The Dickens Christmas Festival, Rochester

What is the Dickens Christmas Festival?

Every year, on the first weekend in December, Christmas lovers from near and far gather together in Rochester in Kent to celebrate the genius of Charles Dickens. Although he was born in Portsmouth, Dickens spent many happy years in the Rochester area, living in Gads Hill nearby, setting the opening scene of his novel, Great Expectations in nearby Cooling and using many local places in his writing. Rochester has always been rightly proud of the Dickens connection and hold two festivals each year to mark his connection with the city. The Dickens Christmas festival was first held in 1988, and with the exception of 2020, has been held every year since.

What’s On?

There is a huge amount going on at the festival, and everywhere you look there is something to catch your eye and a myriad of Dickensian characters walking around the city. There are street entertainers in various sites around the city with Morris dancing, singing, storytelling and brass bands amongst many other attractions. In the shadow of Rochester Castle there is a Christmas market and a funfair. At 12 noon there is a parade featuring a pipe band and all the Dickensian characters you can imagine. There is also a parade at 4.45, which precedes the highpoint of the festival. At 5pm with the Cathedral behind and the Castle in front a huge crowd gathers to sing Christmas carols such as Hark the Herald Angels Sing and favourite songs like Jingle Bells. Everyone joins in with enthusiasm, and for our family it has always been the real start of Christmas.

Where can I get more information?

If you want to come along, Rochester is well served with trains from London which take around 45 minutes to get there. All the details are here and you are guaranteed to get into the Christmas spirit. I will be there on Saturday as usual and will be making merry, whether Scrooge approves or not!