After a two-year hiatus, the Great Dickens Christmas Fair and Victorian Holiday Party returned 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 25) from November 19 through December 18, 2022, and offers visitors a delightfully immersive holiday experience unlike any other.

An annual Bay Area tradition for nearly 40 years, 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.

This year the fair has expanded to include the new Vauxhall Gardens, a 50,000-square foot Victorian park-like area with a 2,800-square foot skating rink with synthetic ice, Christmas trees for sale, refreshments like hot apple cider for purchase, and more . Admission to Vauxhall Gardens is free to the public (parking fee still applies); Unlimited skate time costs $12 for adults and $6 for children 3-8 and includes skate rental.

The Great Dickens Christmas Fair offers a variety of entertainments for all ages and tastes. Enjoy and all new traditional Christmas pantomime with The Tale of Puss in Boots, 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 Old Father Christmas, 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.

The fair also features delicious foods from the British Empire and beyond, from pub 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!)

The fair takes place November 19, 20, 25, 26, and 27 and December 3, 4, 10, 11, 17, and 18, 2022; 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. 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. Purchase tickets online here. Parking costs $15 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.

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Get into the holiday spirit — Victorian style! The Great Dickens Christmas Fair, where it’s always Christmas Eve in the 1850s, is back for 2022! This Bay Area tradition has been going strong for nearly 40 years now, and features elaborate sets depicting the streets and alleys of 19th-century London, non-stop musical and theatrical performances, and hundreds of costumed living history performers depicting everyone from street urchins, Chimney sweeps, and sailors to Charles Dickens, Ebenezer Scrooge, Father Christmas, Bob Cratchit, and Tiny Tim, as well as chimney sweeps, newsboys, sailors, carolers, and musicians.

We had a chance to visit the fair again on its opening day, and it was great to be back experiencing all the magic the fair has to offer. The Dickens Fair is a holiday must-visit for the whole family, and everyone will find plenty to see and do!

Stroll the streets of London, which are divided into areas like the Grand Concourse, the London Docks, Tinsley Green, Fish Street, and Pickwick Place. All around you’ll find costumed vendors offering anything from 19th-century clothing and hats for all ages, jewelry, books, musical instruments, soaps and candles, toys, and more. It’s a great place to find unique holiday gifts for everyone.

This year, they’ve added a new section: “Vauxhall Gardens,” a park-like area with a synthetic ice skating rink ($12, $8 for ages 6 and under; includes skate rental) and Christmas trees for sale in partnership with the Delancey Street Foundation. Visitors to Vauxhall Gardens can also enjoy treats like hot cider and handmade chocolates. Vauxhall Gardens is accessible to the public free of charge ($15 parking fee still applies).

The Dickens Fair offers constant entertainment, not only from the wandering actors with whom you interact, but on numerous stages and performance venues, too. Join in at Fezziwig’s Dance Party, hear excerpts from the grand opera and Gilbert and Sullivan at the Victoria and Albert Music Hall, sing along to sea shanties at the Paddy West Stage, and enjoy music-hall songs and entertainment at Mad Sal’s Dockside Alehouse. You’ll also experience folk dancing and caroling at various spots around the fair.

Don’t miss a chance to sit around the table with Charles Dickens himself, where he’ll read from his classic tale A Christmas Carol. Ebenezer Scrooge and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future may even make appearances! Other opportunities to take in intimate events like this include the Dickens Family Parlor and the Athenaeum Club, which offer a schedule of performances throughout the day featuring 19th-century luminaries like Oscar Wilde, Mary Shelley, the Pre-Raphaelite painters, and even Edgar Allen poe

Younger visitors will want to spend time at Tinsley Green where they can play games, ride the Adventure Carousel, enjoy a Punch-and-Judy puppet show and performances by characters from Alice and Wonderland, and even meet Father Christmas himself! Kids can also get hands-on making crafts like fairy houses and Christmas tree ornaments.

hungry? Grab a snack like hot cinnamon crunch almonds or roasted chestnuts from one of the stands. Pubs and bars offer libations for all ages, including hot cider, eggnog, lemonade, beer, wine, and hard cider. For something more substantial, visit the food vendors, most of whom are located along Fish Street and Tinsley Green, where you can dine on authentic cuisine from the British Isles like bangers, fish and chips, roast beef, meat pies, and sausage rolls. If British food isn’t your thing then there’s pasta, crepes, Greek, and Indian food. You can also reserve a spot for tea time, complete with scones, finger sandwiches, and a teapot to take home, at Cuthbert’s Tea Shoppe.

There’s so much to do and see here that you won’t want to leave. It’s easy to get lost within the twisting streets of London but don’t worry — any character can give you directions to where you want to go. It’s fun and absorbing and you’ll really feel like you’ve stepped into another time and place. Visitors are encouraged to come dressed in period costume and really get into the spirit of things, too!

If You Go

The Great Dickens Christmas Fair takes place on weekends (including the Friday after Thanksgiving, November 25) November 19 through December 23, 2022; Hours are 10 am to 6 pm. General admission to the Great Dickens Christmas Fair is $45 for adults and $25 for children aged 5 to 12. Twilight tickets, for admission after 3 pm, cost $30 for adults and $18 for children. Children under 5 are always free. Parking costs $15 per car. All tickets must be reserved online in advance; Tickets are not sold at the gate. Order tickets online here.

The Cow Palace is located at 2600 Geneva Avenue in Daly City. To get there from Marin, take 101 south across the Golden Gate Bridge. Bear right onto Park Presidio/19th Avenue and follow it until you get to Brotherhood Way, which you’ll take east. Take Brotherhood to Alemany Boulevard, then follow Alemany until you get to Geneva Avenue, where you’ll turn right. Follow Geneva Avenue all the way to the Cow Palace, which will be on your right.

