Dickens Village Festival

Garrison's Dickens Village Festival, run by the Garrison CVB, spreads a London-style village across two weekends, with a Ticket Center and warming house at the CVB and North Dakota Firefighter's Museum and a Welcome Center at the City Auditorium. Piccadilly Square holds twenty-plus crafters, Cratchit's Cafe, a Dickens Store with souvenirs from London, hometown entertainment, and a Friends of the Library book sale. A Cratchit Christmas plays at the Kota Theater. Carriage rides run each afternoon, and double-decker bus trips include a Fort Stevenson stop, a town loop, a lighted Main Street parade ride, and a lighted-homes tour. Visitors can write a London telegram postcard at the auditorium.

Our take: Take the double-decker ride through the lighted Main Street parade, then warm up upstairs at the Ticket Center before A Cratchit Christmas at the Kota Theater.