Through the years, thousands of people have become familiar with Skaneateles' annual holiday tradition. However, the festival's origins are not as well-known.

In 1992, Skaneateles resident Karen Foltz, owner of the two Pomodoro gift shops in the village, was in Minnesota when she happened upon a mall with a special holiday program based upon Charles Dickens' novel “A Christmas Carol.”

Foltz, a member of the Skaneateles Area Chamber of Commerce, thought a similar presentation would work in Skaneateles during the holiday shopping season.

From that concept, Dickens Christmas was born.

This year's festival kicks off on Friday for its 15th anniversary, so organizers are planning the biggest celebration yet.

Dickens Christmas will take place on the four weekends leading up to Christmas Day, and will feature numerous characters performing interactive street theater, offering carriage rides, starting sing-alongs and performing scenes from “A Christmas Carol” and much more.

“With this being the 15th year, sort of a landmark year, we're really taking the story (of “A Christmas Carol”) back to its original roots,” said Chamber of Commerce executive director Susan Dove.

For the past several years, the cast has performed vignettes based on selected chapters from Dickens' novel at various times and locations in the village, Dove continued.

“This year I think they've really put some extra work into those scenes,” she added.

Festival producer Jim Greene, who heads up Scarlett Rat Entertainment and portrays Charles Dickens, said this year's Dickens cast is the largest ever.

“I think we have a total of about 60,” Greene said in a telephone interview, noting the directorial staff had to actually turn potential cast members away this year.

“We've kind of become a desirable program for young people to be involved with. And a lot of our young actors have gotten their friends involved too.

“In order to make (Dickens) a quality experience for everyone, we have to limit the number of cast members,” he added.

Earlier this year, Greene hired Binghamton actor Brian Goldblatt, who has several years of Dickens experience, to direct the expanded vignettes.

“We have 15 different scenes altogether,” Goldblatt said, noting the number of actors involved in the various vignettes range from two to 10.

Earlier this month, he continued, he began casting the scenes utilizing numerous actors, and that those portraying members of the Cratchit family will be featured often. The cast rehearsed the vignettes on the two weekends preceding Friday's opening.

“These scenes really add a new element to the festival that maybe hasn't been there in years past,” Greene said.

Another change to this year's festival is that in the past, cast members have used the old Skaneateles Fire Station as their base of operations, but since everyone has moved to the Kane Avenue station the old building no longer has heat.

“(Police) Chief (Lloyd) Perkins came to me and said we could use the old SAVES (Skaneateles Ambulance Volunteer Emergency Services) building attached to the police station,” Dove said.

“So we went in and cleaned it up, and that's where (the cast) will be,” she added.

A potential conflict to Friday's Dickens' kickoff is that area truckers may stage a protest by driving a convoy through the village near the festival's noon start.

Greene said the potential protest doesn't worry him a bit.

“In 1842, which is when the festival fictionally takes place, there are no 18-wheelers,” he said. “So the Dickens' characters will not even see them.

“But I think it's great that our little Dickens festival has become such a big deal that we were chosen as the target of this protest,” he added laughing.