Inspired by the famous statue of Dickens that has graced the park for over a century, the Friends of Clark Park will host an annual celebration of Charles Dickens Birthday on Sunday, February 4th from 2 to 4 PM.
It features a varied, lively program including feedings from Dickens’ works, and such refreshments as trifle and seed cakes mentioned in Dickens' stories. The Kingsessing Morris Men will perform in the hall and lead the procession to sing “Happy Birthday” at the Dickens statue.
Frank Elwell’s impressive 1890 bronze was installed in Clark Park in 1901 and for much of the time since then it was the world’s only public statue of Dickens, due to the novelist’s request that no memorials or statues be erected in his honor. West Philadelphians and Dickens lovers from the wider Philadelphia area meet annually on or near his birthday to commemorate the statue’s special role in the neighborhood’s history and in literary history.