Dickens Christmas Extravaganza

Welcome friends,

to Cape May's

annual Dickens

Christmas Extravaganza!

Sunday-Tuesday,

Dec. 6-8, 2020

There is no more perfect place to celebrate the holidays, as it transforms to a Victorian Christmas Village during this season!
Join members of the Philadelphia Dickens Fellowship and step into a world influenced by Dickens’ writings with noted Dickens scholar Dr. Elliot Engel as he brings history and literature to life. Includes a Dickensian Feast at Union Park.

​

​The Dickens Christmas Extravaganza package costs $175 and includes admission to all events. Individual admission to lectures noted below is also available at $15 per lecture. Inclusive packages are available at participating inns. Please contact the participating inns directly to register. If you choose not to stay in a participating inn, you may register at 609-884-5404.

​

Speakers

Originally from Indianapolis, Indiana, Dr. Eliot Engel now lives in Raleigh, North Carolina, where he has taught at the University of North Carolina, North Carolina State University, and Duke University. He earned his M.A. and Ph.D. as a Woodrow Wilson Fellow at UCLA. While at UCLA he won that university’s Outstanding Teacher Award. Dr. Engel has written ten books published in England, Japan, and the United States. His mini-lecture series on Charles Dickens ran on PBS television stations around the country. His articles have appeared in numerous newspapers and national magazines including Newsweek. He has lectured throughout the United States and on all the continents including Antarctica. Four plays which he has written have been produced during the last ten years. Since 1980, Dr. Engel has been President of the Dickens Fellowship of North Carolina, the largest branch of this worldwide network of clubs. Professor Engel continues to give literary and historical programs throughout the world.

​

Rich Chiemingo is a museum educator for the Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts & Humanities, as well as a lighthouse keeper at the Cape May Lighthouse and an observer at the World War II Lookout Tower. As a living history interpreter, he shares his perspective on American composer and band leader John Philip Sousa. Prior to retiring to the Cape May area, Rich also had a career in the music industry, including a stint as a military bandsman, and in the bands of Guy Lombardo, Mel Torme and Frank Sinatra.

​

Ellie Dunn has been fascinated with the Victorian times since she could read. The Victorian’s style of “decorating the decorations” fits right into her passion to learn more about their lives and those that wrote about it. She has spoken about this period of history at many events over the past 25 years. Ellie has been a member of the Philadelphia chapter of the worldwide Dickens Fellowship for 27 years and was tutored by Dr Jay Friedlin, emeritus president of the Fellowship and has participated in the Dickens Extravaganza since its early years!

​