Dickens on The Strand

Step back to Victorian-era times during this visitor's favorite event in Galveston, Texas.

Dickens on The Strand is Galveston’s annual holiday street festival bursting with live entertainment on multiple streets, including strolling carolers, roving musicians, bagpipers, jugglers, and a crowd of entertainers and costumed revelers.

Dickens on the Strand Galveston parade queen

About Dickens on The Strand

For over 40 years, Galveston’s world-famous Victorian holiday festival has been held in The Strand, a National Historic Landmark District.

With a nod to the ghost of Dickens's past and an eye towards the future, Galveston’s world-famous Victorian holiday festival is the island's premier holiday festival. The annual holiday street festival, based on 19th-century Victorian London, features parades, non-stop entertainment on several stages, strolling carolers, roving musicians, bagpipers, jugglers and a host of other entertainers. Costumed vendors peddle their wares from street stalls and rolling carts laden with holiday food and drink, Victorian-inspired crafts, clothing, jewelry, holiday decorations and gift items.

The festival weekend also hosts a multitude of spirited events:

The crowd favorite Whimsical Whisker Revue
A facial hair contest for the bearded and the dandy
The Dickens Victorian Bed Races
Victorian Costume Contest
Daily parades

Annual Events

Dickens on The Strand

For one weekend in December, Galveston’s Strand Historic District is transported to 19th-century Victorian London in a three-day celebration of the sights and sounds of English novelist Charles Dickens’ work.

Annual Events

Costumes Encouraged

First-time guests and returning visitors alike dress up in their Dickensian finest (or raggedy threads for a real pauper) and take to the streets to shop, eat, party, parade, and celebrate this holiday tradition.