The annual Point Reyes Birding and Nature Festival is set to take place April 24-26.
Jessica Taylor/Point Reyes Birding and Nature Festival
The Milky Way is visible in the night sky behind an old milking barn in Point Reyes Station in 2023.
Carlos Avila Gonzalez/S.F. Chronicle
A plant specimen is documented using the iNaturalist app during a past UC Berkeley bioblitz event.
Noah Berger/S.F. Chronicle
The worldwide day of environmental activism known as Earth Day has been hosted annually on April 22 since 1970, and the Bay Area — where the movement took root — is showing up.
Mid-April puts citizen scientists in an important role, collectively moving the needle toward sustainable plans to protect our shared Mother Earth. Park programs, night-sky events and other opportunities to get outside and get involved include National Park Week, with free park admissions and activities aimed at conservation, with events scheduled from Earth Day Sunday through April 30.
Leading up to the official Sunday celebration, International Dark Sky Week has activities scheduled from Monday, April 13, through April 20. Organized by Dark Sky West Marin and other Bay Area sky-watching organizations, these events are focused on reducing light pollution and expanding access to stargazing.
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Check out the Chronicle’s guide to the best events celebrating nature, community involvement and ways to take environmental actions in 2026.
Photos of lupine at Milagra Ridge are spotted during the City Nature Challenge, co-founded by the California Academy of Sciences.
Santiago Mejia/S.F. Chronicle
S.F. Climate Week 2026
The annual conference’s events — scheduled in a variety of interesting and offbeat venues — are set to feature people and organizations focused on accelerating climate solutions.
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Over the course of 10 days, the robust programming is scheduled to include Bernal Earth Day Stroll, a climate week run at Presidio Tunnel Tops, a women in clean tech hike, and the California Academy hosted Big Bang: Party After Dark closing party. Additionally, there will be panel discussions and presentations, including a Recharge with Tom Steyer event, “Turning the Tide: Stories of Climate Solutions,” the Build Forward: Earth Day Keynote with Tom Chi, “30 Million Climate Heroes You’ve Never Heard Of,” and more. See website for the full schedule.
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Daily events Saturday-Sunday, April 18-26. Ticket cost varies; various locations throughout the Bay Area. www.sfclimateweek.org
Protesters prepare to form a human banner on Ocean Beach in San Francisco in 2026. An Earth Day activation is planned to highlight the importance of solar and wind energy resources.
Stephen Lam/S.F. Chronicle
Earth Day Human Banner on Ocean Beach
Join Human Banner SF and GreenFaith as thousands of Earth-loving people and faith leaders from across the bay create an “Energy From Heaven!” banner on Ocean Beach. The message intends to convey the idea that our energy should not come from fossil fuels, but arrive freely, in endless, clean abundance via sun and wind.
11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, April 18. Free. Stairwell 17, Ocean Beach, 1000 Great Hwy., S.F. www.humanbanner-sf.com
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Earth Day: The Power of Love
A powerful force for healing arises from wise stewardship and love. Celebrate the natural world and reconnect with love for earth through meditation, live music, presentations and experiential practices outdoors on the land (weather permitting).
10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, April 18. $65-$160, reservations required. Spirit Rock Meditation Center, 5000 Sir Francis Drake Blvd., Woodacre. www.spiritrock.orgr
John Muir, played by National Parks Ranger Frank Helling, left, is sung “Happy Birthday” to by a youngster during a past Earth Day event at John Muir National Historic Site in Martinez.
Paul Kuroda/For the S.F. Chronicle
John Muir Birthday Earth Day Celebration
Celebrate nature at an afternoon event set to include live music from the Irish Newsboys, Jack Grady O’Neil, the San Francisco Scottish Fiddlers, Gaelic Muses and others; John Muir tales; Junior Ranger activities; house tours; food vendors; a silent auction; and more.
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10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, April 18. Free. John Muir National Historic Site, 4202 Alhambra Ave., Martinez. 925-228-8860. www.johnmuirassociation.org
San Francisco Zoo and Gardens: EarthFest 2026
Celebrate Earth Day weekend learning about the zoo’s conservation projects and meeting its conservation partners. Enjoy live entertainment, craft activities, hands-on learning opportunities and more.
11 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, April 18-19. Included with park admission. S.F. Zoo Sculpture Garden, Sloat Boulevard and Great Highway, S.F. 415-753-7080. www.sfzoo.org
Information and vendor booths are set up at an Earth Day festival at Yerba Buena Gardens in San Francisco in 2025.
Benjamin Fanjoy/For the S.F. Chronicle
Earth Day Festival at Yerba Buena Gardens
The downtown green space will host a family-friendly Earth Day party. It’s set to include live music, food vendors, speakers, community booths, and activities like free carousel rides, ice art, tree planting and more.
