Horses, fire pits and a castle: Dickens with Emmy Strik

It was in 1991 that Emmy Strik wanted to brighten up her boring shopping Sunday in the cozy month of December. In bed that evening she suddenly thought: it had to be a Dickens in Christmas. That would cheer everyone up. The municipality of Deventer did not like that, so she decided to set it up together with her husband Jan Strik in their own Walstraat. Of course, there is not one like the first edition and a lot has changed in the past 30 years. In conversation with Emmy Strik - Ten Kley about what 'her' Dickens Festijn would have been like in 2021.

(This interview took place before it was decided to cancel the Dickens Festival in 2021)

The idea came quite spontaneously. Did you ever think it would be such a success?
“I believed from the start that this festival would be a success. That people are sensitive to atmosphere and cheerfulness at this time of year. The Walstraat turned out to be a grateful setting and many residents joined in from the start. The very first edition was beautiful. It was small-scale, we drove through the street in two carriages, there were fire baskets burning and, thanks to the old ice rink, we had real snow. We didn't mind that we had to decorate everything ourselves, it gave us so much anticipation.”

Looking back on 30 years of Dickens, what has stayed with you most?
“The edition where it started snowing on Saturday afternoon. That must have been in 2009. At first, the snowfall was a surprise, but it kept getting harder. Trains were cancelled and roads became impassable. The result: Dickens on Sunday was a Deventer get-together. The many cards and support I have received in recent years are also very dear to me. Isn't it great that people are so happy about this whole atmosphere? I have enjoyed every edition myself!”

Another edition that suddenly occurs to her is the 2004 edition in which she was surprised at her home on Dickens Saturday. None other than the former mayor of Lidth de Jeude and residents stood at her door with burning torches, buckets of water and a pin to crown her as a knight. Whereupon her then 5-year-old grandson uttered the enthusiastic words: "Grandma, are you getting a castle now?"

You have said before that you secretly wished the event would be reduced in size and return to a small scale. In that respect, your wish seemed to have been heard this year. With the Dickens Walk, visitor numbers of 150.000 would have been absolutely unachievable. Were you happy with that?
“Not at first. It wasn’t the Dickens Festival I had in mind. After reading the scripts and hearing the first recordings, I’m more enthusiastic. What I find very positive is that visitors now get a lot more out of the stories of Charles Dickens. My daughter Liesbeth, who now also has a significant share in the organization, immediately thought it was a great idea. Fitting with the times too. She’s probably right, but I love the theater around it.”

What would have been your favorite window display?
“It’s hard to say which is my favorite, but a passage from David Copperfield intrigues me. It’s the moment when Dora, his child-wife, dies. The difficulty in this window display is that it says she’s the child-wife, but we have to convey that. I already have the dress, but I’m still thinking hard about how we can get the rest right.”

What would your role be this year?
“Since I know the stories inside out, I really enjoy thinking about the design of the windows. They asked me to put together the various attributes and clothing for the windows. With a complete Dickens museum and my husband Jan Strik's antique dealer at our disposal, we can put together beautiful windows. In addition, I can of course be found in the Dickens Cabinet and I walk through the streets in costume on the weekends. Yes, I still love doing that.”