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Christmas at Cow Palace is as Fun as the Dickens
We weren't sure what to expect when entering the Dickens Fair for the first time this past Sunday. We (as in the contributor of this story) had never even heard of this curious event until just a couple of weeks ago. When we eagerly checked out their web site, we learned that it's been around since the '70s and was started by Red Barn Productions and the Patterson Family, the people who ran the Renaissance Pleasure Faire at Black Point in Marin before it closed. Wikipedia also informed us that San Francisco's fair is "the oldest, largest, and most successful of the modern Dickens festivals outside of England."
We ventured out to Cow Palace with 6-year-old Julian in tow, where we proceeded to do a full circle around the entire building before finding the fair. A motorcycle swap was going on adjacent to the Victorian Christmas extravaganza, which was a pretty hilarious juxtoposition. But since it is San Francisco, it's possible the attendees to each event overlapped somewhat.
Upon entry to the Dickens Fair, we discovered that it was twilight in Victorian London, and it was very much Christmas! And we were warmly welcomed by every costumed person we encountered. There was quite a mix of people attending the festival, including those in plain clothes like us, regular attendees in Victorian dress, and volunteers, vendors and performers in full, pre-approved Victorian costume and personae varying from peasants to royalty, who did a great job at playing their parts. We saw the king and queen and their court walk through the square, and there was a particularly attention-getting group of shoppers fumbling with loads of wrapped parcels for an exaggerated amount of time. (We had circled the venue a few times, and they were still fumbling.) We found especially funny the Academie of Music performers who had been quarantined, but continued to play their instruments from behind a closed gate.
SFist Leanne, contributing
There were dozens of shops and emporiums with various gifts for sale, such as Victorian clothing, jewelry, ceramics, and candy, and there was even a pirate shop with pirate cellphone holders. And oh boy, was there beer and champagne and wine and rum! There were also meat pies, bangers and mash, Greek fare, sandwiches, crepes and tea-time snacks. Julian ordered some delicious fish and chips and lemonade, and we ordered popcorn and a hot cider with rum, which was a little too sweet after a while.
There were also various stages with non-stop performances, sing-alongs and dancing, and there were craft booths and games for the children. Julian was immediately attracted to one of the carnival games called "Footlight Fiasco," in which participants throw stuffed tomatoes at the wooden theater folks. After twenty-four thrown tomatoes and $11 down the drain, young Julian walked away with a tiny, 21st-Century Santa finger-puppet (made in China), which he dropped on the disgusting floor of the 9 Muni bus at least a couple of times on the ride home. We thought the cool-looking kaleidoscope would've been the better choice...
The fair runs every weekend starting the day after Thanksgiving until the Saturday before Christmas, and they offer season passes for those who can't get enough (and who want to get some use out of their elaborate costumes). So, those interested have one and a half weekends left before the big day!
Happy Christmas!