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10 Things to Do in the Bay Area This Weekend

From opening weekend at the Renaissance Faire in the hills above Hollister to a 75-year-old Greek festival, the final notes of Flower Piano and a weekend when San Francisco brings century-old streetcars back onto the tracks, here are my picks for September 17–20.

By Mike MacPherson
SF Bay Weekend

Some weekends hand you an easy choice.

This one doesn’t.

Thursday night, Bleachers takes over the Greek Theatre. By Friday, you’ve got Jack Harlow at the Fox, Oktoberfest opening in Redwood City and a night market overlooking the Bay at Fort Mason.

Then Saturday and Sunday, a whole other world opens up in the hills above Hollister for the Renaissance Faire’s first weekend of the season.

And in Golden Gate Park, something special is quietly running out the clock. By Sunday night, the pianos are gone for another year.

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

1. San Francisco Greek Food Festival — 75th Annual

Annunciation Cathedral, San Francisco | Friday–Sunday

Seventy-five years.

That alone tells you something about this festival.

For three days, Annunciation Cathedral turns into a celebration of Greek food, music and dancing, with free admission. Friday and Saturday run 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Sunday wraps at 7 p.m.

This isn’t one you rush through.

Show up hungry, wander around, listen to the music and make an afternoon of it.

Best for: A festival that has been part of San Francisco long enough to become a tradition.

2. Flower Piano — Final Weekend

San Francisco Botanical Garden, Golden Gate Park | Through Sunday

This is your last chance.

For 11 days, pianos have been scattered throughout the Botanical Garden, with scheduled performances mixed with moments when regular visitors can sit down and play.

Then Sunday comes, and they disappear for another year.

That’s what I love about Flower Piano.

You’re walking through one of the most beautiful places in San Francisco, turn a corner and suddenly someone is playing a piano in the middle of a garden.

Flower Piano is included with Botanical Garden admission, with free admission available for San Francisco residents.

Why go: Because next weekend, it’s gone.

3. Bleachers, with The Linda Lindas

Greek Theatre, Berkeley | Thursday

Why wait until Friday?

Bleachers and The Linda Lindas give you an excuse to start the weekend a day early.

Doors open at 5 p.m., music starts at 6:30, and then there’s the Greek itself.

There are concert venues, and then there are places where the setting becomes part of the show.

Sitting against the Berkeley hills as the daylight fades puts the Greek firmly in that second category.

Why Thursday matters: Your weekend can start whenever you decide it does.

4. Northern California Renaissance Faire — Opening Weekend

Casa de Fruta, Hollister | Saturday & Sunday

This is the drive-out-of-town pick, and it’s my favorite kind.

The moment you walk through the gates, you’re somewhere else.

Jousting. Costumes. Music. Turkey legs. People completely committed to the bit.

And this is opening weekend, when everything feels new again.

There’s also a pretty compelling reason for families to consider it this year: kids 12 and under are admitted free every weekend during the 2026 season.

It runs 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Why it made the list: Because there’s nothing subtle about it, and some weekends that’s exactly what you want.

5. Jack Harlow: Monica Tour

Fox Theater, Oakland | Friday

Friday night just got more interesting.

Jack Harlow’s rescheduled Oakland date lands right in our weekend, with doors at 7 p.m. and the show at 8.

And the Fox is part of the reason this makes the list.

The restored theater, the lights, the marquee and Uptown Oakland outside the doors give a big show a sense of occasion before the music even starts.

Best for: The Friday-night headliner on this list.

6. Redwood City Oktoberfest

Courthouse Square, Redwood City | Friday–Sunday

Oktoberfest season has arrived.

Redwood City turns Courthouse Square into its own version of a German beer hall, with communal tables, steins, food and live entertainment.

And this weekend is just the beginning — the celebration continues through September 27, with no event on Monday, September 21.

Friday starts with an evening session from 5 to 10 p.m. Saturday has afternoon and evening sessions, and Sunday does the same.

Why go: Because “Oktoberfest opening weekend” is a pretty good reason on its own.

7. Bay Area Theatre Week — Final Days

Venues across the Bay Area | Through Sunday

Here’s another one with a clock running on it.

Bay Area Theatre Week wraps Sunday, which means this is the final weekend to take advantage of discounted and free tickets at participating theaters around the region.

And I like this one because it isn’t really about telling you which show to see.

It’s about giving you a reason to finally try the theater or production you’ve been curious about.

Why it made the list: Because sometimes the best weekend plan is the thing you’ve been saying you’ll do “someday.”

Someday is this weekend.

8. Fort Mason Night Market

Fort Mason Center, San Francisco | Friday, 5–10 p.m.

This is the easy Friday night.

Food. Drinks. Vendors. Music. The Bay right outside.

No elaborate itinerary required.

Show up at Fort Mason hungry, walk around and figure out dinner when you get there.

Best for: The night when you decide what you’re doing at 4:30.

