Where can you find Santa playing a saxophone, people dressed in Victorian Era outfits, and classic food all in one place? You can at the 39th annual Victorian Stroll in downtown Troy.

“[For] 25 years I’ve been coming to this event,” Luke McNamee said. “And that’s how long I’ve been doing this. I started in 1997 and we’ve got a beautiful day and it’s nice to see the stroll is back.”

What You Need To Know

  • This year marks the 39th year of the Victorian Stroll

  • The event supports local businesses in the Troy area

  • The city hosted the show “The Gilded Age” this past summer

The event takes the city all the way back to the Victorian era, utilizing the historic architecture and history the city is known for.

Some attendees even take it a step further, dressing up to really put themselves in that time period.

“We’ll probably over 40 hours to make his outfit,” Phyllis Chapman said. “His cape, his coat, vests, pants all that. You know probably two solid weeks of sewing. And 40 hours, 50 hours to make mine.”

For some, it’s a chance to escape.

“It’s great, it’s simple,” Scott Osur said. “And I’ve always wanted to be a detective so this is as close I get to believing I’m Sherlock Holmes.”

The event brings in residents from all across the state. And as visitors stroll down the streets of Troy, they’re encouraged to shop local and support small businesses.

“To do something like this, to give people all the different fun things they can partake in,” Geoff Brault the executive director of the downtown Troy Business improvement district, said. “To come down to Troy and walk through our shops, to make a very unique purchase, to make a very inspired purchase for their loved one this holiday season. We are happy to be a part of all that.”

While the event brings out the holiday cheer, it also captures a lot of history.

Taking a tour through the Hart Cluett Museum with Kim Daniels, you’ll see what made Troy so special in this unique era.

“It just continues on and it keeps Troy going, it keeps our history going,” chairman of the Green Show Kim Danials said. “It’s community, it’s spirit. But to have it come back has been wonderful for the Heart, the mind, the spirit, it’s wonderful.”

At least for one weekend out of the year, people can step back in time.