Skip the German Christmas markets and visit Dickens Festival in Deventer, the Netherlands

One of the things I absolutely wanted to do this year was to skip the German Christmas markets and visit the Dickens Festival in Deventer, in the Netherlands. The Festival takes place in the picturesque Bergkwartier where the 19th-century lifestyle, atmosphere, and all the famous Dickens’ characters revive. The festivities are a mixture of a Christmas market, Dickens’ characters parade, the smell of roasted delights and little kids begging on the street. Besides, Christmas carols and a typical rich dinner back at the days can be admired in the churches surrounding the Dickens Festival.

Dickens Festival in Deventer - Dinner in the church
Dickens Festival in Deventer – Dinner in the church

Charles Dickens’s characters

In the first place, I was more than impressed by all the characters seen on the streets of Deventer. At my knowledge, there are more than 1000 characters created by Dickens. Not to mention that the English writer excelled in characters and gave them memorable and unusual names.

Likewise, names like Ebenezer Scrooge (A Christmas Carol), Oliver Twist (Oliver Twist), David Copperfield, Uriah Heep and Mr Micawber (David Copperfield), Samuel Pickwick and Sam Weller (The Pickwick Papers) have become an integral part of English culture as well as well-known appellatives.

However, one “character” is described over and over again in every Dickens’s novel – London. Thus, one of the best way to learn more about Dickens and his work is to visit Charles Dickens’s House in London.

Head to Dickens Festival in Deventer and guess the characters

On the other hand, I would like to encourage you not only to skip the German Christmas markets and to absolutely visit Dickens Festival in Deventer in the Netherlands but also to recognize the characters on the pictures below:

Dickens Festival in Deventer - Oliver Twist
Oliver Twist
Dickens Festival in Deventer - David Copperfield
David Copperfield
Dickens Festival in Deventer
A Tale of Two Cities
Dickens Festival in Deventer - the ghost from A Christmas Carol
The ghost of Ebenezer Scrooge’s business partner Jacob Marley
The circus from Hard Times
Charles Dickens's characters
Charles Dickens’s characters
Dickens Festival in Deventer -Dickens's characters
Who are these characters?

To sum up, are you convinced to do something different next year and to visit Dickens Festival?

Thanks for reading!