Royally Talented, Regally Festive

by Noella Noelophile®

Her Majesty, Queen Victoria, requests your presence this weekend.

This Saturday and Sunday, December 17th and 18th, are the final days of the Great DIckens Christmas Fair, in Daly City.  And local designer Laurie Tavan is wrapping up her twelfth year of portraying a young Queen Victoria at the Dickens Fair.

In case you haven’t been, the Great Dickens Christmas Fair is unlike any other Christmas festival you’ll ever attend.   This is nothing less than a magical step back in time–to Charles Dickens’ London, just before Christmas.  And besides seeing the games, crafts and musical performances, you’ll get to interact with multiple characters, both real and imagined, from Dickensian London.

Besides the great Mr. Dickens himself, you may very well get to see, and speak with, the “Queen”–as well as watch her lead off the festivities at the Fezziwigs’ Dance Party.

And when she’s not portraying Queen Victoria or another historical monarch, Laurie uses her talents to create romantic period costumes and corsetry.  She has a waiting list for custom designs–not surprisingly, when you see her work on her website!

Laurie explained where you can see “Queen Victoria” during the final two days of the 2016 Dickens Fair, shared a Christmas tradition from her own household and talked about a Dickens Fair custom that made a huge difference in her life.

This Saturday and Sunday, December 17th and 18th, are the final days of this year’s Great Dickens Christmas Fair.  Hours are 10 am to 7 pm, both days, at the Cow Palace, located at 2600 Geneva Avenue, at Rio Verde Street, in Daly City.  Please note: the Dickens Fair has “Select Day ticketing” this year, with tickets good for the specific date purchased.  Here’s the link for more information.

(Would you like to help give a child some magical Christmas memories?  The Dickens Fair supports Daly City Fire Department’s “Operation Santa Claus”, now in its 67th year!  Here’s the link for information on the Fireman’s Toy Drive.)