Despite the fact someone will likely repeatedly say ‘Bah, Hambug’, the spirit of old Christmas will be alive in Carlyle and surrounding area.
The 16th annual Dickens Festival in Carlyle is happening again, and this time they’re branching out a bit from what they’ve normally done.
“It’s all about showcasing the area and encouraging to see what Carlyle has,” said festival chair Shelley Slykhuis. “It’s a major fundraiser for the different organizations and it showcases… having some fun that’s not all commercialization during the Christmas season.
“You get Scrooge on the street Bah Humbugging and the kids get into that and even some of the adults even go ‘Merry Christmas, Scrooge’, it just brings that fun part into it.”
Carlyle will still be a busy place on the weekend of Nov. 30-Dec. 1. A lighted parade will take place both days, starting at 6 p.m. starting at the nursing home.
The traditional English Market Craft Sale will be Dec. 1 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the elementary school gym. Tiny Tim’s Taste Tour will be going both days from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and food vendors will be on Main Street from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Carriage rides are available during the weekend.
Free entertainment will be going both Friday at Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at Fezziwig’s Pub. The pub will have more seating available with the fewer decorations, she said.
“All the entertainment will be from within an hour of Carlyle,” said Slykhuis. “We have a youth group out of Forget that includes students from Estevan, Stoughton, Carlyle and Redvers. And then Saturday morning, we have… students that are going to perform the Cratchit Kids’ Christmas Inn. We actually have a lot more entertainment that will hopefully bring people in to see their kids and their grandkids.”
The Cornerstone Theatre Play will have an encore performance from last year of Carol – kind of a Wall Street idea of A Christmas Carol.
“All of the music was original music that they created,” Slykhuis said. “They thought they’d do it as an encore because so much work was put into it last year. But this year, there were new performers so it’ll be a different twist.”
Many of the area’s service groups and clubs are able to raise funds from the weekend.
The idea is to not only attract people from out of the area, as they do each year, but also from Carlyle and neighbouring communities.
“I will talk to people from Arcola, which is 10 minutes away… and they’ve never been to Dickens,” Slykhuis said. “And that’s all about the weather. So I think what they’ve done is to put together a show that includes all our talent and musical talent in the area to showcase it and maybe that will bring people in who might not come otherwise.”
People come to the parade but might not come to other parts of the weekend, but Slykhuis and the committee are committed to seeing more local people coming out.
