Seeking more traditional Christmas vibes? Not keen on the modern festivities everywhere?

Fortunately, Live History will be returning to Chester's streets for the Christmas light switch on during the evening of Wednesday 19th November.

Locals may remember the group's Victorian flashmob last year (pictured), wandering the city's streets to hand out flyers for their Dickensian Grotto - something unique in terms of in Chester's events. 

"It was such a chilled out evening, full of laughs and Christmas spirit, that many of the original flashmob wanted an excuse to do it again", recounted Live History owner, Tom.

"Part way through the evening we were dancing to street music and then began to sing nineteenth century Christmas Carols under the big tree, opposite St Michael's Church. At the end of the night, we headed to the pub to have a bit of a break."

As a free, family-friendly event, the evening encourages as many people to join it as possible, dressed in clothes that wouldn't look out of place in a Dickensian novel.

Among those characters, Tom will appear as Algernon Eccleston - pawnbroker and coachman to Charles Dickens, who can sometimes be glimpsed on Lancaster Family Tours further north.

The flashmob, like last year, will be handing out flyers for the upcoming Dickensian Grotto that will again be hosted at the Grosvenor Museum, this time during the day of Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th December.

Unlike other grottos, it features traditional Victorian-inspired gifts, craft activities and meeting Father Christmas and Mother Christmas in traditional garments, set within a seventeenth century townhouse at the back of the museum.

"Father Christmas is known for wearing red because of a marketing campaign in the 1930s, aiming to boost winter sales for a certain cola company. Before then, Father Christmas is depicted as wearing other colours in addition to red, such as yellow, brown, blue and, popularly, green."

The grotto also features a quiet hour of ten-minute slots at the start of each day for disabled children and those with additional needs.

Furthermore, it is one of the few local grottos where adults go free.

For Chester, there is even a local link with Father Christmas and Charles Dickens - the prolific writer visited the Superdrug building on Northgate Street in the 1850s (when it operated as a music hall), specifically to read from 'A Christmas Carol.'

Sadly, the Dickensian Grotto this year has a much more limited opening season this year and so people are encouraged to pre-book to avoid disappointment.

For those looking to book a place at a truly unique grotto this year, please do so through Live History's website: www.livehistory.co.uk.