10 Things to Do in the Bay Area This Labor Day Weekend

Labor Day weekend is one of those weekends when the Bay Area reminds you just how much is out there.

You can hear Taj Mahal and Keb’ Mo’ under the stars at the Mountain Winery, wander Filoli after hours, drive into the redwoods for an art fair in the Santa Cruz Mountains, see Shakespeare outdoors in San Francisco, or spend Sunday night watching Talib Kweli perform in an Orinda bowling alley.

And I've got two more at the end that I really like: a Friday-night Hidden Gem in Berkeley where you can learn Cajun dancing before the band starts, and a Labor Day family deal that gets everyone into the Lawrence Hall of Science for five bucks.

Here are my SF Bay Weekend Top 10, plus this week's Hidden Gem and Family Pick.

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Woodside | Saturday–Monday

This isn't your typical parking-lot art fair.

High in the Santa Cruz Mountains above Woodside, artists set up among the redwoods for a Labor Day weekend tradition that feels almost hidden from the rest of the Bay Area.

And for me, the setting is a huge part of why this lands at No. 1.

You make the drive up into the mountains, leave Silicon Valley behind and suddenly you're walking beneath towering redwoods looking at work from artists and craftspeople.

It's not just somewhere to shop for art.

It's somewhere worth going.

Why it's #1: Art, redwoods and one of those Bay Area drives where getting there is part of the experience.

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Orinda | Friday & Saturday

If you're ready for fall before the calendar says you should be, here's your excuse.

Dracula brings Bram Stoker's gothic classic to the stage in Orinda, giving Friday night something completely different from the outdoor festivals and concerts filling the rest of Labor Day weekend.

Dark, theatrical and a little creepy, it also fits something I keep discovering as I look deeper into what's happening around the Bay: some really interesting theater is happening well outside San Francisco's biggest stages.

Best for: A Friday night when you want something more interesting than dinner and a movie.

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San Francisco parks | Saturday–Monday

Free theater in a San Francisco park is already a pretty good Labor Day proposition.

Add a musical tragicomedy called WRECKAGE, and you've got my curiosity.

The production continues through Labor Day weekend, including a Monday performance at Mission Dolores Park.

Grab a blanket, find a place on the grass and watch live theater outside without buying a ticket.

Why go: It's unusual, it's outdoors and it's free.

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San Jose | Saturday

Here's one for people who love theater almost as much as the performances themselves.

The Bay Area Theatre Week Kick-Off Mixer comes to San Jose on Saturday and gives audiences a chance to connect with the people and organizations behind stages around the region.

What makes this interesting to me is that it isn't simply another show.

It's an opportunity to discover theaters, companies and productions you might not know about yet—and potentially find the next thing you want to see.

Why it made the list: It's a doorway into the larger Bay Area theater scene.

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Club Fugazi, San Francisco | Saturday & Sunday

There are shows you can see almost anywhere.

Dear San Francisco isn't one of them.

At historic Club Fugazi in North Beach, the city's circus collective turns San Francisco itself into the subject, combining acrobatics, movement, humor and local history inside an intimate theater.

If you've got visitors in town for Labor Day—or you've lived here forever and want an excuse to experience San Francisco like a visitor again—this is an easy pick.

Then walk out the door and you're in North Beach.

That's a pretty good night.

Best for: A distinctly San Francisco experience.

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Mountain Winery, Saratoga | Thursday

Don't wait until Friday to start Labor Day weekend.

Taj Mahal and Keb’ Mo’ together would already make this one of the week's marquee concerts.

Then put them at the Mountain Winery.

The climb into the Saratoga hills, the historic winery and the view across Silicon Valley as daylight fades make this one of those venues where the setting matters almost as much as who's onstage.

Two celebrated blues artists. One of the Bay Area's great outdoor concert venues.

Why Thursday matters: This may be one of the best nights of the entire weekend.

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Siesta Valley Bowl, Orinda | Sunday

This may be my favorite unexpected combination on the list.

Talib Kweli.

Orinda.

A bowling alley.

Siesta Valley Bowl has become one of those East Bay venues worth watching, and seeing a major hip-hop artist like Talib Kweli there Sunday night is exactly the kind of event that makes me stop scrolling.

Ovrkast. joins him on the bill.

You can see a concert in an arena almost any weekend.

Seeing Talib Kweli inside an Orinda bowling alley?

That's a story.

Why go: Sometimes the venue and the artist come together in a way that makes an event impossible to ignore.

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Jerry Garcia Amphitheater, San Francisco | Saturday–Monday

Shakespeare. Outdoors. Labor Day weekend.

