and Saturday night.
A homage to Charles Dickens' timeless masterpiece, 'A Christmas Carol,' the Cornerstone players are sure to please with their local rendition.
Tickets for the shows are available at Cornerstone Shoes on Main Street in Carlyle, and for those who might be in town an extra day, the cast and crew will be putting on a third public showing of their offering on Sunday, Dec. 5, at 2 p.m.
While enjoying the sights, sounds, tastes, and smells of Carlyle's famous Dickens Village Festival, be sure to take in Tiny Tim's Taste Tour, held in various business along Main Street and bearing the Tiny Tim's Taste Tour sign, as well as the annual quilt display, which is held in the hall of the United Church.
And keep your eyes open for the busy little street urchins that seem to pop-up everywhere!
While they may beg and plead for some of your spare change, remember the money goes to various local charities, and not into the local video games, so let them help you lighten your load!
We'll see you out on the streets!
