By Greg Autry Nov 5, 2024
Look what is coming to San Francisco! Tickets are now on sale for The Great Dickens Christmas Fair’s Ruby Jubilee season! For five weekends only, the historic Cow Palace in Daly City (just South of San Francisco) becomes the bustling streets and lively stages of Charles Dickens’ Victorian London. This Bay Area favorite is celebrating 40 delightful seasons! Beginning Saturday November 23 and running Saturdays and Sundays (and the Friday after Thanksgiving) through December 22. Please note, this year Thanksgiving is the second weekend of the Dickens Fair.
The Great Dickens Christmas Fair & Victorian Holiday Party is an immersive adventure through the theaters, pubs, and dance halls of Victorian London. Visitors stroll along lamplit lanes lined with charming shops of handmade gifts and meet hundreds of costumed characters while enjoying the enticing aromas of hot apple cider and roasted cinnamon almonds. The Great Dickens Christmas Fair is a time traveler’s delight and a one-of-a-kind adventure into holiday merriment!
I first covered the Dickens Fair in 2014 for Splash Magazine, discovering a joyous and happy celebration of the traditional Charles Dickens Christmas. Thanks to the Patterson Family and Red Barn Productions for being so dedicated to bringing us all a quality event over the years to enjoy. I’m offering this Preview so that everyone can plan a visit and get all the info they need in advance. Tickets are online only this year. Photos here are from my past Review, and please watch for my upcoming Review after Thanksgiving, with all new photos from this year’s celebration.
This season marks the Fair’s Ruby Jubilee in the San Francisco Bay Area. In celebration, a special 40th-anniversary souvenir guide printed in Norwich, England, will be available for sale. New this year, guests of all ages can enjoy a ride on a miniature steam train as they arrive at the Fair’s Victoria Station lobby. and help support historic live-steam associations. Conductors will then usher visitors through the Station and into London in San Francisco, where it is always Christmas Eve, and the story of Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” comes to life all around you. And plan to purchase your holiday greenery after your time-travel adventure!
Visitors can enrich their Victorian holiday with epicurean adventures and mysteries to solve in these curated Experiences. To celebrate the Ruby Jubilee, book a delicious and entertaining Port and Chocolate Tasting, or indulge in the decadent and informative new Champagne Tasting at the new Royal Libation Society. The more adventurous may enjoy The Dark Garden Corset Experience. Patrons can also solve the mystery and bring Mr. Hyde to justice while imbibing custom-designed elixirs at five London pubs with the Jekyll and Hyde Pub Crawl or try to solve a perplexing new puzzle at the Sherlock Holmes Experience. The young ones can enjoy the self-guided Children’s Tour of London and meet Father Christmas at 1 or 4 p.m. each day.
Guests can also cheer on a traditional English Pantomime, sing along with salty sailors, laugh through clever comedies, and be amazed at astounding juggling on one of seven lively stages. From the Upperside Victoria & Albert Bijou Music Hall and lively Mr. and Mrs. Fezziwig’s Dance Party to the raucous, somewhat naughty entertainments of Mad Sal’s Dockside Ale House, there is always something for all tastes and ages.
At The Great Dickens Christmas Fair, Mr. Dickens and a hundred characters from his novels come to life on the Fair’s streets and stages. From Ebenezer Scrooge to Tiny Tim and from chimney sweeps to cheeky sailors, the lanes of London brim with a diverse cast. Visitors can also step into the parlour of the famous Athenaeum Club, where they might encounter Suffragette Women, Oscar Wilde, Anne Lister, Karl and Eleanor Marx, and other notable characters from the 19th Century’s literary, artistic, and scientific worlds.
The Great Dickens Christmas Fair overflows with holiday magic for the youngest guests, offering hands-on craft activities, old-world games of skill and chance, and lively interactive shows at the Tinsley Green Children’s Area and Father Christmas Stage. Youngsters can meet Father Christmas, ride on the hand-powered Adventure Carousel, and applaud the antics of the mischievous Mr. Punch in an authentic British Punch & Judy puppet show.
The Great Dickens Christmas Fair is a cornucopia of handcrafted, freshly made foods – there is ever so much to eat and drink! Guests can feast on traditional savories like fish ‘n chips, bangers and mash, meat pies, or sweets like homemade cookies, artisan chocolates, and teacakes. Jack and the Beansteak offers various plant-based choices, and Slice of Heaven entices with calzones and flatbreads. To accompany these and over a hundred other delectable food items, six traditional pubs offer superbly crafted beers from local Anderson Valley Brewing Company along with fine wines, champagne, hot buttered rum, Irish coffee, hot toddies, and the Fair’s small batch mulled wine. Or, sit for proper English high tea, complete with scones and finger sandwiches. New this year, Napala’s Charcuterie will offer cured meats, fine cheeses and accompaniments, and Mountain Sage Coffee will offer whole food-based beverages like specialty lattes, homemade chai, espressos, smoothies, and treats such as blueberry coffeecake and triple chocolate brownies. I admit to going back for more than one Irish Coffee.
With over 100 beautiful shops and carts, there is no shortage of thoughtful and unique shopping inspiration. Meet the artists and discover the perfect holiday present for friends and loved ones ~ or a personal Christmas treat or two ~ guests will find the quaint shops and bustling emporiums filled with fine crafts, fanciful clothing and accessories, ceramics and pottery, elegant drinkware, stunning jewelry, ornaments, antiquarian books, artisanal tobacco pipes, unique honey and bee-related products, and so much more. This year, buy a holiday gift from a real life artesian adding that personal touch to a gift of love.
Upon entry to the Fair or at the Patterson & Sons shop just inside the front gate, guests are invited to pick up a complimentary copy of the official Dickens Fair Program ~ The Illustrated London Chimes ~an informativenewspaper complete with show schedules, maps, and other helpful information. A special 40th-anniversary souvenir guide will also be available for purchase at Patterson & Son’s Stationers.
HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ONE AND ALL !!!
Tickets range from $18 to $45.The Port Tasting, Pub Crawl, and Corsetry Experiences require reservations and additional tickets. Early purchase and date selection is recommended, as attendance is limited daily. Tickets go on sale October 1st and may only be purchased online and in advance at dickensfair.com/tickets.
WHEN: Opens Saturday, November 23, and runs Saturdays and Sundays (plus the Friday after Thanksgiving) through December 22, 2024, from 10 a.m. ~ 6 p.m.
WHERE: The Cow Palace, 2600 Geneva Avenue, Daly City, CA
TICKETS & INFORMATION: dickensfair.com
All tickets are ONLINE only. Adult General Admission is $45.00. Please note at the website special discounts for Active Military, Entry after 3 PM, Season Passes, and for Children. There are no Group discounts.
Parking is an additional $20.00, or $ 40.00/RV or bus, charged by the Cow Palace.
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