📆 Thursday, December 5th – Sunday, December 8th
🕒 10 am – 8 pm (6 pm Sunday)
📍 Washington State Fair Events Center: 110 9th Ave SW, Puyallup
💰 Free – $12
Want to time-travel to a more festive era? This 36-year Puyallup tradition transforms the Washington State Fair Events Center into a Victorian winter wonderland that could make Dickens himself feel at home. Victorian England wasn’t great in all facets—tuberculosis, typhus, and dropsy were all net negatives—but it rules as a Christmas setting.
Growing up in the Bay Area, I had the Dickens Fair, which transformed San Francisco’s Cow Palace (a venue less interesting than its name would indicate) into a winter wonderland of carolers, candy shoppes, bawdy pub performances, and lots of steampunk cosplay. Our own Puyallup’s Victorian County Christmas Festival is guaranteed to pull you out of 2024 in a glamorous way. You can expect:
- Vendors o’ plenty, where you can snag such things as tasty morsels from Bigfoot Candy Company, sipping vinegar from Wild Heart, and lavender from River’s Edge
- A Winter Wine Garden to get your drink on
- The Holiday Jubilee Theater, featuring the likes of The Cascade Community Band, The Singing Nativity, and the delightfully named Blind Pig Jazz
- A spin on the T-Mobile Carousel
- A very particular game of “FIND THAT ELF!”; if you find the elusive imp, you could win a $100 Visa gift card
- And Santa, the big boi himself, ready to take in your holiday wishes
Pro tip: Kids 11 and under get in free, while youth (12-18), seniors (62+), and military members with ID pay $11. Online tickets have a $3 service fee per order, and you’ll need a hand stamp from the lobby for same-day reentry.
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