The Great Dickens Christmas Fair & Victorian Holiday Party November 23, 2012

WHAT:
The Great Dickens Christmas Fair & Victorian Holiday Party

This beloved Bay Area tradition is perhaps the most elaborate, inventive and authentically-Victorian Christmas event anywhere in the world... and it happens ONLY in San Francisco! Annual attendance and participation have consistently surpassed expectations. Once again more than 40,000 visitors are expected, attracted to traditional favorites and new shows on seven stages.

Accept no imitations! Founded in 1970, the Great Dickens Christmas Fair is the incomparable holiday original that generations of families have enjoyed as their holiday tradition. Over three acres of old-world exhibition halls are magically transformed into a Victorian Christmas card come to life. Imagine a lovingly re-created slice of Charles Dickens’ London, warmly lit and gaily decorated, with streets, shops, pubs, tearooms, lecture halls, theatres, a grand Music Hall, the London Dockside—an old-time world for the entire family to explore for hours on end, even over multiple days or weekends. Arrive early, stay late, or simply join us for “dinner and a show” as you would in Charles Dickens’ London!

WHEN:
Opens Thanksgiving Friday, November 23 and runs Saturdays and Sundays through December 23 from 10:00 am – 7 pm

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

MORE DETAILS:
The one and only Great Dickens Christmas Fair & Victorian Holiday Party kicks off on November 23 (the Friday after Thanksgiving) and continues FIVE weekends through Sunday, December 23, 2012 at San Francisco’s historic Cow Palace, 2600 Geneva Ave.

New entertainment this year includes Richardson's Empire of Wonders—a Victorian side show filled with whimsical wonders and curious conundrums; a sprightly production of the perennial favorite Pinocchio; and a new “Christmas Carol” environmental theater. As always, you’ll find something to amaze and delight your senses around every corner of the winding lamp-lit streets. The opportunity to applaud, marvel, carouse, dance, and mingle in a festive Victorian world makes the Great Dickens Christmas Fair unlike any other event in the world, while presenting an enchanting alternative to the typical commercial fare of the season.

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. Perhaps you will discover the daring female writer George Sand dressed in trousers and strolling with Charles Dickens, Jules Verne, or Lewis Carroll. Of course, there is a multitude of fictional characters come to life—Ebenezer Scrooge, Sherlock Holmes, Phileas Fogg, Tiny Tim, the Mad Hatter—mingling with colorful street characters of the period—roving chimney sweeps, musicians, carolers, London bobbies, magicians, and saucy sailors. Gala parades, including the daily Toy Parade and the Father Christmas Parade, wind through the crowds, adding to the festivity.

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. New this year is Confounding Confections with their delectable candies that are vegan, all-natural, and free of gluten and common allergens, making these the perfect gift for anyone on your list.

Raise a toast with a refreshing glass of champagne, hot chocolate, hot buttered rum, or a pint of stout or ale from one of five authentic English pubs on site. Waist-watchers are invited to dance off the calories at Fezziwig’s—or discover the allure of the Victorian corset at the ever-popular Dark Garden corsetry with its live model window displays!

The Yuletide season is also a time for youngsters to delight in special activities, games and gifts—and at the Great Dickens Christmas Fair, 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—even to encounter the great Charles Dickens himself!

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 visit Pirates’ Cove down by the dockside, or learn to play darts at the Cat ‘n Bull Dart & Gaming Parlour.

“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 authenticity, in presentation, history and handcrafts.”

Then, of course, there’s the opportunity to learn the origin of Christmas traditions. “Sadly, many people today sing Christmas songs about traditions they’ve never experienced,” says Patterson, “but numerous familiar Yuletide customs, like holiday caroling, started in 19th-century England. Prince Albert, Queen Victoria’s German-born husband, introduced the Christmas tree, and the practice of decorating with evergreens, to his adopted realm.”

And who can resist the opportunity to visit the shops of Victorian London, in search of that perfect holiday gift? Bid farewell to the frenetic shopping malls of the 21st century and revel instead in a wonderland of one-of-a-kind artisan treasures: Victorian reproductions, fine art, romantic clothing, handsome drinkware, unusual ceramics, dazzling jewelry and accessories, even an overstocked antiquarian bookseller—more than 100 costumed vendors, many of whom return year after year to sell their wares at the Fair.

Adult patrons love to gather at Mad Sal’s Dockside Ale House to join in the singing of 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. Enjoy a glimpse of the naughty inner reveries of stalwart Englishman Horatio Everard, Esq., and view the very flower of English Womanhood in bloom—a risqué exhibition of beauty unveiled! This immensely popular 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 three decades of the world’s original Renaissance Faires at Black Point Forest in Marin County and in Southern California. This year, the Fair opens Friday, November 23 and runs Saturdays & Sundays through December 23, from 10am to 7pm.

Satisfy the appetite, kindle the imagination & welcome the Season with us!

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: For the very best-priced tickets, print-at-home discount tickets are made available at www.dickensfair.com; Season Passes are also available 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.

A grand adventure awaits you at the Great Dickens Christmas Fair! It’s just the thing!

Official Website: http://www.dickensfair.com