San Francisco: Great Dickens Christmas Fair; things to do

San Francisco

Great Dickens Christmas Fair

Actually held in Daly City in a building adjacent to the Cow Palace, the spectacular seasonal Great Dickens Christmas Fair is a don't-miss.  I attended last weekend and fell in love again with stepping from the real world into the fantasy world of Dickens' London.  And I had the surprise pleasure of enjoying afternoon tea in the Dickens Family Parlour and meeting the great man himself.  Entertainment here is on-going, so you can walk for a spell and sit for a spell and eat for a spell.  Highlights include a traditional tea in the Cuthbert's Tea Shoppe (make reservations for the popular 4 p.m. tea with complimentary entertainment), opera in the Victoria & Albert Music Hall, and cancan dancing at Mad Sal's.  All this is punctuated by periodic parades featuring The Queen and her procession, and colorful characters mingling in the "streets."  Oh yes, and there are shops galore--I loved the Fitz-Gerald Manor Shop's gigantic collection of English tea cups and saucers--and crafts and games for kids and the young at heart, including the London Sweep Dispatch and Boot the Cat.  Runs weekends through December 23; 10am-7pm.

2018 update

More San Francisco Bay Area Christmas events.

Way more things to do in San Francisco.

More ideas for exploring Northern California.

image and videos ©2012 Carole Terwilliger Meyers