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The Astounding Great Dickens Christmas Fair Returns for its 35th Year to the Cow Palace in San Francisco

Celebrate the Season in a lamp-lit city of feasting, laughing, dancing, and shopping for treasures.

Opens Saturday, November 23 and continues Saturdays & Sundays
through December 22, 2013 ~ General Admission 10am-7pm

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - Celebrate the holidays at the 35th Annual Great Dickens Christmas Fair & Victorian Holiday Party. The world's most elaborate and authentic Victorian Christmas event kicks off on November 23 and continues FIVE weekends (including the Friday after Thanksgiving) through Sunday, December 22, 2013 at San Francisco's historic Cow Palace, 2600 Geneva Ave.

A beloved Bay Area tradition since 1970, the Great Dickens Christmas Fair features over three acres of exhibition halls magically transformed into an old-world English Christmas card. Imagine a lovingly re-created slice of Charles Dickens' London, warmly lit and gaily decorated, with streets, shops, pubs, tea rooms, lecture halls, theatres, a grand Music Hall, the London Dockside and more than 700 costumed players who bring the city to life. The opportunity to applaud, carouse, dance, and mingle in a festive Victorian world is an enchanting alternative to the typical commercial fare of the season and makes the Great Dickens Christmas Fair & Victorian Holiday Party the perfect event for the entire family to enjoy.

“The Great Dickens Christmas Fair brings back the sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and feel of the times that have made Yuletide the most beloved holiday of the year,” says Kevin Patterson, director of the Fair. “Everything good about traditional holiday celebrations is here, and it’s all driven by our passion for authenticity in theatrical presentation, history and handcrafts.”

New entertainment this year includes Richardson's Empire of Wonders - a Victorian sideshow filled with whimsical wonders and curious conundrums; a sprightly production of the perennial favorite Pinocchio; and a new “Christmas Carol” environmental theater.

Fairgoers of all ages will meet the characters of Charles Dickens’ London face-to-face, as more than 700 costumed players combine their talents to create an authentic Victorian holiday experience. You might behold the great Queen Victoria herself, along with her dashing Prince Albert. Or discover the daring female writer George Sand dressed in trousers and strolling with Charles Dickens, Jules Verne, or Lewis Carroll.  A multitude of fictional characters, like Ebenezer Scrooge, Sherlock Holmes, Tiny Tim, and the Mad Hatter mingle with colorful street characters of the period—roving chimney sweeps, musicians, carolers, London bobbies, magicians, and saucy dance hall girls.

The Dickens Christmas Fair also offers a variety of toothsome treats and delectable dishes to tempt all palates. When hunger strikes, fairgoers may refresh themselves with traditional holiday goodies, including a feast of roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, goose or quail, fish & chips, duck a l’orange, hot meat pies, plum pudding, mulled cider and scones, hot roasted chestnuts, Ambrosia truffles, or Mrs. Bumble’s Sugar Plums. This year’s newest delectables include Confounding Confections – delightful candies that are vegan, all-natural, and free of gluten and common allergens. The Fair features five authentic English pubs serving libations for all ages, including champagne, hot chocolate, hot buttered rum, or a pint of stout or ale on draft.

Holiday entertainment opportunities abound for both the young and the young at heart. For the little ones, there are visits with Father Christmas, a hand-powered Adventure Carousel, Punch & Judy puppet shows, a parade with Mother Goose, a children’s painting garden, as well as the chance to meet characters from A Christmas Carol, Oliver Twist, and Nicholas Nickleby.

Youngsters can also try their hand at being “printer’s devils” with an actual 1860s printing press, learn to tie intricate knots and sing sea chanteys at the Paddy West School of Seamanship, become adorned with temporary tattoos or French braiding, or create their own holiday gifts such as rolled beeswax candles and hand-painted ceramic ornaments. They can also create their own miniature Fairy house, or learn to play darts at the Cat ‘n Bull Dart & Gaming Parlour.

Bid farewell to the frenetic shopping malls of the 21st century and find that perfect one-of-a-kind holiday gift in the shops of Victorian London.  Each year, more than 100 costumed vendors offer their artisan wares, including Victorian reproductions, fine art, romantic clothing, handsome drinkware, unusual ceramics, dazzling jewelry and accessories, even an overstocked antiquarian bookseller.

Adult patrons love to gather at Mad Sal’s Dockside Ale House to sing rowdy favorites and watch high-kicking dancers take to the stage for the wicked Can-Can Bijou. The immensely popular and roguish “Saucy French Postcard Tableaux Revue,” with all new tableaux vivants, returns to the Victoria & Albert Bijou Music Hall. This Twilight Hour entertainment is sure to beguile and delight the adults in the audience. Admission to this attraction is free, but you must request tickets upon arrival at the Fair; they go quickly and guests must be 18 or older to gain admission.

The Great Dickens Christmas Fair is directed and produced each year by three generations of the Patterson family, creators and producers for more than four decades of  the world's original Renaissance Faire at Black Point Forest in Marin County and in Southern California. This year, the Fair opens Saturday, November 23 and runs Saturdays & Sundays through December 22, from 10 am to 7 pm.

Ticketing and Other Pertinent Information: General Admission tickets are available at the Box Office for $25 (Adults), $21 (Seniors/Students/Military with photo ID), $12 (Children ages 5-12), and wee ones under 5 are free. Tickets are not date-specific (admission is good any one day of the Fair), and are fully transferable.

A Tip from Scrooge: Season Passes are available at the box office or online for $80; and Twilight Special tickets (good after 4:00 pm daily, available only at the box office) are half-price for Adults ($12.50) and $8 for children ages 5-12.

Parking is $10 per vehicle (charged by the Cow Palace). The Fair offers a free shuttle from the Glen Park BART station. Group rates are available for parties of 15 or more; contact Terry Rosenstock, tickets@gggrouptickets.com, 415-668-0525.

For more information, please call (800) 510-1558 x 114 or visit www.dickensfair.com.

Our esteemed Media Guests are most cordially invited to Tea at Mr. Dickens' home on site, at 2pm daily during opening weekend. Your RSVP to Denise Lamott at Denise@DeniseLamottPR.com or (415) 381-8793 is required in advance, please.

Digital images, media passes, promotional tickets for giveaway, interviews, and costumed performers for your holiday events are available by contacting Denise Lamott as well.

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CALENDAR EDITORS PLEASE NOTE:

THE ASTOUNDING GREAT DICKENS CHRISTMAS FAIR RETURNS FOR ITS 35TH YEAR TO THE COW PALACE IN SAN FRANCISCO

Celebrate the Season in a lamp-lit city of feasting, laughing, dancing, and shopping for treasures.

Opens Saturday, November 23 and continues Saturdays & Sundays
through December 22, 2013 ~ General Admission 10am-7pm

WHAT: The Great Dickens Christmas Fair & Victorian Holiday Party

WHEN: Opens Saturday, November 23 and runs Saturdays and Sundays through December 22 from 10:00 am – 7:00 pm. Also open the Friday after Thanksgiving!

WHERE: The Cow Palace, San Francisco, 2600 Geneva Avenue, San Francisco

PRICES:

General Admission ~ $25.00 at the door
Student/Senior/Military ~ $21.00 (photo ID required)
Children ages 5-12 ~ $12.00
Children under 5 are free
Fair Season Pass ~ $80.00 adult
For Group Rate, tickets@gggrouptickets.com, 415-668-0525

Parking available for $10 (charged by the Cow Palace)

FOR MORE INFORMATION, call (800) 510-1558 x 114 or visit www.dickensfair.com.