Soon after limited Sunday trading started in the Netherlands, an anglophile shopkeeper in the small city of Deventer decided it could all be a bit more fun.
“My 82-year-old mother, Emmy Strik, is England-minded because my grandfather always went to England and read a lot of Dickens,” said her daughter, Liesbeth Velders, who now runs the Dille & Kamille homeware store.
“So when we were going to open on Sunday, she decided to make it a fancy-dress party – except the fancy-dress party got a bit out of hand.”
Decades later, Strik’s experiment in literary frivolity has gone further than she could have imagined. The event she began in 1991 to commemorate Charles Dickens has run for 33 years, with a two-year break during the Covid pandemic.
Despite no known historical connection with the author, Deventer, in the eastern province of Overijssel, now plays host to what is believed to be the world’s largest Dickens festival. This weekend, 950 volunteers will fill the streets of the ancient Bergkwartier, performing street theatre and selling hot punch and Victorian treats. There are strict rules for actors and traders: no trainers, modern watches or mobile phones.
Among the expected 125,000 visitors will be Ebenezer Scrooge, Tiny Tim, Queen Victoria, Miss Havisham, beggars, thieves and, for the first time, Dickens himself.
Ojon van Strijland, a bookseller and volunteer at the Dickens Kabinet museum, said he and Strik had learned while on a trip to Kent, where Dickens spent much of his childhood, that authenticity was essential.
“Years ago, Emmy and I went to [the city of] Rochester’s Dickensian Christmas festival to seek inspiration but there were things there we would not want,” he said. “There were people walking around with Christmas lights on, Santa hats and polyester costumes. Our organisation tries to ensure people are dressed according to our idea of Victorian times. And, if you have an eye for it, you see a very different side.”
Strik amassed almost 1,000 authentic costumes, collected enough Dickensian items to fill a museum and grew the Dickens Festijn with commercial sponsorship and support from Events dEVENTer. She has now – largely – handed over the reins to her daughter.
“We can’t roast chestnuts in big drums any more; there’s a fist-thick book of rules from the fire brigade and the police but it’s still a real festival,” said Velders.
The festival has huge local status. One couple’s 50th wedding anniversary is being incorporated into this year’s edition, while 62-year-old system administrator Wessel Lindeboom is polishing insults in multiple languages for his dream role of Scrooge.
“People say I am the typical character for the role,” he said. “Which I am taking as a compliment.”
Visitors to the 31st festival will also be able to see theatre groups, choirs and music schools organise scenes and improvisations, including Queen Victoria meeting Dickens.
At a time when Dutch children’s reading skills are declining, some hope the festival will encourage a wider love of literature. “A lot of the visitors have never read a Dickens book but everyone recognises Scrooge, who walks around calling ‘humbug!’ and insulting people,” said Velders. “There are also storytellers who recount the story of the books – so once you leave the Dickens festival you’ve read a book or four!”
The mayor of Deventer, Ron König, hopes visitors will have an enormous amount of fun but also take home a more profound message. “The festival beautifully portrays the differences between rich and poor, an issue we are still trying to tackle – fortunately not quite as it was in the times of Dickens,” he said. “But I am still moved when I see children acting out lying on the streets …
“Luckily,” he added. “They have thermal underwear on.”
Peter Jan Margry, professor of European ethnology at Amsterdam University, believes this kind of event provides a welcome break, particularly in dark days. The Netherlands recently held a general election which saw the far-right politician Geert Wilders emerge triumphant after a campaign that tapped into resentment over issues such as immigration, housing and the cost-of-living crisis.
“The festival of Christmas is also about stepping out of your own time into an atmosphere of carols and Christmas trees and a flight from reality,” he said. “But it’s also a form of occupying yourself, a type of tourism, stepping out of your daily life, that you see in all fantasy and live action role-playing. What does it matter if they were really good times or bad times? It’s about stepping into another world.”
