'It's A Wonderful Life' festival brings Patchogue back to the 1940s this weekend

Folks will dress in 1940s fashion, vintage cars cruise Main Street and World War II-era ads fill the local paper — it's not a time warp, but a classic holiday movie brought to life on Long Island this weekend.

"It's A Wonderful Life" in Patchogue debuts in a two-day affair inside and outside village establishments, from making Christmas ornaments at the library to watching characters performing sidewalk skits. The 1946 film stars James Stewart as a lender who contemplates his life on Christmas Eve, until an angel trainee in disguise shows him what life in his hometown would've been without him to save its residents.

"Patchogue needed a Christmas event to help showcase the overall warmth and community pride it has," says Steven Muñoz, who heads the festival committee set up by the Greater Patchogue Chamber of Commerce. "I feel like the film 'It's A Wonderful Life' embodies that sense of community and togetherness that Patchogue has."

Organizers hope to capture the flavor of the 1940s when Patchogue was a retail blockbuster. While the village's dining and entertainment sector has been a shining example of the rebound from the 1990s recession, organizers believe the festival can be like a George Bailey to retail's lagging recovery.

During the festival, experts will discuss the movie's backstory and the era's art trends. Visitors can learn the Charleston, make era-minded holiday ornaments and listen to roaming carolers and a brass band. Kids in 1940s garb and caps will hawk free newspapers with reproductions of old ads from local shops, like lingerie for $1 at Blum's, a longtime swimwear and lingerie business in the area.

"The goal 100% is to get people to feel like they are back in time," Muñoz says.

The festival will end 5 p.m. Sunday at the Capital One Plaza with 300 free bells given out to ring in one of the movie's last lines: "Every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings."