Christmas

A Christmas village is a decorative miniature-scale village often set up at Christmas. Much of the imagery these villages are designed after comes from Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. These towns depict classic Victorian era scenes, and are often supplied with lights to illuminate their interiors. They are sometimes strung with their own micro-miniature Christmas lights, and have accessories available such as street lights and lighted trees.

The houses themselves are usually made of ceramic or porcelain, and are usually placed under a Christmas tree, often on a sheet of fluffy white quilt batting to simulate snow. A model train may also be run through the village, and some setups can be quite elaborate and expansive. Smaller setups are often placed on a fireplace mantelpiece or in a large bay window, or arranged on shelves where space is limited.

One of the first and most prominent companies making the collectible villages is Department 56, however Lemax is quite common in the U.S. now. Artist Thomas Kinkade licenses his name to Kinkade Village, and there are numerous other off-brands sold. Drugstores and dollar stores now often carry much smaller ones, about half the dimensions of the typical 1/64th-scales, and not as well-painted. Unpainted ones are sometimes available at craft stores as project kits.

Like many other Christmas traditions, it has spread to other holidays, with a few U.S. companies making Halloween and even Easter villages.