Dickens Festival in Port Jefferson adds new attractions for 2024

This December, about 25,000 people from all around the country and even across the globe will descend upon Port Jefferson says Allan Varela, president of the Greater Port Jefferson-Northern Brookhaven Arts Council. The village will transform into the Victorian era with many attendees dressed in period costumes for the 28th annual Charles Dickens Festival.

"It’s immense. We have street characters. We have street plays. Every church and the Masonic Lodge and the Village Center has entertainment all day long and it’s just a wide variety of different kinds of performances," says Varela. The two-day event comes to the village Dec. 7 and 8. 

What's new this year

This year, the parking lot south of West Broadway next to Kilwins (109D Main St.) turns into Dickens Central, where there will be photo ops with four oversize ghosts from "A Christmas Carol," a 6-foot photo of Dickens himself and a giant walk-in snow globe, says Varela. 

The festival will also have Santa Claus Central in the First United Methodist Church (603 Main St.), an inviting setting lit by council board member and lighting designer Paul Braile. One floor above Santa Claus Central is the new Mrs. Cratchit’s Craftworks where people can buy or craft a holiday decoration.

Also new this year: the second floor of the Village Center (101 E. Broadway), turns into ElfWorks.

"You’ll go in there and you’ll see busy elves and how they make Christmas gifts and how they make trees for the Festival of Trees," says Varela of the elaborate Festival of Trees display featuring two rows of 30 over-the-top decorated trees.  

Activities galore

Most of the events are free — except for performances at Theatre Three (412 Main St.), where Scrooge takes center stage and the Masonic Lodge (312 Main St.), where you can attend a Magic Show by Amore and Fezziwig’s dance party.

An opening parade at 11 a.m. Dec. 7 on East Main Street will feature Dickens’ characters, performing groups and the Amityville American Legion Pipe Band. Pickwick’s Puppet Parade rounds out the day on Dec. 8 at 5 p.m. during the closing ceremony at Village Hall (121 W. Broadway).

In between, there’ll be nonstop events both days, including the Whaleboat Project where you can view the construction of a replica of a 1776 armed whaleboat at Bayles Boat shop in Harborfront Park, street plays with Dickensian characters, carolers roaming the streets and Handel’s Messiah performed by the North Shore Chamber Choir at the First Presbyterian Church (Main and 107 South St.). The church will also host various local school orchestras, ensembles, bands and choirs, and the Mistletoe Lane Craft Fair.

The Village Center’s Harbor Cove will feature a Christmas sing-along with Happy Harp, a performance by Erika the Harpist. The center’s Sail Loft will be the site of performances by the Harbormen Chorus, a holiday sing-along with Denise Romas and a concert with Buddy Merriam.

Family-friendly fun includes film screenings of "A Christmas Carol" at the Port Jefferson Library, Tiny Tim’s Train Station at the Harbormaster Building across from Village Hall (130 W. Broadway), D.I.Y. Kaleidoscope make-and-take activity kits for purchase and free popcorn and hot cocoa at Long Island Explorium (101 E. Broadway). Guests can also get free tours and apple cider at Drowned Meadow Cottage Museum (141 W. Broadway), which highlights the area’s Revolutionary War history.

Scrooge, naturally

Of course, no Charles Dickens Festival would be complete without a can’t-miss performance of his classic holiday story "A Christmas Carol" at Theatre Three 7 p.m. Dec. 6-8.

Theatre Three staged productions of "A Christmas Carol" from 1979 to 1984, resumed them in 1989 and has been doing them ever since, says Jeffrey Sanzel, artistic director of the theater who also plays "Scrooge."

"This is our 40th anniversary production," says Sanzel, who’s performed the lead role each November and December about 1,600 times.

Inspired by Theatre Three’s annual "A Christmas Carol" productions, former Port Jefferson Mayor Margot (Jeanne) Garant established the Dickens Festival to attract more visitors to the village in December, notes Sanzel.

Though Dickens’ famous tale of redemption is over 180 years old, it resonates with every generation differently.

"But at the heart of it, of course, is the idea of making the community a better place, of taking responsibility beyond ourselves," Sanzel says. "And this whole idea of the Dickens Festival, which brings the community together, really reflects that as well."

"A Christmas Carol" will also be performed as a 1940s radio show, complete with sound effects, on the third floor of the Village Center, notes Varela.

"They’re reading their scripts, but it feels as if you were watching a radio broadcast from back then," Varela says.