December 13-14, 2025                                  Most Recent Posts:
Fernandina Beach Florida                            Dickens on Centre
                                                                            The Week Between

If you haven’t seen my first post about Dickens on Centre (link above), this one will make more sense if you read that one first.

The last two days of Dickens on Centre were jam packed from 8:30 am to 9pm on Saturday and from 10am to 3pm on Sunday.   I was there for nearly all of it.

SATURDAY

For the runners, beginning at 8:30am was “Run Like the Dickens”.  You should be here Pete.   In my younger running days I would definitely have done this especially since it a really short fun run.  One mile along the beach with complementary hot chocolate and coffee.  Prizes were awarded though since I wasn’t there I don’t know what they were or for what they were awarded. 

Now for my biggest mistake.  They had  Parade of Paws at 9 am Saturday morning and I didn’t get there in time to see it.  Judging from what I did see it must have been great.  For sure on my list for next time.

The Christmas Wish tree was where you’d grab a wooden wish tag and write your Christmas Wish on it and hang it on the tree.   Really great and popular idea.

Of course all the wishes are hanging on the lower half of the tree.

There were white decorations, bulbs and garland already on the tree.   You could hang as many wishes as you like.

Dressed volunteers were providing programs all around town.

Throughout the week-end these young artists were doing chalk art.  I stopped by each day to see them.

This is the Old Vic Theater.  Throughout the week-end it showed  The Man Who Invented Christmas – They Charles Dickens Story which is what I am watching here.  It was only shown once on Saturday as were The Muppet Christmas Carol and Polar Express, Elf was shown on both Saturday and Sunday and The Santa Clause once each of the 3 days of the festival.

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Tiny Tim’s Kids Zone had all sorts of entertainment for kids.

Of course there were arts and crafts vendors on each street which had a special name for the occasion.  Peddler’s Village, Artist Alley, Oliver’s Alley, Cratchit’s Corner and my favorite Oliver’s Eats.  More please!

Lunch for Saturday was a tray of delicious “loaded nachos”

Love the Bobby with his night stick.

Later in the day, the street art was coming right along.

The Enchanted Snow Globe Village was going on all day and into the evening as it was on Friday and Sunday.

Unique to Saturday night from 6-9pm was Dickens After Dark, Marley’s Masquerade.  A Victorian Costume party for the holiday season.  They bill it as a “VIP soiree complete with stilt walkers, jugglers, live music, dancing and more.  Costumes required, masks optional”.  Since I didn’t do it, I don’t remember what it costs but it includes what they call Heavy hors d’oeuvres,  beer and wine bar, the entertainment and dance music and tarot card readings as well as a Dickens After Dark souvenir phot booth.  These two are the only paid activities which go to make the rest of the week-end free.   I am amazed that Jason Woods  A Christmas Carol was free on Friday.

SUNDAY

On Sunday I walked back to the festivities and wandered around just checking to see what I might have missed.  People were still dressed in periodesque clothing.

Another British Bobby though this one needs a night stick in his hand.

The street artists were hard a work again.

I was just amazed at what they did with chalk.  After all this work I’m glad I won’t be downtown after it rains or when the cars move back onto the Centre Street Parking.   Their drawings were fantastic.

I’d particularly wanted to see the play Alice in A Christmas Wonderland at 1:o0.
There were three half hour plays performed multiple times on the Main Stage throughout both Saturday and  Sunday..  I saw two of the three.

I missed The Little Toy Shoppe and am sorry I did.  But I did catch The Legend of St Nick which was right before Alice.

I’m not sure exactly what the story was but this seems to be a short play written just for this occasion since my trying to google the plot for this blog netted me zero.

Here’s what I remember.  Jack Frost is up to no good.   He’s in the service of some kind of ice Queen.  But at the moment she is none too happy with him.

There is a very nice woodcutter named Nicholas whom Jack freezes with his icy fingers……great icy looking stuff cleverly provided at several points by down stage gun.

Not sure who this fairy looking person was but her costume was great.

