Friends of Clark Park are hosting Charles Dickens’ 200th Birthday Party this Sunday (Feb. 5) and everyone is welcome to attend this fun and free event. The celebration begins at 2 p.m. in Griffith Hall of the University of Sciences (43rd & Kingsessing), across the street from Clark Park. The party will feature dramatic readings, music and refreshments.

One of the party guests is British folksinger David Jones who will perform a medley of songs popular in England during the time of Dickens. Curio Theatre’s Jared Reed will present a scene from his adaptation of A Christmas Carol. The list of performers also includes The Kingsessing Morris Men with their sampling of English morris dancing and Frank Chance, Ceil Mann and Curio Theatre’s Paul Kuhn reading from David Copperfield, The Pickwick Papers, and Great Expectations.

The bronze Dickens statue was installed in Clark Park in 1901 and was the only statue of him in the world for over a century. It’s become a good tradition for neighbors to meet on or near his birthday to commemorate the statue’s special role in the neighborhood’s history.