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Noon-3 p.m. Saturday, April 18. Free; reservations recommended. Yerba Buena Gardens, 750 Howard St., S.F. 415-781-8726. www.ybgfestival.org
Bon Marché: ‘Love Your Planet’ Edition 2nd Hand Market
Get together just ahead of Earth Day and celebrate love for the planet attending an afternoon of community, creativity and thoughtfully chosen secondhand finds from thirty sellers and activities set to help keep beautiful items in circulation and out of landfills.
There will be solar-powered live DJ sets, free on-site clothing repairs by UC Berkeley ReUSE (limit two per person), logo removal service, local food, handcrafted drinks and more
Ten percent of sales will benefit the local nonprofit, San Francisco Bay Keeper.
11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sunday, April 19. Free admission. Abrams Claghorn Gallery, 1251 Solano Ave., Albany. www.californiacopenhagen.com/bonmarche
People plant a Santa Cruz Island ironwood tree during an Earth Day festival at Yerba Buena Gardens in San Francisco in 2025.
Benjamin Fanjoy/For the S.F. Chronicle
56th annual San Francisco Earth Day Festival
Enjoy a family-friendly music and arts event with live music and entertainment, cooking demos, a green transportation area, DIY workshops, speakers, nonprofit booths, vendors, and more.
Noon-6 p.m. Sunday, April 19. Free. The New Farm, 10 Cargo Way, S.F. 415-602-4926. www.earthdaysanfrancisco.org
San Geronimo Climate Fest 2026
Join a day of environmental education, art, and community with the theme of Food and Climate: Sustainable Food Systems. It’s set to feature aerial performances, live music, speakers, an art exhibition, food and information booths.
Noon-4 p.m. Sunday, April 19. San Geronimo Valley Community Center, San Geronimo.415-488-8888. www.sgvcc.org
‘Earth, Air, Fire, Water’: Climate Week Art Exhibition at the Mills Building
Meet the artists behind a new climate-inspired art show and get an inside look at the multimedia installation, featuring Bay Area artists, focused on climate change and elemental forces. Join KALW Executive Producer Ben Trefny for a discussion with curator Kerri Hurtado and artists Tanja Geis, Andrew Owen and Lordy Rodriguez. The exhibition is set to run through May 8.
5-7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 21. Free-$23.18. KALW Event Space, 220 Montgomery St., S.F. 415-841-4121. www.kalw.org/220montgomery
Earth Day Marin is one of many events with electric vehicles on display from Ride and Drive Clean.
Earth Day Marin
Earth Day on the Glade
A flurry of Earth Day activations in Berkeley are set to include an Anna Halprin informed “Planetary Dance: A Participatory Ritual on the Glade,” an eco-art celebration and a theatrical presentation from the university’s Eco-Performance Lab.
Noon-6:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 22. Free. Memorial Glade, Sather Road at Library Court, UC Berkeley. https://events.berkeley.edu
‘Muni Diaries Live’
Celebrate 18 years of true stories from Muni riders like you. Join fellow bus denizens for a night of stories about growing, learning and coming of age on Muni followed by a haiku battle between comedians Alison Reynolds and Luisa Isbell. Storytellers scheduled include Muni Run Club founder Akash Borde, KALW executive producer Ben Trefny, San Francisco resident and neighborhood champion Dr. Bunny McFadden, artist Kassandra Pintor, multigenerational San Franciscan-photographer Rhonda Smith, and M Stop Deli owner Sal Albowyha.
7-9 p.m. Wednesday, April 22. $18-$21.05. Rickshaw Stop, 155 Fell St., S.F. 415-861-2011. www.rickshawstop.com
The Exploratorium will host an After Dark: Climate Journeys event in San Francisco that’s set to feature a preview of a not yet open outdoor gallery on April 23.
Ida Tietgen Høyrup/Exploratorium
After Dark: Climate Journeys
Strengthen your personal response to our changing environment and celebrate the art and science of creating a hopeful climate future. With illuminating programming set to include a discussion with author Katharine Wilkinson titled “Climate Wayfinding: Healing Ourselves and the Planet We Call Home” and a preview of the Exploratorium Field Station, a forthcoming outdoor gallery area focused on the connections between humans, the built environment and our ecosystems.
6-10 p.m. Thursday, April 23. $22.95; 18 and older. Exploratorium, Pier 15, S.F. 415-528-4444. www.exploratorium.edu
Alison Young takes a photo of the common stork’s bill plant at Milagra Ridge in Pacifica in 2021. The international event City Nature Challenge invites people to upload photos of wildlife in their area for a global competition that raises awareness of biodiversity and helps scientists collect important data.
Santiago Mejia/S.F. Chronicle
2026 City Nature Challenge
Started in 2016 as a competition between community science teams at the California Academy of Sciences versus the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, the annual four-day global bio-blitz challenge has grown into an international event, motivating people around the world to find and document wildlife in their cities. Attendees will need the iNaturalist app to participate.
