Carlyle's annual Dickens Village Festival celebrated another successful year in 2011, and 2012, with it auspiciously coinciding with Dickens' 200th birthday promises to be a bigger hit still, as it will be the 10th year for the community's signature event.
Charles John Huffman Dickens was born on Feb. 7, 1812, and within 30 years was one of the best known, best loved writers in the English language.
Coming from a modest background, which included a time with family in a debtors prison, as well as several years working as a child labourer in a boot-black factory, Dickens started his writing career as a journalist.
While he was recognized for some of his journalistic pieces, it was his move into fiction that catapulted him into celebrity.
Focusing on class inequities and the struggle for survival for the poor, stories like 'The Adventures of Oliver Twist,' 'A Tale of Two Cities,' 'Bleak House,' and of course 'A Christmas Carol,' spoke of the social issues that faced early Victorian England.
It was thanks to his descriptive use of language that we can have a clear view of the times Dickens writes about.
Carlyle's Dickens Village Festival works with these written images to transform Main Street Carlyle into a mid-19th Century English village, complete with scallions, wagons, street vendors, and the cheer of Christmas' of 200 years past.
The festival, which has been growing in both attendance and public awareness since it was launched 10 years ago, proved to be still growing in 2011, according to festival chair Shelley Slykhuis.
"This year we estimated we had about 850 people come to visit the festival," Slykhuis said. "The High Tea had their best year, and we had people come from as far away as Newfoundland and PEI to see the festival."
From Slykhuis' research into visitors for the Dickens fest, it appears more and more out of towners are booking holidays to coincide with the festival as well.
"One group of women I spoke to told me that they had planned to see a sister in Regina," Slykhuis explained. "What they did was meet up, and then they all headed down here to Carlyle for both days of the festival."
This type of growth for a festival can't be seen without investments of both time and money by a dedicated group of volunteers and patrons.
Recent additions like the period street lamps on Main St. came about as a result of fundraising efforts and generous donations from a variety of businesses, individuals, organizations, and the town itself.
As for volunteers, the dedicated committee who work throughout the year are one of the great strengths of the festival.
The committee this past year included the aforementioned Shelley Slykhuis, as well as Sheila Menard, Che Cormier, Jerry Linius, Delores Young, Laurie Day, Alyce Stockton, Mary Moffat, Shannon Klatt, and Wanita Wolfe.
"A lot of other people are indispensable for the festival too, who aren't on the committee, but organize sub-committees, or volunteer time." Slykhuis said. "Ron Paul organizes our twice a year rummage sales for example."
"Huguette Lutz helps a lot, as does Marilyn George, and a large number of other people."
Last year's rummage sales brought in more than $13,000 for the Dickens Village Festival, and the next rummage sale is on the horizon.
"Our first rummage sale of 2012 will be taking place at Memorial Hall on Main St. in Carlyle on May 7th." Slykhuis explained. "That's a Monday, and the sale will run all week."
The money raised at the rummage sale goes completely to the Dickens festival committee for costs associated with the festival.