A wide variety of food and drink are available for purchase at the fair. Make sure you wear good shoes, since you’ll be doing a lot of walking on concrete floors, and strollers are a must for little ones. Make sure you pack water, too, since there are no drinking fountains on site.

For more information, online tickets, and a full schedule of entertainment and events, visit dickensfair.com.

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For some families, it just wouldn’t be the holidays without attending a special seasonal performance. Fortunately for us, the San Francsico Bay Area has a number of world-class, classic holiday performances for families with children of all ages.

Here are some of our favorite classic holiday performances that we don’t want to miss this winter. Tickets to these special performances often sell out, especially for in-demand dates around Christmas, so make sure you order your tickets soon.

Photo: ODC/Dance

A beloved Bay Area holiday tradition, ODC/Dance’s The Velveteen Rabbit returns to the Blue Shield of California Theater at YBCA from November 27 to December 11, 2022, The Velveteen Rabbit celebrates the unique connection between a little boy and his stuffed rabbit, and the enduring power of love. It’s a perfect holiday performance for all ages! Learn more at odc.dance/velveteenrabbit.

Photo: San Francisco Ballet © Erik Tomasson

San Francisco Ballet’s celebrated production of Nutcracker is the one that all others are compared to! San Francisco Ballet’s Nutcracker features over 150 costumed characters, dazzling scenery, Tchaikovsky’s beautiful score performed live by the San Francisco Ballet Orchestra, and of course the opulence of the War Memorial Opera House decorated for Christmas. Families should consider Passport performances include fun activities throughout the opera house, costumed characters, giveaways, refreshments, and a special keepsake passport to stamp with memories of your trip to Nutcracker. 2022 performances of Nutcracker begin on December 8 and run through December 27. The SF Ballet recommends Nutcracker for children ages 5 and up; no children under 3 are allowed. Learn more at www.sfballet.org.

Photo: Grace Cathedral

This holiday season, San Francisco’s Grace Cathedral offers a variety of concerts for all ages. Families with younger children will love Sing You a Merry Christmas, where you can join the with the toys of St. Nicholas’s workshop in singing along with your favorite Christmas carols. A Cathedral Christmas features the Cathedral’s Choir of Men and Boys, a full orchestra, organist, and guest soloist performing classic Christmas carols and other sacred music for the holiday season. There are even a couple opportunities to sing along, too.

A Christmas concert in this soaring gothic-revival cathedral is a magical holiday experience for everyone! Concerts take place December 10-23, 2022. Make sure you visit the life-size gingerbread house at the Fairmont Hotel while you’re in the Nob Hill neighborhood. Learn more at gracecathedral.org/christmas.

The Great Dickens Christmas Fair and Victorian Holiday Party is an immersive, theatrical holiday experience like no other! Wander the streets of Victorian London and interact with the 800 costumed characters, from Queen Victoria and Prince Alvert to chimney sweeps and sailors, who populate over three acres of twilight-lit shops, pubs, stages, and dance halls. A San Francsico Bay Area holiday tradition for over three decades, the Great DIckens Christmas Fair returns for five weekends to the historic Cow Palace in Daly City from November 19–December 18, 2022.

The Dickens Fair offers constant entertainment: join in at Fezziwig’s Dance Party, hear excerpts from the grand opera and Gilbert and Sullivan at the Victoria and Albert Music Hall, sing along to sea shanties at the Paddy West Stage, and enjoy music-hall songs at Mad Sal’s Dockside Alehouse. You’ll also experience folk dancing and caroling at various spots around the fair. There’s so much to do and see here that you won’t want to leave. It’s fun and absorbing and you’ll really feel like you’ve stepped into another time and place. Come dressed in period costume and really get into the spirit of things! Learn more at dickensfair.com.

Photo: Marin Symphony

Celebrate the season with your friends and family, as the Marin Symphony Orchestra, conducted by maestro Alasdair Neale, presents a program of classic holiday-inspired music. This year’s performance features the Marin Symphony Chorus and Marin Symphony Children’s Chorus as well as special guests, sing-alongs, and complimentary post-concert cookies and cider! Youth tickets for ages 6–17 are only $25!

The Marin Symphony Holiday Pops Concert takes place Tuesday, December 13, at 7 p.m. at the Marin Center Veterans’ Memorial Auditorium in San Rafael. Learn more at marinsymphony.org/holiday-pops

Photo: San Francisco Symphony

The renovated San Francisco Symphony offers a variety of holiday performances for families throughout the month of December. Holiday treats from the SF Symphony include Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf with the SF Symphony Youth Orchestra and narrator W. Kamau Bell, and screenings of the movies Elf and How the Grinch Stole Christmas with live orchestral accompaniment.

Peter and the Wolf takes place on December 11 at 2 pm, How the Grinch Stole Christmas on December 16 at 7:30 pm and December 17 at 2 pm and Elf in Concert on December 21 at 7:30 pm and December 22 at 2 pm . Get your tickets here.

Photo: Marin Ballet

Marin Ballet’s Nutcracker will transport your family into the lavish rooms of a Victorian-era party, where Clara’s dreams come to life. She encounters mischievous mice, battling soldiers, and the Nutcracker prince who leads her through the forest of the Snow Queen to the Land of the Sweets! Your children will meet the Sugar Plum fairy and all the spices of the land, including Nutmeg, Chocolate, Chinese Almonds, and the Sweet Tooth Fairies. Choreographed by Performance Director Julia Adam, the production features the artistry of 125 young dancers, lavish costumes and sets, and incredible sets including a Christmas tree that grows, sailboats, and a hot air balloon. The Marin Ballet’s Nutcracker takes place December 10 and 11, 2023. Get your tickets here.

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