SF’s 40th Annual Great Dickens Christmas Fair (Nov. 23-Dec. 22)

It is perpetually Christmas Eve at the Great Dickens Christmas Fair! The Fair transports you to the London of Charles Dickens – a city of winding lanes filled with colorful characters from both literature and history – all in a festive mood! Enticing aromas of roasted chestnuts and hearty foods fill the air. Cries of street vendors hawking their wares ring out above the bustling crowd. Dozens of lamplit shops are filled to overflowing with handmade gifts. The Dickens Christmas Fair is a treasured Bay Area tradition since 1970 and a splendid way to celebrate the holidays. Enjoy new immersive experiences, and a live steam train as you arrive in the Victoria Station lobby.

The Great Dickens Christmas Fair & Victorian Holiday Party takes visitors on a deeply immersive adventure through the theaters, pubs, and dance halls of Victorian London. Wander through lamplit lanes lined with charming shops of handmade gifts, and meet and mingle with hundreds of costumed characters. Explore 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!

2024 The Great Dickens Christmas Fair

WHERE: The Cow Palace, 2600 Geneva Avenue, Daly City, CA
WHEN: Five weekends from November 23 through December 22 including the Friday after Thanksgiving, from 10 am to 6 pm.
TICKETS:

Please note, tickets are only available online. Tickets on sale now. Please note that Red Barn Productions, producers of The Great Dickens Christmas Fair, is the only official seller. There are no authorized ticket resellers or on-site box office.

• General Adult (All day ticket – Ages 13 and up): $45
• General Youth (All day ticket – Ages 5-12): $25
• Children under 5: FREE
  
• Fair Season Pass: $160 (a $495 value)

2024 Special Discounts:

> Active Military: FREE – Active Military personnel plus three family members all receive FREE Admission on 1st and 2nd weekends! (November 23-24, 29-30 and Dec. 1 only). Online reservations not required, show active military I.D at on-site Willcall Booth.

> Twilight Special (entry after 3 p.m. only):

• Adult Twilight Ticket: $30.00
• Child Twilight Ticket: $18.00

This year marks the Fair’s Ruby Jubilee season! In addition to the many wonders and delights to be found at the Fair, a special 40th-anniversary souvenir guide printed in Norwich, England, will be available for sale. New this year, visitors will discover a miniature live steam train as they arrive at the Fair’s Victoria Station lobby. Guests of all ages can enjoy a ride 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!  The Delancey Street Foundation will again have fresh Christmas trees, wreaths, and evergreens available to buy, with proceeds benefiting their vital work.

Visitors can enrich their Victorian holiday with epicurean adventures and mysteries to solve in these curated Experiences. To celebrate the Ruby Jubilee, book an informative and delicious 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—an authentic Victorian corset fitting with contemporary corsetry’s most experienced and sought-after name. 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.

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, elegant drinkware, stunning jewelry, ornaments, and antiquarian books.

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 informative newspaper complete with show schedules, maps, menus, shopping ideas, and other helpful information. The special 40th anniversary souvenir guide will also be available for purchase at Patterson & Sons.