50 PUNCHMAGAZINE.COM {due west} A lot of thought goes into keeping the modern world out of this immersive 19th-century experience. There are no windows with glimpses of the outside world. Theater curtains transition from one neighborhood to the next, subconsciously making guests feel like they’re a “part of the show.” All the food and craft vendors must keep to the Victorian theme. And if you bring out your smartphone, the characters will puzzle over your strange glowing rectangle. “They would not know anything about such whirligigs and doodads,” Kevin chuckles. amateur sleuths to help hunt down clues around London for his latest mystery. If you help him catch the culprit, you might just earn yourself a key and an open invitation to 221B Baker Street. “Every year there is a new puzzle to solve—a new Sherlock case to crack,” Kevin says. So come wander the Dickens Fair’s winding lanes. Learn to waltz at Fezziwig’s dance hall and brave the sketchier neighborhoods where the disreputable lurk. Munch on roasted chestnuts, cheer on the can-can dancers at Mad Sal’s and sing shanties with rum-swilling sailors at the London Docks. “Come and play!” Kevin invites. PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF: FADTKE - ZOART PHOTO / JOHANNA HARLOW / RICH YEE yuletide spirit dickensfair.com A recent expansion outside the Dickens universe includes the Jekyll and Hyde pub crawl. For an additional fee, guests wander through the five pubs around town seeking a concoction that will cure poor Dr. Jekyll of his violent alter ego. But “to think like a madman, you may have to drink like one.” For the last three years, Sherlock Holmes has also taken up residence at the fair and is seeking sharp-witted BY THE NUMBERS + 3-week setup + 6 stages + 14,000 participants + 129 buildings + 2,000 light fixtures + 12,000 feet of cables + 36 boxes of fake snow + 800 feet of garlands + 11 Christmas Eves
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