Words by Johanna Harlow
Keen on visiting Victorian London, but can’t afford the plane ticket or the time machine? Not a problem. Traveling back to the era of toshers, telegraphs and top hats is only a short drive away. At The Great Dickens Christmas Fair—an entire little London erected within Daly City’s Cow Palace each winter—you’ll discover seven “neighborhoods” of lamplit shops, eateries, pubs, music halls and theaters to explore.
In celebration of the fair’s 40th anniversary, it’s expanded to include an upper hall. That “allows us to transition from the 21st century to the 19th century of the fair,” says executive producer Kevin Patterson, who oversees the event alongside his wife Leslie. “So you get out of your horseless carriage in the parking lot and you enter Victoria Station. You can even ride a steam train this year!”
Cover photo: Courtesy of Denise Lamott / Photo: Courtesy of Rich Yee
But what’s a world without people? A small army of actors populate the fair, portraying all strata of society from sooty chimney sweeps to the regal Queen Victoria. Beyond riffraff and royalty, visitors encounter characters fresh off the pages of Charles Dickens’ novels. You’ll find plucky Tiny Tim and scowling Scrooge—and get to interact with them, too. The immersive nature of the experience means that visitors are also players on this 143,000-foot stage. “It’s a two-way street,” says Kevin. “The audience comes in and adds their piece.” In fact, it’s often difficult to discern actor from attendee since quite a few diehards come dressed in full Victorian regalia.
Kevin doesn’t hesitate to name his favorite character at the fair: “The Spirit of Christmas Present,” from A Christmas Carol. “He reminds me of both Falstaff and Bacchus. He is the embodiment of conviviality!” Both his parents embodied this spirit in spades.
Photo: Courtesy of Zoart Photo
Kevin was born to “ambitious theater people,” Ron and Phyllis, who not only founded the Dickens Fair, but also produced the first Renaissance fair in the U.S. They “were actively attempting to recreate history, but doing it with a wink,” Kevin describes. Both had big personalities. Phyllis gleefully answered to the role of “Chief Instigator.” And a friend of Ron’s described him as “simultaneously shrewd, lewd, elegant, exuberant, funny, touching, mule-stubborn, refined, bawdy, wildly creative, exasperating and lovable—all within the same damn minute.”
When they hosted the first Dickens Fair in San Francisco’s old Anchor Works warehouse in 1970, Kevin was 10. “My parents put me in the costume of a street urchin,” he recalls. “I had this theatrical world to run around in.” Those early years he performed alongside wicked Mr. Fagin, an Oliver Twist villain who runs a pickpocketing operation. “We were able to really pick pockets,” Kevin reminisces. “We’d hand them off to Mr. Fagin on stage.” The actor would hold up the pilfered items for sheepish audience members to come collect. “We don’t do that particular bit anymore,” he chuckles.
Photo: Courtesy of Johanna Harlow
Kevin continues to dust off old memories, recalling when he graduated from pickpocket to peeler as a tall, skinny, 17-year-old in a police constable costume, “wearing a Bobby’s hat with hair down to my shoulders!” But he also remembers when the fair got canceled when the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake damaged Pier 45, their venue that year. “We were a week away from having people on ladders,” he shivers. The following year—referred to as the Freezer Fair of 1990—wasn’t much better. “It happened to be the coldest winter in generations,” Kevin says, and the Cal Expo venue had to be evacuated due to frozen and breaking fire sprinklers. After that, the fair went dark for a time.
“My wife and I brought it back from mothballs because so many people would tell us that they missed it,” Kevin says. From 2000 to the present, they’ve hosted at the Cow Palace, which allows them on-site storage (a good thing, since moving all the sets and decorations would require 24 semi trucks). A diligent crew of world builders sets up and tears down each season. “The ‘many hands’ approach,” Kevin quips. “They put their heart and their art into it!”
Photo: Courtesy of Johanna Harlow
A lot of thought goes into keeping the modern world out of this immersive 19th-century experience. There are no windows with glimpses of the outside world. Theater curtains transition from one neighborhood to the next, subconsciously making guests feel like they’re a “part of the show.” All the food and craft vendors must keep to the Victorian theme. And if you bring out your smartphone, the characters will puzzle over your strange glowing rectangle. “They would not know anything about such whirligigs and doodads,” Kevin chuckles.
A recent expansion outside the Dickens universe includes the Jekyll and Hyde pub crawl. For an additional fee, guests wander through the five pubs around town seeking a concoction that will cure poor Dr. Jekyll of his violent alter ego. But “to think like a madman, you may have to drink like one.” For the last three years, Sherlock Holmes has also taken up residence at the fair and is seeking sharp-witted amateur sleuths to help hunt down clues around London for his latest mystery. If you help him catch the culprit, you might just earn yourself a key and an open invitation to 221B Baker Street. “Every year there is a new puzzle to solve—a new Sherlock case to crack,” Kevin says.
Photo: Courtesy of Johanna Harlow
So come wander the Dickens Fair’s winding lanes. Learn to waltz at Fezziwig’s dance hall and brave the sketchier neighborhoods where the disreputable lurk. Munch on roasted chestnuts, cheer on the can-can dancers at Mad Sal’s and sing shanties with rum-swilling sailors at the London Docks. “Come and play!” Kevin invites.
BY THE NUMBERS + 3-week setup + 6 stages + 14,000 participants + 129 buildings + 2,000 light fixtures + 12,000 feet of cables + 36 boxes of fake snow + 800 feet of garlands + 11 Christmas Eves
Illustration: Courtesy of Don Carson Creative