Antony and Cleopatra brings one of Shakespeare's great stories of power, politics and doomed romance to Jerry Garcia Amphitheater in McLaren Park.

And you've got three chances to see it: Saturday, Sunday and Labor Day Monday, with performances at 2 p.m.

There's something particularly Bay Area about watching Shakespeare outdoors with the hills and trees around you instead of velvet curtains and chandeliers.

Best for: Pack something to eat, get outside and make an afternoon of it.

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Woodside | Thursday

Filoli is beautiful during the day.

But evening changes the place.

Summer Nights gives you a chance to experience the historic estate and gardens as the heat fades, the light softens and the crowds move through the grounds at a completely different pace.

And paired with Taj Mahal and Keb’ Mo’, it gives Thursday night two legitimately strong reasons to start the weekend early.

Why go: Filoli after hours feels less like visiting an attraction and more like having an evening out.

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de Young Museum, San Francisco | Thursday–Sunday

If you want one option this weekend that doesn't depend on the weather, head to Golden Gate Park.

Treasures of the Pharaohs gives us the big museum experience in this week's Top 10 and, because you have several days to see it, it's one of the easiest picks to work around everything else you're doing.

Ancient Egypt is the draw.

But the other advantage is location.

You're at the de Young in the middle of Golden Gate Park. The exhibition can be the centerpiece of an entire San Francisco day rather than the whole day itself.

Best for: When you want to build a day around Golden Gate Park.

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# Hidden Gem: Aux Cajunals at Ashkenaz

Ashkenaz Music & Dance Community Center, Berkeley | Friday, September 4

This is what I mean by a Hidden Gem.

Friday night, you can walk into an old Berkeley dance hall and spend the evening dancing to live Louisiana Cajun music from the Aux Cajunals.

I didn't know this was happening.

And I love it.

Ashkenaz has been part of Berkeley since 1973, built around the idea that music isn't necessarily something you sit quietly and watch.

You participate.

Cajun and zydeco nights at Ashkenaz traditionally include a dance lesson before the music begins, which means you don't need to arrive knowing what you're doing.

That's the point.

Go learn.

Then stay for the band.

Why it's my Hidden Gem: Because “I went Cajun dancing at an old Berkeley dance hall Friday night” sounds considerably more interesting than “we couldn't decide what to do, so we stayed home.”

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# Family Pick: Five Dollar Day at Lawrence Hall of Science

Berkeley | Labor Day Monday, September 7 | 10 a.m.–5 p.m. | $5 admission

Whatever you do, save something for Monday.

The Lawrence Hall of Science is opening on Labor Day for a special Five Dollar Day, dropping admission to just $5 per person.

And this isn't five dollars for some stripped-down version of the museum.

Families can come face-to-face with animal ambassadors, get hands-on with biotechnology and artificial intelligence, and explore Ohlone science and knowledge throughout the science center.

Then walk outside.

The Lawrence sits high in the Berkeley Hills above the UC Berkeley campus, with one of those enormous Bay Area views stretching across the Bay toward San Francisco and the Golden Gate.

Regular general admission is $27 for ages 3 and up.

On Labor Day?

Five bucks.

And there's one more reason I like this pick: the Lawrence is running a free shuttle specifically for Five Dollar Day between Downtown Berkeley BART and the museum throughout the day.

So you don't necessarily need to drive up into the Berkeley Hills to take advantage of it.

That's why this isn't my Hidden Gem.

It's my Family Pick of the weekend.

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# My Labor Day Weekend Playbook

If I were building the weekend myself, I'd start Thursday.

Go big with Taj Mahal and Keb’ Mo’ at the Mountain Winery, or slow things down with an evening wandering Filoli.

Friday, head east. Catch Dracula in Orinda—or try something completely different and go Cajun dancing at Ashkenaz in Berkeley.

Saturday is loaded. Drive into the redwoods for Kings Mountain Art Fair, see Dear San Francisco, discover some Bay Area theater or take a blanket to one of the outdoor performances.

Sunday, I'd have my eye on Talib Kweli at Siesta Valley Bowl. A hip-hop show in an Orinda bowling alley is just too strange and interesting to ignore.

And then there's Monday.

Don't treat Labor Day like the weekend is already over.

You've still got Kings Mountain Art Fair in the redwoods, WRECKAGE, Antony and Cleopatra and Five Dollar Day at the Lawrence Hall of Science.

Five days.

Redwoods. Gardens. Museums. Blues. Hip-hop. Shakespeare. Cajun dancing. Theater in the parks.

That's the Bay Area.

You don't have to do everything.

You just have to know what's out there.

Find more events, venues and things to do around the Bay at SF Bay Weekend.

It’s out there. Let’s go find it.