St. George Dickens Christmas Festival
Wednesday, December 2, 2026 – December 5, 2026 · All day
Dixie Convention Center, St. George
A Victorian Marketplace at the Dixie Convention Center
Each year in early December, the Dixie Convention Center in St. George trades its usual convention floor for the crooked lanes of Victorian London. In 2026 the St. George Dickens Christmas Festival runs Wednesday, December 2 through Saturday, December 5, filling the hall with hand-picked vendors dressed in period clothing who sell handcrafted ornaments, seasonal food, and gifts styled to the era. It is a family-run tradition: festival director Brittany Dell's mother organized the first iteration in 1981, and by the festival's own account it has run for more than 40 years, making it one of the longest-standing Christmas events in southern Utah.
Two Stages of Dickens Theater
Beyond the marketplace aisles, the festival stages its own theatrical productions -- miniature versions of "Oliver" and "Scrooge" performed on two separate stages each evening by a cast of local actors in period costume. Between shows, strolling carolers, jugglers, and fortune tellers work the crowd, and characters styled as Father Christmas, Victorian "orphans," and visiting "royalty" move through the aisles for photos, while free horse-drawn carriage rides run outside the hall. Anyone who enjoys the staged productions can find live theater the rest of the year at St. George Musical Theater, a few miles away.
What a Ticket Covers
Admission is tiered by age rather than by activity: children under 4 are admitted free, children 5 to 12 and seniors 65 and up pay a reduced rate, and everyone else pays the standard adult rate. A single ticket covers the marketplace, both stages, and the roaming entertainment for the day, with no separate charge to move between them. Because the run spans four days, the festival also sells a multi-day pass at the door for visitors who want to come back for a different vendor lineup or to catch a show they missed the first time.
Getting There and Parking
The festival is held at the Dixie Convention Center, 1835 Convention Center Dr., on the south side of St. George. The center is a large, multi-lot facility, and its North and West lots handle festival traffic without a parking fee -- a contrast to the metered curbside parking downtown visitors navigate for the monthly George Streetfest.
Who the Festival Suits
The marketplace aisles narrow quickly once the hall fills, especially later in the day and on the Saturday closing day, so families with strollers and toddlers generally have an easier time moving through earlier in the day. The stage productions are built for kids old enough to follow a short story, though younger children tend to enjoy the costumes and carriage rides even without sitting through a full show. Parents weighing whether St. George works for young families overall can find a broader look in the guide to moving to St. George with kids; for a year-round option on days the marketplace isn't running, the St. George Children's Museum is a few minutes away.
Where It Fits in the Season
The festival opens the region's Christmas season most years, arriving in the first week of December ahead of the city's tree lightings and other seasonal events. It sits alongside the rest of the city's lineup covered in the guide to Christmas events in St. George, which lists what runs later in the month.
Frequently asked questions
What are the festival's hours each day?
The festival runs the same open-to-close hours all four days, Wednesday, December 2 through Saturday, December 5, 2026 -- there's no shortened schedule on the opening or closing day.
Do I need to buy tickets in advance?
No. Tickets are sold at the door for each day of the festival, and the festival also lists advance tickets online, so you can buy ahead if you want to skip the entry line but don't have to.
Is the multi-day pass worth it over single-day tickets?
It depends on how you plan to use the four days -- the pass is built for visitors who want to return for a different vendor lineup, catch both a daytime shopping trip and an evening stage show, or bring different family members on different days without buying a separate ticket each time.
What time are the Oliver and Scrooge stage shows?
Each production runs on its own stage twice over the course of the evening. If the timed shows don't fit your schedule, the marketplace, costumed characters, and carriage rides run throughout the day independent of them.
Where should I park?
The Dixie Convention Center has dedicated North and West lots for festival traffic, and neither charges a parking fee. The lots fill first in the evening and on the Saturday closing day, so plan for a short walk if you arrive during peak hours.
Does the same festival happen anywhere besides St. George?
Yes -- the family that organizes the St. George event also stages a similarly Dickens-themed festival in Salt Lake City during the same season, run separately with its own dates, so checking the St. George schedule directly is the only way to confirm this event's days.
What happens if the weather turns cold or wet during the festival?
Nothing changes for the festival itself -- the marketplace, both stages, and all the roaming entertainment are inside the climate-controlled Dixie Convention Center, unlike outdoor Christmas events elsewhere on the city's calendar.
Address
1835 S Convention Center DrSt. George, UT 84790