Narberth Dickens Festival: What You Need To Know

NARBERTH, PA – The annual Narberth Dickens Festival is all set for Dec. 2, and we have details you need to know about the Victorian-era festival.

From noon to 4 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 2, downtown Narberth will transform into 1840s London for the festival that will be full of Dickensian references and characters from the classic tale "A Christmas Carol."

Attendees will be able to enjoy period street vendors and food, caroling, musicians, costumed performers, puppet shows, dance performances, ice sculpting, carriage rides, and more.

Kids can join in the free scavenger hunt from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. to search for costumed Dickens characters such as Scrooge and Tiny Tim, and win a great prize. Participants will get a beggar's tin cup in which they will collect wooden nickels that can be redeemed for prizes.

Before the hunt, Narberth Stadium 2 – located at 129 N. Narberth Ave. –will host a free showing of "A Muppet Christmas Carol" at 11 a.m. The movie is rated G movie and runs 89 minutes.

The Pennsylvania Academy of Ballet will host three performances during the festival "on the hill" of North Narberth Avenue. Performances will be held at 12:3o p.m., 2 p.m., and 3:30 p.m. The studio also features some storytelling by kid-favorite storyteller, Rochelle Longwill from Livin' Large Literature. This year's story is "How I Became a Pirate" at 1:15 p.m. and 2:45 p.m.

Attendees will start their time at the festival by getting a "passport" stamped at the Immigration station at the corner of Forrest and Haverford Avenues. There, pick up a copy of "The London Fish Wrapper," the festival's newspaper, which lists the events of the day, with a map, and information about the scavenger hunt and everything else you need to know about the festival.

After the passport is stamped, attendees might want to buy a bag of shillings for the family to spend on carriage rides, souvenirs, food, and other items throughout the festival. A shilling is a gold coin worth $5 on the day of the festival.

Many vendors and merchants throughout the town will accept this coin the same as cash and attendees can exchange cash for shillings, and shillings for cash, all day at the currency exchange booths on Essex and Forrest avenues. All Festival booths and many shops and vendors around town accept shillings. Shillings are the only way to pay for carriage rides at the festival.

Parking is available on streets near the festival, and the meters are free on Sunday. Some parking is available on the south side of Narberth across the Narberth Avenue bridge on the streets and in the Septa commuter lot, which is also free on Sundays.

The following areas are also open for parking:

• Narberth Borough Hall (100 Conway Ave.)
• Keating Building Lot, across from the Narberth Movie Theater
• Windsor and Forrest avenues - two lots available from Windsor Avenue side
• Citizens Bank on Haverford Avenue
• Elmwood Avenue Septa lot on the other side of the train station
• St Margaret's School on North Narberth Avenue
• Narberth Presbyterian Church on Windsor Avenue

Features of the 2017 festival included:

• Ebeneezer Scrooge and all the characters from “A Christmas Carol”
• costumed performers
• a free scavenger hunt for kids with Dickens Fest prizes
• horse and carriage rides
• musicians
• carolers
• Men of Harmony men’s choir
• outdoor dance performances
• hands-on children’s crafts
• ice sculpting exhibition
• puppet shows
• Magicians
• Vintage Flea Circus
• Nutcracker performances at the Pennsylvania Academy of Ballet
• artisan vendors
• nineteenth-century street food
• hot toddies and hot chocolate

Photo by MJ Kim/Getty Images