THIS weekend the streets will be packed for Ulverston's Dickensian Christmas Festival as South Cumbrians — and people on coach tours from all over the region — enjoy the entertainment and vintage costumes.
It all started in November 1999 with around 1,000 people braving the cold to watch a new event — but by 2005 the crowds topped 30,000 for what had become an annual extravaganza of all things with a Victorian feel.
The Mail in 1999 noted: "Frost added to the atmosphere provided by an array of old-fashioned costumes worn by the townsfolk and the shopkeepers."
Among those taking part were youngsters from the ACT Theatre Company, Ralph Spours in an early wheelchair, Katrina Akister-Benson in an 1837 wedding dress and Fynn McCullough on a boneshaker.
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