9. Mill Valley Fall Arts Festival

Old Mill Park, Mill Valley | Saturday & Sunday

Here’s my North Bay pick.

The Mill Valley Fall Arts Festival takes over Old Mill Park for its 69th year, putting art underneath the redwoods instead of inside a convention hall.

That setting is a big part of why this makes my list.

You get a day in Mill Valley, an outdoor art festival and one of those settings that reminds you why a simple Bay Area weekend can feel like you went somewhere much farther away.

Why it made the list: Art underneath the redwoods is very hard for me to pass up.

10. Millbrae Mid-Autumn Festival

Downtown Millbrae | Saturday & Sunday

Broadway in downtown Millbrae fills with food, vendors and live entertainment for a two-day celebration built around the Mid-Autumn Festival.

And there’s something I like about putting Millbrae on this list.

Not every great weekend needs to revolve around San Francisco, Oakland or San Jose.

Sometimes the discovery is realizing there’s something worth stopping for in a place you normally drive right past.

Why it made the list: Because Millbrae doesn’t usually make anyone’s weekend list, and maybe it should.

Hidden Gem: Muni Heritage Weekend

San Francisco Railway Museum, 77 Steuart Street near the Ferry Building | Saturday & Sunday, September 19–20 | 10 a.m.–4 p.m. | Free

This is the kind of thing I go looking for.

Once a year, San Francisco pulls pieces of its historic transit fleet out and puts them back on the street.

And you can actually ride them.

We’re talking about vehicles like a 1934 open-top “Boat Tram” from Blackpool, England; the 1896 “Dinky,” America’s oldest passenger streetcar still operated by a transit agency; San Francisco’s 1912 Municipal Railway Car No. 1; and vintage trams from Melbourne and Milan.

The historic streetcars and buses are free to ride, departing throughout the day from the San Francisco Railway Museum area near the Ferry Building.

And then there’s the Dinky.

You can walk down toward the Ferry Building Saturday morning and climb aboard a streetcar that survived the 1906 earthquake and fire.

The 1896 car spent years afterward as a work vehicle before eventually being restored to its original appearance.

That’s not a replica.

That’s the same car.

There are vintage buses too, plus transit displays, kids’ activities and a sale of historic transit artifacts and books. Special historic cable cars are also expected to run, although those charge the regular fare.

And you don’t have to be a transit fanatic to appreciate this.

You just have to be curious.

Why it’s my Hidden Gem: Because millions of people ride Muni without ever thinking about what San Francisco transit looked like 50, 80 or more than 100 years ago.

For one weekend, you can actually climb aboard and find out.

Family Pick: Children’s Book Festival at Fairyland

Children’s Fairyland, Oakland | Saturday, September 19 | 10 a.m.–4 p.m.

This week, I went looking for something completely different for families.

I found it at Fairyland.

Saturday is the Children’s Book Festival, bringing more than 30 Bay Area children’s authors and illustrators together inside one of Oakland’s most unusual family destinations.

There are author readings, illustrators creating art, book shopping, family literacy activities and a youth writers’ workshop.

And there’s another reason this one caught my attention.

Mychal Threets — librarian, author and host of Reading Rainbow — is one of this year’s featured guests.

But Fairyland already has something most family events have to manufacture:

Imagination is built into the place.

Storybook sets, puppet shows and generations of Bay Area history are already there before the festival even starts.

Why it’s my Family Pick: Because it combines books, imagination and one of those Bay Area places kids may remember long after the weekend is over.

My Weekend Playbook

If I were building this weekend myself, I’d start Thursday at the Greek Theatre for Bleachers.

Friday is the hard one.

Jack Harlow at the Fox is the big-ticket choice. Fort Mason is the easy night out. Redwood City starts Oktoberfest.

Pick a lane and don’t feel bad about it.

Saturday or Sunday, this is the weekend I’d make one bigger move.

Head south to Hollister for opening weekend of the Renaissance Faire.

Go north to Mill Valley and look at art under the redwoods.

Or stay in San Francisco and climb aboard a streetcar that was carrying passengers before the 1906 earthquake.

That last one is hard for me to pass up.

Families have Fairyland on Saturday, and if your kids would rather watch knights knock each other off horses, you already know where to go.

But whatever else you do, find some time for Flower Piano.

Walk into the Botanical Garden.

Wander until you hear one.

Then follow the music.

Because Sunday night, the final weekend ends, the pianos leave the garden, and you don’t get another chance until next September.

That’s four days.

Choose what fits. Skip what doesn’t.

And go find something you didn’t know was there.

It’s out there. Let’s go find it.

— SF Bay Weekend

This Week's Sunday Drive

Sunday Drives with Mike: Sometimes the Best Sunday Drive Is a Walk Around Home

Clayton is home for me.

It’s where I raised my family. I can walk downtown from my house. I know the restaurants, the people and the rhythms of this little town pretty well.

Now, technically, I have a Concord address.

My friend JM is always happy to point this out.

Exhaustively.

