Celebrating our 19th year
Enrich your senses with the sights, sounds, and activities that evoke the Dickens era!
We hope you can include one or more of the exciting celebrations, performances and events listed below when you visit Cambridge, Ohio. We encourage our visitors to make their first stop at the Welcome Center so our ambassadors may greet and assist in planning their visit.
The following events are ongoing throughout the entire Dickens season.
Dickens Victorian Village Displays
November 1, 2024 through December 31, 2024
Wheeling Avenue, downtown Cambridge, Ohio
An experience that will engage the senses as you explore the charming streetscape, striking historic architecture, and eclectic shops and eateries of Historic Downtown Cambridge.
Stroll Wheeling Avenue from 6th to 11th Streets to learn about the Victorian era by reading the plaques at the base of each of the 96 Dickens scenes.
Dickens Welcome Center and Curiosity Shoppe - 708 Wheeling Avenue
November 1, 2024 through December 31, 2024.
The Welcome Center and Curiosity Shoppe will be open Monday - Thursday 10am - 6pm. Fridays and Saturdays, 10 am - 7pm. Closed Thanksgiving Day, 11/28 and Christmas Day, 12/25.
Call for questions phone 740.421.4956
The Welcome Center is the heart of the Dickens Victorian Village experience. Visit with volunteers in costume as they share stories and photos of how the Dickens displays were created. As you go behind the scenes to learn how it took a village to create this magnificent 10-week community event. Stop in for gifts and souvenirs. Visit the Imagination Station to dress in Victorian costumes and get your picture taken.
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Guernsey County Courthouse Light
November 1, 2024 - December 31, 2024
5:30pm - 9:00pm (daylight savings time)
Show continues until 11 p.m. most weekends and holidays
Guernsey County Courthouse Lawn
Wheeling Ave, downtown Cambridge, Ohio
The courthouse comes alive nightly with thousands of pulsating lights synchronized to holiday music. This magnificent 1881 building jumps into the 21st Century as it is bathed in colored lights, 36 animated light displays, and 15,000 lights outlining the building. The display is computer controlled with 364 electrical circuits meticulously synchronized to a holiday soundtrack, with a total of 30,000 lights.
The show lasts one hour and runs continuously.
The 2024 show features a children's set with holiday favorites like Frosty the Snowman including one song sung by Cambridge area 5th graders; contemporary recordings featuring local saxophonist Gordon Hough; and a popular Christmas music selection.
Visitors are advised to please park their cars at appropriate parking lots and spaces in downtown and watch the show from the Courthouse lawn so as not to cause a traffic hazard with stopped cars in the streets. For those wishing to hear the light show music from your parked car, tune in to 102.7 FM. Public restrooms are available at the Cambridge City building directly across the street.
This spectacular show was designed by AVC Communications.
Victorian Teas
National Museum of Cambridge Glass
2024 Holiday Hours
136 S. 9th Street, P.O. Box 416: Cambridge, OH
740-432-4245
The National Museum of Cambridge Glass will be open for special winter hours in celebration of the Dickens Victorian Village holiday season. The museum features 6,000 pieces of glassware made by the Cambridge Glass Company, with an interpretive area demonstrating how glass was made from gathering, shaping, etching, and engraving. The museum will be decorated for the season and feature a Christmas tree decorated with Cambridge Glass. Volunteers and staff will be dressed in Victorian attire.
If you are looking for a special gift made in Cambridge, Ohio, USA, visit the museum gift shop where you will find a variety of jewelry and Christmas decorations made from Cambridge Glass, as well as beautiful handmade pieces of original Cambridge Glass.
The Sample Room features the door and shelving from the original factory, and a dining room display features glass table settings arranged on period furniture much as it would have appeared in the early 1900s. Guests can do their own rubbings from original etching plates in the Education Center, and view a movie made in the 1940s by the Cambridge Glass Company
.HOLIDAY HOURS: The museum will be open on Friday and Saturday: Noon to 4:00 p.m. beginning November 1 through December 16. Admission: $6 General Admission: $5 Seniors and AAA. Children under 12 free. There is no charge if just shopping in the gift shop.
THANKSGIVING WEEKEND: MUSEUM HOLIDAY OPEN HOUSE – 2 Days
Friday, November 24 and Saturday, November 25, from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. each day. There will be no admission charge during the Museum Open House. Additional hours for group tours are available by calling 740.432. 4245
For more information visit www.cambridgeglass.org.
Carriage Rides
Carriage rides will be offered starting November 2 and ending December 31, located west side of the Guernsey County Courthouse. Fridays and Saturdays 5-9 pm. Weather dependent. Please call the Welcome Center 740.421.4956 for questions. You may purchase tickets at the site from the driver. Costs are $12 per rider. (children under 5 years of age no charge).
Cemetery Tour
Candlelight Walk
Christmas Candlelight Walk
Saturday December 6:00 p.m. Dickens Welcome Center 647 Wheeling Ave
You’ll be filled with the spirit of Christmas as you stroll amongst the Dickens characters in Downtown Cambridge, surrounded by the sounds of Christmas. Bring your own candle or lantern and meet at the Dickens Welcome Center, 647 Wheeling Avenue.
Join us as we stroll through the downtown area, filled with the holiday spirit. We’re even hoping for a few snowflakes to set the mood!
The Christmas Candlelight Walk is free and open to the public .
Chocolate Walk
Our most popular event will be offered Thursday, November 14, 2024. Participants will walk the streets of historical downtown Cambridge and receive a chocolate treat from all participating businesses.
Tickets are $25 and go on sale October 23 pm 5:30 - 6:30 pm
You will choose either 5 pm or 6pm when you purchase your ticket. Tickets go on sale at the Dickens Welcome Center on October 23, 2024 at 5:30pm. tickets limited to 2 per adult only. no phone or online sales.
Pamela McColl
Pamela McColl is an author publisher. Her latest book is Twas the Night – The Art and History of the Classic Christmas Poem. It was ten years in the making and brings both her love of history, art and illustrations. The book won eight book awards. She has toured America for the past 12 years speaking on the poem. Her festive presentation will include The Champions of Christmas… Washington Irving, Charles Dickens and Clement Clarke Moore and their roles in the development of Christmas.