Three villages are combining efforts to present one spectacular weekend of holiday
cheer.
Dickens in Dundee events will be from 5:30 to 9 p.m. Dec. 6 and from 9 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Dec. 7. Events are held throughout East Dundee and West Dundee as well as Carpentersville.
The iconic Riverside Parade of Lights is the star of the weekend’s festivities, kicking off at 6:30 p.m. Dec. 7 on South Lincoln Avenue south of North 6th Street. It travels along the Fox River from West Dundee, along the Main Street Bridge in Carpentersville and south on Washington/Water Streets and ends at Railroad Street in East Dundee. (If you know where you want to spectate from, check the website for approximate times of arrival.)
Joe Minoso, who plays Joe Cruz on the NBC show “Chicago Fire,” will be the grand marshal of the Riverside Parade of Lights, which is sponsored by The Northern Kane County Chamber of Commerce, and the villages Carpentersville, East Dundee and West Dundee. Participants include police and fire vehicles from each municipality, community groups, businesses and more.
Dickens in Dundee was established in 1988 as a small community gathering featuring caroling and a quest for Tiny Tim’s crutch in local shops, said Katherine Diehl, special events coordinator with the village of East Dundee.
“It’s a long-running hometown event,” she said.
The themed weekend features living windows, tree lighting ceremonies, visits with Santa, horse-drawn carriage rides, musical performances, a Festival of Trees, a reading of “A Christmas Carol,” a Winter Wonderland event and more.
One of the main attractions is the Living Windows in both East and West Dundee, she said.
“Visitors can cross the river and see both sides of the Dundees’ Living Windows,” she said. “East Dundee has a theme that’s been happening since 1988 where our Living Windows are Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.” So there are six scenes from “A Christmas Carol.” Every year we do those in six storefront windows.”
Community volunteers are recruited to don Victorian costumes, hair and makeup and be a part of the Living Windows displays, she said.
The events in East Dundee begin at 5:30 p.m. Dec. 6 and take place near The Depot at 319 N. River St. and the surrounding downtown area. There will be performances from the Dundee-Crown Varsity Treble Chorus and Chamber Choir and the Dundee Township Park District’s cast of “The Christmas Schooner.”
After the tree lighting, Santa will host visits in The Depot from 6-9 p.m. The Frozen Robins Caroling Quartet will perform and there will be appearances by Those Funny Little People and characters from “Frozen.” There will also be horse-drawn carriage rides and live reindeer from Santa’s Village on display.
West Dundee, Carpentersville
Dickens in Dundee events in West Dundee are from 6 to 8 p.m. Dec. 6 with the Living Windows and Holiday displays on 1st and 2nd streets, a tree lighting at Village Hall at 6 p.m. with performances from the Dundee-Crown Varsity Treble Chorus and Chamber Choir and visits with Santa from 6-8 p.m. in the warming house.
On Dec. 7, the Bethlehem Lutheran Church hosts A Dickens of a Christmas Sale from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. At 11 a.m., Jim Gould and Ted Hazelgrove will present “A Christmas Carol Revisited: Scrooge’s Reclamation” at 11 a.m. at St. James Episcopal Church, using uses role play and film to discuss Scrooge’s transformation. A reading from Victoria Wilbrandt of “A Christmas Carol” is at
2:30 p.m. at The Mansion Bed and Breakfast.
A Winter Wonderland event is from 12 to 3 p.m. at Grafelman Park, complete with cookie decorating, photo ops, concessions and visits with Santa.
In Carpentersville, Winterville in the Park is from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Dec. 7 at Triangle Park. The village tree is lit at 4:30 p.m. followed by visits with Santa, Christmas carols, sweet treats and a Homer Depot workstation.
The event culminates with the Riverside Lights Parade. Diehl hopes that people are moved by the beauty and magic of the season as they visit the towns’ celebrations.
“The town looks so magical with all the lights on the trees. And when the tree lights up, it is massive and decorated beautifully,” Diehl said. “It just looks magical down there with the carriage rides. The carriages are decorated in lights and the horses are beautiful.”
Annie Alleman is a freelance reporter for the Courier-News.
