Photos by JEANNA DUERSCHERL The Roanoke Times

Zamitenova Libravado hangs, twisted in a silk, during an aerial dance at Dickens of a Christmas in downtown Roanoke on Friday.

Olivia Coates, 9, and Sophie Coates, 4, watch as Sebastian Gomez performs tricks with fire during Dickens of a Christmas in downtown Roanoke on Friday, the final day of the celebration.

It started with the ice sculpture of a swan and ended with an elastic woman twirling with a grace of the swan.

Another season closed for the Dickens of a Christmas in downtown Roanoke on Friday night. It's been the tradition for generations in and near Roanoke, changing slightly each year.

On the first Friday on Dec. 3, an ice sculptor chain-sawed a block of ice into a swan. On the third and last Friday, it was the first time a woman slipped up and down a silk that dropped from a tripod on the street.

"Dickens of a Christmas is an evolutionary thing, and every year we have to have something new," said Sean Luther, who directs Downtown Roanoke Inc.

The centerpiece of each night -- the tree lighting, the parade and the pet costume contest -- also slightly changed.

The 40-foot-tall tree, which this year came from a front yard off Williamson Road, was put up on Franklin Road, a more windy yet more visible location compared to its previous place behind the City Market Building on Salem Avenue.

The last night was capped with another first: A man eating fire and twirling fireworks at the end of a chain, like a windmill blowing silver blades.

The pyrojuggler, Sebastian Gomez from Wilmington, N.C., pulled out of a chest a six-pack of cans that blew like a tie-dye fountain. Cheers came from the crowd.

"Twice the danger, twice the fun, twice the chances of hurting someone," he said. More whistles and cheers.

Nearby was the aerial dancer, a woman who called herself Zamitenova Libravado and said she came from Russia. She hoisted her small and limber frame with a silk, dancing to beats of an accordion and a snare drum. She twirled like a dove, like a fish, and stretched parallel to the ground 10 feet beneath her.

A new generation watched her. They called themselves best friends: Tekerra Callender, 11; Essance Wolfe, 10; Mikayla Greenway, 10; Isabella Alfonso, 9; and Madison Richardson, who is the young one because she is 8.

They were celebrating Isabella's birthday. And after the dancer finished her set delivered a group hug.

Out of excitement, Essance said she would train 18 hours per week to become an aerial dancer, and Madison was compelled to pull a leg behind her neck to contort herself into a pretzel.

"She was amazing," Tekerra said.