Dickens Christmas Festival

The Dickens Christmas Festival is a wonderful event to attend and not to be missed! I was able to find a Groupon for last minute tickets, but there are also ticket lines available inside where the event takes place. The Dickens Christmas Festival is put on at the Mountain America Exposition Center in Sandy, Utah. This event costs between $5-$10 depending on age and number of people in your party. It is completely indoors and takes you back into the time of Charles Dickens. Be careful when you walk in, the expo center is huge and there are often other conferences going on nearby. Dickens is pretty easy to find as long as you follow the “Christmas tree path.”

When you first walk in, you are greeted by nutcrackers, London guards, and the many

merchants of London all selling their goods in shops around the expo center. The huge London tower stands erect in the middle of the expo. Ginger bread smells and fresh pine tree fill the air as you walk through the first few feet. Be aware, this event is super popular and will be very crowded.

As you walk through, many shops have the “ye olden times” font showing what their shop title is and what they sell. They have fancy brick outlines, and everyone is dressed up in the time of Charles Dickens. Gifts vary for purchase including kitchen supplies, pajamas, homemade candles, do-it-yourself (DIY) candles, LOTS of food, jewelry, crafts, “ye olden time” clothing, paintings, portraits, sauces, toys, and Christmas decorations. Pretty much anything you are looking for as a gift or as a souvenir from the event, is there for purchase.

There are two stages set up in which many dancers perform throughout the day. They vary from ballet performances, to tap, irish, clogging, contemporary and jazz. The Scrooge Stage includes mostly the younger dancers round 3-7 years old, and the Queen Stage includes the older dancer 8+ years old. It is very fun to sit down after walking through the giant expo and watch the dancers perform. However, if you are not into dance, there is a small movie theater in the corner where “Oliver” plays every other hour and is completely surrounded by theater curtains to provide a movie theater experience.

The food court is turned into a “Dickens” themed food court and you can buy a variety of foods from his time period. The fish and chips was pretty popular as well as the kettle corn amongst people walking around. Many London merchants also make food in front of you to eat. The ice cream was super good!

As you keep walking around the festival, many opportunities are available for photos. Many

photo stands are displayed between the shops to see what you would look like in an old -fashioned attire. There are many nutcrackers to take pictures by as well as London guards and local people carrying “fish,” “wood,” and “bread.” If you search closely enough, there a few areas where you can find Ebenezer Scrooge’s tombstone and the grim reaper protecting it.

I highly recommend this event, it is only open for a few days though, so hurry in!