THIS WEEKENDS TOP TEN AROUND THE SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA | AUGUST 20–23

By Mike MacPhersonAugust 20, 2026 3 min read

Skip past the obvious. Mike’s 10 for the Weekend digs into the Bay Area’s neighborhood shows, outdoor music and local finds worth knowing about - plus this week’s Hidden Gem and Family Pick.

Now, here are Mike’s 10 for the Weekend:

1. Jazz & Blues by the Bay — Sausalito — Friday, 6:30 PM — FREE Big Blu Soul Revue at Gabrielson Park. Live music on the Sausalito waterfront is a pretty good way to start the weekend.

“The big events are easy to find. We’re looking for the ones that aren’t.”
— Mike MacPherson - SFBayWeekend

2. Afrobeats at the Lake — Oakland — Saturday, 1 PM An afternoon of Afrobeats at Snow Park by Lake Merritt, with two stages and more than 40 vendors. This is one you could easily build a Saturday around.

3. Bang the Bay: Feel the Sounds — Orinda — Saturday, 12 PM — $36.10 Doors at 11 AM at Siesta Valley Bowl. Jimmy Dale, Penelope Houston & The Jailbirds plus 21 local bands and DJs make this an all-day East Bay music pick.

4. Orpheus Descending — Oakland — Thu–Sun, 7 PM — PAY WHAT YOU CAN FROM $10 Tennessee Williams at FLAX art & design. Four nights gives you some flexibility, and the pay-what-you-can option makes it worth a look.

5. Double Barrel BBQ Pop-Up — El Cerrito — Friday, 6 PM — FREE ENTRY Friday-night BBQ at Little Hill Lounge. Food for sale, no admission and the kind of neighborhood stop that can disappear in a giant event calendar.

6. The Untouchables & The Inciters — Menlo Park — Saturday, 8 PM A Saturday-night double bill at The Guild Theatre. Smaller room, live music, no stadium required.

7. Paper Kayak — Pleasant Hill — Friday, 7 PM — FREE No cover at WiseGirl. Proof you don’t always have to cross a bridge to find a Friday night.

8. Music on the Square: Foreverland — Redwood City — Friday, 6 PM — FREE Live music at Courthouse Square. Get there early, grab dinner downtown and make a night of it.

9. JOURNEY’S EDGE + HAIRSTRIKE — Walnut Creek — Saturday, 7 PM A Journey tribute plus Hairstrike at Retro Junkie. Sometimes staying closer to home wins.

10. Sunday Jazz — Little Hill Lounge, El Cerrito — Sunday, 8 PM — $10 Back to Little Hill Lounge to close the weekend with jazz. A smaller Sunday-night option after a weekend full of festivals and big shows.

HIDDEN GEM

Poetry Takes Root — Berkeley — Saturday, 2 PM Poetry inside Donkey & Goat Winery on a Saturday afternoon. Berkeley, wine and live poetry — exactly the kind of thing that gets buried underneath the weekend’s bigger events.

FAMILY PICK

Garden Bros Nuclear Circus: Humans Gone Wild! — San Jose — Thu–Sun The circus rolls into the West Wind Capitol Drive-In this weekend. Friday shows are at 4:30 and 7:30 PM, Saturday at 1:30, 4:30 and 7:30 PM, and Sunday at 1:00, 4:00 and 7:00 PM.

The big events are easy to find.

We’re looking for the ones that aren’t.

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