Gaskell Ball

The ball began over 40 years ago, as an offshoot of a dance space known as "Mr. Fezziwig's Warehouse" of the Great Dickens Christmas Fair held in San Francisco.

[1] The Gaskell Ball was held at Oakland's Scottish Rite Center on the shore of Lake Merritt every two months through the end of 2014.

The evening included a basic vintage waltz lesson for early attendees and some small potluck refreshments.

Unofficially, it germinates from a 19th century dance party held in 1976 at Mills College because the Dickens Fair didn't happen that year.

In the 1990s the Ball outgrew the hall and was moved to accommodate the increased attendance at the Scottish Rite Center on the other side of Lake Merritt.