I prefer not to get bogged down in technicalities.

Clayton is my home base.

Once football season starts, though, my Sundays tend to look the same: Ed’s Mudville Grill, my usual spot at the bar, football on the TVs and JM behind the bar.

I’ve been perfectly happy with that routine for years.

Then I started SFBayWeekend.

One of the unexpected things about this new venture is that it’s changing the way I look at places, even my own backyard.

Now I find myself wondering:

Get off the couch. Get off the bar stool. Go explore.

So on this particular NFL Sunday, I did.

I left Ed’s in the middle of a perfectly good afternoon of football and started walking around downtown Clayton to see what I’d been missing.

## Same Town. Different Sundays.

I didn’t get very far before I started seeing options.

Around the corner from Ed’s, Ñ (Enye) Latin Table serves weekend brunch from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. It’s a beautiful newer restaurant with a polished dining room, attractive bar and shaded outdoor area.

My Sunday started with football.

Someone else’s could easily start with brunch.

A few minutes later, I walked into the newly reopened Clayton Club Saloon.

Now things got interesting.

The Clayton Club Is Back

The Clayton Club Saloon reopened under new ownership on Saturday.

I was there the following day, Sunday.

It was packed.

A live band was playing. The outdoor bar was open. Football was on inside and outside.

More importantly, I recognized people.

Old Clayton Club people.

The bathrooms have been remodeled. The backyard has been cleaned up. The bar looks sharper.

But the trees are still there.

The boots are still hanging from the ceiling.

And some of the old bartenders are still behind the bar.

Longtime regular David West told me he liked what he was seeing so far. Bud, another longtime regular, had a similarly positive first impression.

It’s far too early for me to declare whether the new owners have pulled it off.

But two days in, my first impression was pretty simple:

I’ll come back to that story another day.

I had more walking to do.

Wait. There’s a DJ at Vinny’s?

At Vinny’s Taqueria, a DJ was playing music.

A DJ wasn’t what I expected to find on my Sunday stroll, but there he was.

Multiple TVs were going, too.

I’d gone from football at Ed’s to a live band at the Clayton Club to a DJ at Vinny’s.

All within a few blocks.

Pizza, Bocce and Ice Cream

Then there’s Skipolini’s Pizza.

The Clayton location is the original Skipolini’s, dating back to 1974. On this Sunday, families were outside and people were playing bocce next door.

That’s another kind of Sunday entirely.

Grab a pizza. Play some bocce. Let the kids burn off some energy.

Keep walking and there’s Sip ’N Sweet for ice cream or coffee.

Nearby, I could hear plenty of activity coming from Odyssey VR Lounge.

La Veranda Cafe was open, and Ñ gives you another option if you want something beyond brunch.

By 4 p.m., Moresi’s Chophouse opens, so you could easily turn the afternoon into dinner.

I was starting to see Clayton differently.

Not as a collection of individual restaurants and bars.

As a Sunday you could make up as you went.

Cutting Through The Grove

Eventually, I started making my way back toward Ed’s.

To get there, I cut through The Grove, the park that sits right in the middle of downtown Clayton.

Families were sitting around. Kids were on the playground and swings. The fountains were running, and kids were darting through the little water jets.

Mount Diablo was there in the background.

And that may have been my favorite part of the walk.

Nothing extraordinary was happening.

No festival. No tickets. No reservation. No big plan.

Just people enjoying a Sunday afternoon in the middle of town.

A few minutes later, I was back at Ed’s.

Same bar stool. Same football games.

But now I’d taken a lap around a place I thought I already knew.

I’d found brunch at Ñ, a packed and newly reopened Clayton Club, live music, a DJ at Vinny’s, pizza and bocce at Skipolini’s, ice cream at Sip ’N Sweet and plenty of other reasons to wander around.

And all I really had to do was get up and walk outside.

Oktoberfest will be here soon, and downtown Clayton will look completely different.

I’ll be back for that.

But on this Sunday, I rediscovered something much closer to home.

Hidden Gem of the Week

Exploratorium · San Francisco · Thu, Sep 17

After Dark at the Exploratorium is a weekly evening series that transforms San Francisco's premier science, art, and perception museum into an adults-only playground complete with

Featured Weekend Event

Legion of Honor · San Francisco · Thu, Jul 30

The Etruscans: From the Heart of Ancient Italy Live at the Legion of Honor!Step inside history's greatest untold story and discover the remarkable, highly advanced civilization tha

Free Event of the Week

San Francisco Railway Museum · San Francisco · Sat, Sep 19

Free rides on historic streetcars and buses departing from Embarcadero Plaza and the Railway Museum, plus free museum admission. Runs Saturday and Sunday.

Best Date Night

Paramount Theatre Oakland · Oakland · Thu, Sep 17

This Week in Behind The Ticket

Mike MacPherson · 4 min read

Gina was in line before the gates opened and still lost her usual spot. On her fourth trip to Stern Grove, she learned what “arrive early” really means.

From You

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