Seasonal Events

Celebrating our 18th 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, 2023 through December 31, 2023
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, 2023 through December 30, 2023.
The Welcome Center and Curiosity Shoppe will be open Monday - Thursday 10am - 6pm. Fridays and Saturdays, 10 am - 7pm. Closed Thanksgiving Day, 11/23 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 display was 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, 2023 - December 31, 2023

5:30pm - 9:00pm

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 2023 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

The meals in England consisted of a huge breakfast, and slightly lesser lunch and dinner. After lunch, the lady of the house would ask her maids to get her some tea and little cakes. The drinking of tea led to the birth of a tradition that was beyond a mere habit or addiction - it became a culture. We encourage you dress in your Victorian garb to enhance your experience.
Two Victorian Teas are scheduled for Saturday, December 2, 2023 and Saturday, December 16, 2023 at 1pm held in the historical Masonic Ballroom downtown Cambridge. Reservations are required by calling the Welcome Center, 740.421.4956. Cost is $22.00
The Queens Tea is scheduled for Saturday November 18, 2023 at 1 pm at the Cambridge Country Club, 60755 Southgate Road. The full tea will include various teas, scones, savories, and a filling lunch. Reservations are required. Cost is $25, call 740.421.4956. Her Majesty Queen Victoria will share bits of her life story.
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National Museum of Cambridge Glass

2023 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 3 through December 16. Admission: $5 General Admission: $4 Seniors and AAA. 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 17 and ending December 23, located west side of the Guernsey County Courthouse. Friday and Saturdays 5:30-9 pm. Weather dependent. Please call the Welcome Center 740.421.4956. You may purchase tickets at the site. Costs are $10 per adult $8 per child (12 and under, toddlers 3 and under no charge) $34 Family (2 adults 2 children). Weather permitting, call 740.421.4956.

Cemetery Tour

~ Old City City Cemetery (behind the Guernsey County Senior Center) ~
Originally called the South Cemetery, this six and a half acre cemetery was established in 1858 on land purchased from the Morton family after Founders Cemetery had run out of burial space. For more than 40 years, this was the primary cemetery serving the community until the purchase of grounds for the much larger 40 acre Northwood Cemetery. Some of the longest-lived founders of Cambridge and Guernsey County rest here, as do more than 200 Civil War veterans.
The next “Coming Alive” Cemetery Tours will be Saturday, November 4 at 10:00 AM and 2:00 PM and Saturday, November 11 at 10:00 AM and 2:00 PM. We will again feature 6 individuals who lived during the Victorian era.
Admission $5.00 per person at the gate
Presented by Dickens Victorian Village and the Guernsey County Historical Society
Sponsored by Muskingum University
Please call Tom Davey for questions 740.584.0857


Candlelight Walk

Christmas Candlelight Walk

Saturday December 16, 2022 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 9, 2023. 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

You will choose either 5 pm or 6pm when you purchase your ticket. Tickets go on sale at the Dickens Welcome Center on October 25, 2023 at 5pm. tickets limited to 2 per adult only. no phone or online sales.