Celebrate the Holidays in Victorian Style at the Great Dickens Christmas Fair
The Great Dickens Christmas Fair and Victorian Holiday Party returns for five weekends to the historic Cow Palace in Daly City this November and December. The family-friendly holiday fair takes place on Saturdays and Sundays (as well as the Friday after Thanksgiving, November 29) from November 23 through December 22, 2024, and offers visitors a delightfully immersive holiday experience unlike any other.
An annual Bay Area tradition that's celebrating its 40th anniversary this eason, the Great Dickens Christmas Fair features hundreds of costumed Victorian characters, from waltzing royals to scrappy chimney-sweeps, who populate over four acres of twilight-lit shops, pubs, stages, and dance halls. At the Dickens Fair, it's always Christmas Eve in 19th-century London.
Begin your journey to 19th-century London at Victoria Station (AKA the Cow Palace's South Hall), where conductors will great you over the sounds of steam trains and newsboys hawk free copies of the Fair's newspaper, The Illustrated London Chimes. This year there will even be a live miniature steam train available for rides! As in previous years, Delancey Street Foundation will be selling fresh-cut Christmas trees for guests to take home.
The Great Dickens Christmas Fair offers a variety of entertainments for all ages and tastes. Enjoy a traditional Christmas pantomime, step back into Christmas past of Ebenezer Scrooge at Fezziwig's Christmas Party, and marvel at the deductive skills of famed sleuth Sherlock Holmes. Families can also take part in hands-on craft activities, old-world games of skill and chance, and lively interactive shows.
The Tinsley Green Children’s Area and Father Christmas Stage will entertain and delight; youngsters can meet Father Christmas (daily at 1 and 4 pm), ride on the hand-powered Adventure Carousel, have tea with characters from Alice in Wonderland, and laugh at the antics of an authentic British Punch and Judy puppet show. Kids can also construct a whimsical Fairy House, learn how to run an 1860s printing press, sing sea chanteys, and take fencing lessons. There's also a special children's tour of London
The fair also features delicious foods from the British Empire and beyond, from traditional English fare like fish and chips and bangers and mash to handcrafted chocolates and tea cakes to Indian fare. You can also enjoy a traditional English tea with scones and finger sandwiches at Cuthbert's Tea Shop. (Make a reservation in advance to make sure you get a teatime table!) Pubs will serve beer from Anderson Valley Brewing Company, fine wines, hot buttered rum, Irish coffee, mulled wine, and more.
The fair takes place November 23, 24, 29, and 30 and December 1, 7, 8, 14, 15, 21 and 22, 2024; hours are 10 am to 6 pm. General admission to the Great Dickens Christmas Fair is $45 for adults and $25 for youth aged 5 to 12. Special twilight tickets, for admission after 3 pm, cost $30 for adults and $18 for youth. Children under 5 are always free. Advance tickets are required; no tickets are available at the gate. Purchase tickets online here. Parking costs $20 per car, payable at the gate.
The Cow Palace is located at 2600 Geneva Avenue in Daly City. For more information, online tickets, and a full schedule of entertainment and events, visit dickensfair.com.
