Under the glow of gas lamps, boughs of holly and British flags, The Great Dickens Christmas Fair & Victorian Holiday Party returns to the historic Cow Palace for its 42nd season, running weekends November 21 through December 20, 2026.
Presented for five weekends, including the Friday after Thanksgiving, The Great Dickens Christmas Fair transforms over 140,000 square feet of the Cow Palace Exhibition Halls into an immersive recreation of Christmas Eve in Charles Dickens’ London.
From the moment visitors enter the environment of the Fair, the modern world gives way to bustling streets populated by hundreds of costumed characters: chimney sweeps and street vendors, sailors and shopkeepers, carolers and musicians, literary icons, colorful denizens of Victorian society — and, of course, Mr. Charles Dickens himself!
A Holiday Tradition Meant to Be Experienced
Generations of Bay Area families have made the Dickens Fair part of their very own holiday tradition.
Unlike a conventional stage production, festival or Christmas market, The Great Dickens Christmas Fair envelops its visitors in an entire theatrical world. Patrons can encounter Ebenezer Scrooge and the spirits of A Christmas Carol, watch Oliver Twist and the Artful Dodger navigate the streets of London, meet Father Christmas, listen to traditional carolers, stumble upon spontaneous street scenes, join a Victorian waltz, or settle into a pub and join musicians and performers in song.
The Great Dickens Christmas Fair presents much more than a historical recreation of Victorian London. “It's about creating a shared experience where families and friends can leave the ordinary world behind and become part of the story," said Drew Patterson, a third-generation producer of the Fair.
Five weekends, November 21–December 20, 2026
Saturdays and Sundays, plus Friday, November 27
10 a.m.–6 p.m.