This chestnut-flavored lark is a spirited Nevada City tradition

SASHAY LIKE SCROOGE: You say you have a velvet top hat, and a dramatic cape, and perhaps a fancy monocle, too? Or tweed trousers and a waistcoat that suggest you might have a fondness for the works of Charles Dickens? There's a plucky place that has just the holly-bedecked bash you're seeking this season: Nevada City. This is a California town, yes, but like a few Golden State places, it takes it way, way back, architecture-wise: You might wonder if you've slipped into a time stream and ended up in the late 1800s by the vintage appearance of its main thoroughfare, beautiful Broad Street. It's a perfectly picturesque setting for one of the town's oldest affairs, a street fair with ye olde flair. It's Victorian Christmas, and it will be back to deliver chestnutty cheer over five December afternoons and evenings.

ROASTED CHESTNUTS... are a tempting feature of the festival, but there are plenty of vittles to consider as you stroll the celebration. Food trucks will be nearby, and mulled wine — it's toasty, of course — is another warm-the-palms favorite. The three Sundays on the schedule — Dec. 8, 15, and 22 — begin in the early afternoon and conclude in the early evening, while the two Wednesdays — Dec. 11 and 18 — are all about that starlit sparkle. The party turned 45 in 2023, which means devoted fans return to wear hoops skirts or elf outfits, listen to carolers, bask in the atmospheric glow of the illuminated storefronts, and make time to discuss why they've been especially good this year with Father Christmas. Check out this charming scene and make plans to land your sleigh in a Gold Country town that always feels a pinch Christmassy, all year long.