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By Lauren Garcia / Staff Photographer
By Lauren Garcia / Staff Photographer
Even the rainy weather didn’t prevent people from gathering for the annual Dickens Festival Feb. 5-7 in downtown Riverside.
The event had multiple street vendors selling everything from antique jewelry, to costumes, to pottery as well as street performances to view.
Martin Luther King high school performed their version of Charles Dickens’ “The Old Curiosity Shop.” This is King High School’s third year in a row winning best performance in the Dickens festival High School Drama Competition.
Many characters from Dickens’ novels were out on the streets to speak their mind including Mr. Pickwick, Little Nell, Scrooge, the Crummles, and Marley.
A variety of workshops were also taking place such as tea with the queen, storytelling, and even a fashion show.
Just when you thought you had seen it all, out came entertainer Christopher Yates on stilts, walking the streets and humorously harassing just about every individual that passed him.
Yates also did a show in which he was throwing flaming batons.
There were also interesting interactive environments for people to watch and become involved in such as American civil war re-enactors performed by the Widow Peters’ Parlor, the life of upper Victorian society done by the East India Social Society and Handiwork and Gossip performed by No Idle Hands Ladies Handiwork Group.
Pastries, popcorn, funnel cake, and soup were some of the many delicious foods available for tasting in the food court.
One event that caught the attention of many was the Gordon Higlanders drill and firing demonstration which took place on Mission Inn Ave.
The event filled weekend ended with a flag ceremony, the lowering of the Union Jack by the Gordon Highlanders.
With so many sights, tastes and activities, the annual Riverside Dickens Festival proved to be a fun-filled event for family and friends of all ages.