Somehow the ice queen takes control back and Nicholas who has been going around helping a little girl find her teddy bear becomes St Nicholas.
Obviously I should have watched it more than once since a month later I don’t remember the plot.

15 minutes after The Legend of St Nick, Alice in Christmas Wonderland began so I just kept my seat.   No problem following this story.

This is at the end of course but it shows where we were sitting to watch.
From left to right, the Mad Hatter, the Caterpillar,  the Queen of Hearts,  Alice and the White Rabbit.   The costumes here were also wonderful.  You can see the Cheshire Cat’s head above and to the left of Alice.

The White Rabbit is asking big Alice for help to avoid another wicked queen.

The wonderful Queen of Hearts.

Big Alice and The Mad Hatter

After she’s had the “drink me” potion,  Little Alice encounters the Caterpillar.

Eventually the Rabbit and the Queen get together.  Can’t remember why the queen was yelling off with his head.

Each of these productions was only 1/2 hour long and was fantastic!   Fabulous costumes in both cases.

Dickens On Centre is a stand out week-end amazing in the set up, the number of things to do and the quality of everything.  Go out of your way, as I did, to see it is my advice.

December 11-14, 2025                                            Most Recent Posts:
Fort Clinch State Park                                      The Week Between
Fernandina Beach,               19th Annual Amelia Island Holiday Home Tour
Florida

I’ve arranged my last two months of traveling in order to be here for this event and it was definitely worth it.  If you are ever in the area in mid December definitely do this Victorian Holiday Christmas Market and Festival especially the night when Jason Woods is doing his one man presentation of A Christmas Carol.    But I’m getting ahead of myself.

THURSDAY DECEMBER 11
DICKENS ILLUMINATED PROCESSION

This huge (well used)  program for the week-end (11”x 17”) is folded and printed back and front for 4 giant pages of information and times and even a map.

For the Procession everyone is invited to bring something that twinkles, sparkles or glows and put on their favorite Victorian attire to kick of the Festival with the 6th Annual Illuminated Procession. 

Since the main sections of the center of Fernandina Beach are blocked off for perhaps 6 square blocks, they provide a trolley.  You park your car in the large parking lot at the far end of town and are trolleyed (is that a word?) down to 4th street.  The Trolley runs every 15 mins for an hour before things start until a half hour after the events each day.  Because it was still daylight when I caught it on Thursday, you can’t see that it is decked out in lights.

You can see the inside decorations complete with my camera’s inability to take nonglare pictures of lights.

The problem with taking pictures of lights happens with my canon and both my phones.  But you get the gist here that the town is really decked out.  It’s gorgeous with lights all along the buildings and in all the trees and their trunks.

The procession starts at Front and Center Streets (appropriate) at the lighted town Christmas Tree and moves through 3 or 4 blocks of the historic town until it concludes at 6:45 with an illuminated finale over the riverfront.   There was no organizing that I could see.  Folks just milled around and then knew to gather behind the banner and head on at 6pm.

Gathering

Milling

Doesn’t the girl look like a chimney sweep?

Not everyone was in costume including me.   But we all had lanterns.

This was my favorite costume of all……do you recognize Jacob Marley with his chains of cash boxes and his glasses.

As you can see, everyone was carrying a lantern.  I wondered where they got them and one person said The Dollar Tree.  LOL!!   I also wondered how these ladies put together such great outfits for this procession.

And then folks started walking.   Lanterns came in all sizes.

When I put this post together I noticed that this woman showed up in several pictures I’d taken to get the people beside or behind her.

Not sure what the Jacksonville Pipe and Drum corps has to do with Victorian Dickens but I always love hearing bagpipes and it gave the procession something to process to.   If you’d like to hear the bagpipes and see the video for yourself, here is a one minute look at it.  Use this link.

The walk began and ended at the town’s lighted tree.

After taking pictures of some of the participants, I walked back toward the tree to see the beginning with its official banner as they came to the end.

Sorry for the way my cameras take pictures after dark.

