Feel the spirit of Christmas with these uniquely Bay Area holiday events.

The Great Dickens Christmas Fair & Victorian Holiday Party
Enter the world of Charles Dickens and revel in a Victorian London where it’s always Christmas Eve, and the streets resound with celebrations of the Season! Lively calls of street vendors ring out above the crowd and mingle with holiday carolers; tempting aromas of roasted chestnuts and hearty foods fill the air; enticing shops overflow with one-of-a-kind Christmas gifts.

To recreate old London town, over three acres of vintage exhibition halls are transformed into into lamplit lanes, pubs and theatres, dance floors and music halls, tearooms and shops. Hundreds of costumed characters from genteel to boisterous bring the town to life and interact with patrons.

At the Cow Palace
Saturdays and Sundays November 19th through December 18th, from 10 AM to 7 PM

Zoo Lights at the Oakland Zoo
Hundreds of thousands of sparkling LED lights illuminate the Zoo and night sky to celebrate the festive season. And this year’s light display will feature an additional music-themed light show illuminating the Zoo’s African Veldt.

At the Oakland Zoo
9777 Golf Links Road in Oakland
December 2nd to January 1st from 5:30 PM to 9:00 PM
(Closed December 24 & 25)

The 31st Annual Christmas Revels: A Revels Christmas In Wales
Each mid-winter, the Revels brings to life a grand celebration of traditions and cultures from around the world—to mark the turning of the year.

This year, the California Revels is “coming home” to Wales. There is much about Welsh culture and customs that feels familiar and comforting. Set in the 1920’s childhood village of the great Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, our show will evoke the spirit of family gathered ‘round the hearth, and villagers singing in the glow of the blazing yule log.

And, there will surely be mummers, and a bit of Welsh Bardic storytelling—the Welsh, of course, are a nation of poets—and harps, pipes and fiddles. Even expect a visit from a dark and mysterious ghost horse, the Mari Lwyd.

At the Scottish Rite Theater on Lakeside Drive
December 9-11 & 16-18, 2016

Let Us Break Bread Together: Sinatra Style
2016 marks the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Black Panthers, and an important time in Oakland’s history. Oakland Symphony will pay homage by performing music from the time including Motown classics, gospel and protest music of the 60’s and 70’s.

So, Let us Break Bread Together will feature Oakland Symphony Chorus, Linda Tillery, Vocal Rush, Kugelplex, Mt. Eden High School Concert Choir, and Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir.

At the Paramount Theatre
Sunday, December 11th at 4 PM

Photo by Raymond Van Tassel