Friday-Monday, April 24-27. Free, register online to participate. www.citynaturechallenge.org
The annual Point Reyes Birding and Nature Festival is set to include a Wings & Wild Things free family day on April 26.
Jessica Taylor/Point Reyes Birding and Nature Festival
Annual Point Reyes Birding and Nature Festival
The Environmental Action Committee of Marin presents its annual fundraising event celebrating spring bird and wildlife migrations along the Pacific Flyway in Marin and Sonoma counties. The three-day festival, with Point Reyes National Seashore as the main backdrop, will host speakers, guided field events, activities, workshops and more covering a wide range of topics, including birding, a coastal watercolor art exhibition, wildlife conservation and protection efforts.
A Wings & Wild Things free family fun day, with youth and family programming, is planned for 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Sunday, April 26. Admission is donation-based; reservations are recommended.
7 a.m.-9 p.m. Friday-Sunday, April 24-26. Free-$120, reservations recommended. Environmental Action Committee Marin Office, 65 Third St., Point Reyes Station. 415-663-9312. www.pointreyesbirdingfestival.org
Vallejo Earth Daze 2026
Downtown Vallejo’s family-oriented Earth Day festival is scheduled to include live music, sound baths, community organization booths, vendors, food trucks, yoga, craft activities, speakers and more.
10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, April 25. Free admission. Virginia and Main streets, downtown Vallejo. www.theeverwonder.org/earthdaze1
The “Green Change” exhibit will be a part of Earth Day Marin, set to take place in Mill Valley on April 26.
Fabrice Florin/Earth Day Marin
Re-Loved & Re-Sourced Market
Enjoy sustainable fashion and creativity with style enthusiasts, upcycled artists, and eco-conscious shoppers and celebrate the art of recycling, reusing and upcycling. Refresh your wardrobe by buying, swapping or selling pre-loved fashion pieces directly with the community and shop at eco-friendly vendors.
10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, April 25. Free admission. Mill Valley Community Center, 180 Camino Alto, Mill Valley. 415-383-1370. www.millvalleyrecreation.org/2250/Re-Loved-Market
Earth Day at Alemany Farm
Enjoy a festival at a large, urban farm site that’s set to include live music from Afterthought and the Top Chefs, native plants and medicinal herb garden tours, planting and screen printing activities, barbecue lunch, a plant sale, and children’s activities. No on-site parking.
11 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, April 25. Free. Alemany Farm, 700 Alemany Blvd., S.F. 415-494-9368. www.alemanyfarm.org
Bay Area Youth Climate Summit Earth Day Festival
Celebrate the planet at an Earth Day event with the theme Back to Earth: Grounding Our Minds and Our Movement. Each year, the Bay Area Youth Climate Summit hosts a day of youth-friendly activities, live music, learning, and networking and community building. With food, boba drinks, art activities and information from organizations across many fields of interest.
Noon-3 p.m. Sunday, April 26. Free. The Panhandle, Fell Street and Central Avenue, S.F. www.baycs.org
The Andre Thierry Band is scheduled to perform some toe-tapping zydeco tunes at Earth Day Marin in Mill Valley on April 26.
Fabrice Florin/Earth Day Marin
Earth Day Marin
The family-friendly festival, produced by Green Change, Mill Valley Recreation, MCE Clean Energy and Sustainable Marin, is set to feature art, hands-on activities, live music and entertainment. Explore green exhibitors and vendors as well as an electric vehicles show by Ride and Drive Clean.
Noon-3 p.m. Sunday, April 26. Free; reservations recommended. Mill Valley Community Center, 180 Camino Alto, Mill Valley. www.greenchange.net/actions/earth-day-marin-2026
People take pictures of wildflowers blooming along the trails of Shell Ridge Open Space in Walnut Creek in April 2023.
Jessica Christian/S.F. Chronicle
Become an open-space volunteer
Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy is celebrating Earth Day weekend, offering family-friendly activities and educational volunteer opportunities. See the list of upcoming events: www.parksconservancy.org
Marin County Parks system has volunteer opportunities such as invasive removal, rare plant research and lagoon habitat restoration. For more information: www.parks.marincounty.org
San Francisco Recreation and Park Department will sponsor volunteer events and cleanups around the city. More information: https://sfrecpark.org
East Bay Regional Parks offers special Earth Day volunteer options throughout the parks district. More information: www.ebparks.org/volunteer
City of Berkeley will sponsor an Earth Day coastal cleanup event on Saturday, April 18, and the Berkeley Bay Festival on May 2, at Shorebird Park. For more information: www.berkeleyca.gov
City of Oakland’s Earth Day hub makes it easy to find a location and sign up to volunteer online. More information: www.oaklandca.gov