GARRISON, N.D.-
Thousands of people are expected to visit this community for the 13th annual Dickens Village Festival.
The event began Friday and runs for three consecutive Fridays and Saturdays. It enables people to celebrate the holidays in a Victorian setting from the era of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.”
Jude Iverson, one of the organizers, said the festival is a kickoff for the Christmas season.
“Garrison is the official Christmas capital of North Dakota,” she said.
Some of the festival highlights are street vendors, carolers, a lighted Main Street parade at dusk and a tour of homes. It also features an English double-decker bus, which gives tours around town and to Fort Stevenson State Park.
Another popular feature are waffleberries–baked doughnuts made in two 60-year-old machines from the Ray Doughnut Co., based in Minneapolis. The machines look like waffle irons.
“We never thought in our wildest dreams that a doughnut like this would take off,” said Lisa Cole, of Roseglen, who makes the treats with her husband, Richard. “They’re one of a kind.”
The Coles said they sell about 10,500 waffleberries during a festival.