I loved this guy who seems to have just put on a bathrobe and fashioned a nightcap.  Wish he’d done something different with his shoes.

Could these be ladies of the evening waiting with the pirate outside the saloon.  There were pirates down by the docks and riverfront pubs in London in Dicken’s time 1812-1870.

One of the streets had been turned into a food court with a number of vendors providing surprisingly good food.

To close the first night, over the river front,  they had a drone light show which I don’t think  I’d never seen or heard of but I did miss the booms of normal fireworks.   This was another thing my camera had trouble with.  If anyone has any idea what I could do about this, please let me know.  

Stores were open of course and I thought my favorite looked very fine all lit up.

It was wonderful seeing all these “19th Century” folks walking the streets.  If I come again, I want to come in costume.  Any ideas for where to obtain somethings at a reasonable price?

FRIDAY DECEMBER 12
DAY 1   DICKENS ON CENTRE

After the Thursday night kick off the festival proper began Friday from 5-9 pm, continued all day Saturday 8:30am to 10pm and ended Sunday  from 10am-3pm with events all over town, all the time and overlapping.  Thus the  huge 11”x17” schedule shown at the top of this post.    There are two main stages for music and theater events and an outdoor screen for movies called Old Vic Theater just to name a few.

Again, I parked at the lot but this time I walked the 10+ blocks down to the festivities.

I got there just as things started at 5:00 and the Navy Band Wind Ensemble took the stage at the largest venue called the Wharf Stage just in front of the lighted tree, railroad tracks and river front.  At one time in my life, I had played the clarinet in the marching band and the oboe in the symphonic band, so I do appreciate the “winds”

The Official Opening Ceremony took place at 5:45 on the Wharf Stage with Santa Claus of course and then a reading of Twas the Night Before Christmas

From there I wandered around seeing what else was part of this party.

I’d heard about “The Enchanted Village” described as ten festive life size snow globes each decorated in a unique Holiday theme.  They accommodate up to six people and the cost to rent one for 75 minutes includes adult beverages, savory or sweet snack bites, add ons include a mimosa yogurt parfait or charcuterie board.  I’ve forgotten the price at this point but it was WAY beyond my means as a single though I would for sure have sprung for it if I had 5 other people to split the cost.  Let me know if you want to plan this with me for another year.

The Portly Gentleman Tavern is right next door to the Enchanted Village if you want a glass of any sort of spirits and were unable to get a reservation in the snow globes which I understand were sold out very early.  The Globes run all night Friday, all day Saturday and on Sunday too at 75 minute intervals. Didn’t get a picture of The Portly Gentleman Tavern or of Fezziwig’s Courtyard another spot offering beer, wine and specialty holiday beverages.   Love the names

I wandered around looking at the vendors, many of whom were in costume.  I’ll do some more of this tomorrow.

I ended up at the food truck area for dinner.

Absolutely delicious tacos and fresh hot chips and salsa.

After that, I hustled over to the Wharf Stage to get a close up seat for what I was told at the Visitor Center was THE most amazing performance of  Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. It turned out to be that and more. 

Jason Woods plays over 25 different characters from Scrooge to Tiny Tim, the Ghosts, Jacob Marley, the Nephew and….well you know the story.

It was absolutely amazing and such an immersive experience I took only 3 pictures.

Woods walked through the center of the audience at points so his voice was close to you, in front of you, behind you.   He was on the stage at other points.  His only props were a lantern and a lectern

At the end of the performance the audience gave him a lengthly well deserved standing ovation.  If you ever have the chance to see him do this one man show,  DO NOT MISS IT!!

Afterwards the audience came up to talk to a smiling, sweating and no doubt very tired Jason Woods.   I can’t believe I saw this for free.

Friday evening closed with another light show.  My pictures were somewhat better.

Fernandina Beach was a railroad town.  The tracks are between the stage and the water.  So this train of lights appears to be going right down the tracks.

As is St. Nick

I’m way over the top impressed with the 11th Annual Dickens on Centre.  Happily there is more tomorrow and Sunday.   That’s for my next post.