Christmas in Deventer: the Dickens Festival

Deventer, a Hanseatic town on the IJssel in the east of the Netherlands, concentrates its Christmas into one weekend and puts it in costume. The Dickens Festijn serves as the Deventer Christmas market: on Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 December 2026, for its 34th edition, the medieval Bergkwartier goes back to the London of Charles Dickens, with more than 950 characters from his novels, merchants, craftspeople, carol singers, and the smell of punch and roasted chestnuts in the lanes. The organiser counts more than 100,000 visitors each year, which explains a change for 2026: entry is by timed ticket.

The Bergkwartier in Victorian mode: more than 950 Dickens characters

The festival occupies the streets of the Bergkwartier, the old quarter around the Bergkerk: Walstraat, Golstraat, Damstraat, Roggestraat, Bergstraat, Bergkerkplein, Kerksteeg, Bergschild and Menstraat. Along this one-way route, more than 950 performers play the characters of Dickens’s novels against a backdrop of old houses that need no make-up. The link between Deventer and Dickens goes back “more than thirty years”, says the official website; the event is now in its 34th edition. It begins at the station, where carol singers greet visitors, three minutes’ walk from the centre.

The Deventer Christmas market: merchants, punch and chestnuts

Between the characters, the festival is also a market. The official website lists dealers in antiques, jewellery, books and works of art, gingerbread and cider, craftspeople giving demonstrations, and the smell of punch and roasted chestnuts that follows the route. The entertainment programme starts at 11am according to the accessibility page. Watch out for the namesake: Dickens in de Liemers, in Duiven near Arnhem, is a different festival, and several Dutch towns have their own Dickens weekend.

Timed tickets, opening hours and accessibility

• 2026 dates: Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 December 2026. Open from 10am to 5pm according to the ticketing page, until 6pm according to the FAQ: check the closing time on dickensfestijn.nl.
• Prices: €7.50 online, €6 early bird (on sale from 24 September 2026 at 12pm, limited quantity), €9 on the door, free up to and including age 7, plus a €0.45 fee for online or card payment.
• Time slots: from 2026, each ticket comes with an entry time, to keep waiting to an hour at most. Entry only via the Keizerstraat, level with the Finch hotel, then a one-way route.
• Accessibility: a separate entrance at the front of the queue, in the Walstraat, for people who cannot wait, with one companion; ambassadors in white vests; accessible toilets along the whole route; charging for electric wheelchairs in the Bergkerk. The ground is cobbled and sloping, manageable in a wheelchair with some reservations.
• Dogs strongly discouraged, guide dogs admitted.

Getting to Deventer from France

Deventer is reached by train via Amsterdam. The Eurostar (formerly Thalys) links Paris-Nord to Amsterdam Centraal in 3h20, direct via Brussels-Midi, Rotterdam and Schiphol, with around ten direct departures a day; you then need an NS train to Deventer, whose station is three minutes’ walk from the centre. By car, allow 542 km from Paris (about 6h20 without traffic), 327 km from Lille (about 4 hours) and 571 km from Strasbourg (about 5h50).

In town, the Centrumgarage (Op de Keizer 1) is open 24 hours a day, free parking is offered on 12 and 13 December on the Saxion site (Berkelweg 1), extra disabled spaces at the Pothoofd, and the bicycle parks are free and supervised, with the extra spaces open from 8.45am to 5.30pm. A pedestrian ferry links the Worp bank and the IJsselhotel to the centre from 9am to 11pm.

To extend the weekend, the Zwolle Christmas market and the Arnhem Christmas market are in the same region, and the Efteling park runs its winter season in Brabant, on the way back to France.