Bay Area residents will again be able to escape to the whimsical streets of Victorian London at the Great Dickens Christmas Fair & Victorian Holiday Party, set to return to Cow Palace in Daly City for its 39th edition.

Weekly festivities are scheduled to begin Nov. 18 and continue every Saturday and Sunday through Dec. 17. The immersive experience, inspired by the works of “A Christmas Carol” author Charles Dickens, is packed with interactive shows, holiday treats and festive vendors.

If the charm of lamplit shops and the sweet aroma of cinnamon almonds aren’t enough to draw guests in, this year's programming includes the return of the Sherlock Holmes detective experience, which puts guests’ sleuthing skills to the test, and the fair’s new Jekyll and Hyde Pub Crawl, which takes visitors on a journey through five on-site drinking establishments to solve the abduction of Dr. Jekyll.

The fairgrounds, which boasts seeing more than 60,000 attendees each season, will again feature costumed actors, including characters from various Dickens novels such as “Oliver Twist” and “David Copperfield,” his ghosts of Christmas past, present and future, and even Father Christmas himself.

“Where else can you enter through a bustling recreation of London’s Victoria Railway Station, complete with baggage carts filled with steamer trunks, and the sounds of steam locomotives in the distance to find yourself face-to-face with Ebenezer Scrooge, Sherlock Holmes, Father Christmas, and the awfully jolly girls of the Can-Can Bijou?” Andrew Patterson, the fair’s general manager, told the Chronicle.

Guests can peruse the fair’s acres of stages, pubs and shops on their own time or partake in a complimentary guided tour of the space. A self-guided children’s tour of London is also available for younger guests, and a number of parades and dance parties are scheduled throughout the day.

Last year marked the fair’s return to its regular programming following a two-year COVID hiatus and a special 2021“Drive Thru Dickens’ London”fair, which faced aboycott by several Black cast membersover what they claimed were the administration’s failure to prevent racist and sexist behavior.

The 2022 edition expanded to include a free 50,000-square-foot exhibit hall, complete with an ice skating rink and a Christmas Tree forest where guests could purchase freshly cut trees to take home.

Event coordinators are planning to bring back the Christmas tree forest for this year’s event.

Tickets for this year’s event go on sale Sept. 6, with early bird pricing at $18 through Oct. 15. Port tasting and pub crawl tickets must be purchased separately in addition to reservations. Active military, late entry and group ticketing discounts are available. All tickets must be purchased online in advance.

On-site parking costs $15 for cars and $30 for RVs or buses.

Reach Zara Irshad: Zara.Irshad@sfchronicle.com