Attendees dance during a Porchfest SF performance in the San Francisco Mission District. It’s scheduled to happen this year on May 29 and 30.
Taytum Wymer/Porchfest
The Bay Area’s summertime calendar is filling up with great ways to have fun without busting your budget.
From porch-side concerts in the Mission to Anna Halprin’s annual, peace-loving Planetary Dance in Golden Gate Park, all events noted here offer admission-free options, making a bounty of music, arts and community activities that are accessible to all.
People enjoy the live music at the Union Street Festival in San Francisco’s Cow Hollow on June 1, 2024.
Danielle Echeverria
A dog competes in the annual World Dog Surfing Championship at Linda Mar Beach in Pacifica, 2024.
Yalonda M. James/The Chronicle
Attendees pack Fillmore St. during the two-day Fillmore Jazz Festival, the largest free jazz festival on the West Coast, in San Francisco, 2024. This year is is scheduled to happen on July 4-5.
Yalonda M. James/The Chronicle
S.F. Porchfest
A neighborly afternoon celebration featuring live, homegrown music performed on porches, parklets and stoops returns to San Francisco’s Mission District for its eighth year. Bike or walk around and check out the talents of more than fifty bands including sets from local artists performing at eight venues. A kickoff party with performances from Porchfest artists is scheduled at the Hotel Utah Saloon on Friday night.
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Kickoff party: 8-10 p.m. Friday, May 29. $10. Hotel Utah Music Hall, 500 Fourth St., S.F. • Porchfest: Noon-6 p.m. Saturday, May 30. Free. www.sfporchfest.org
Bay Area Bookfest: YouthLit and Bookworm Block Party
The Bay Area Book Festival returns to downtown Berkeley offering two days of author talks, workshops, readings and family programming spread across multiple venues — and most of it is free to attend. Among the programming highlights are YouthLit, with kid-focused readings, discussion panels and interactive events featuring children’s authors and youth literacy organizations. A lively Bookworm Block Party brings outdoor energy to the literary fair. On schedule are author appearances, live performances, booksellers, food vendors and activities for readers of all ages.
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YouthLit: 10:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, May 30. Free. Berkeley Public Library, 2090 Kittredge St., Berkeley. • Block Party: 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday, May 31. Free. 2170 Shattuck Ave., Allston and Harold Ways and Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Park, 2151 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Berkeley. www.baybookfest.org
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Visitors relax on the sand and play in the water at the Santa Cruz beach boardwalk. This summer the venue will host a series of free entertainment including live music and movies.
Laura Morton/Special to The Chronicle
Evenings on the Colonnade and World Soccer Celebration at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk
Enjoy classic boardwalk amusements, then rock out to free live music and entertainment as local bands, DJs, magicians and acrobats perform on a beachfront stage beginning on June 15.
Settle in with saltwater taffy and favorite boardwalk goodies for free, family-friendly movies screened shoreside every Friday night starting on June 12. Bring a beach blanket or low-back chair for seating.
At the end of the month the beach boardwalk gives a big nod to FIFA World Cup action, hosting a World Soccer Celebration, with five days of soccer-focused activities including live matchups and free beachside watch parties, live entertainment, food and drinks vendors.
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Magicians and acrobats: 8:30-9:30 p.m. Monday-Wednesday. • Live music: 8:30-9:30 p.m Thursday. • Movies: 9 p.m. Friday; DJ dance parties: 8:30-9:30 p.m. Saturday-Sunday. June 15 through Aug. 7. • Soccer Celebration: Wednesday-Sunday, June 24-28. Free. Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, 400 Beach St., Santa Cruz. 831-423-5590. www.beachboardwalk.com
Thousands of people attend the Union Street Festival in San Francisco’s Cow Hollow on June 1, 2024.
Danielle Echeverria/The Chronicle
Union Street Festival
Now in its 48th year, the longtime street fair is set to include live entertainment on multiple stages, local craft vendors, food and drinks, family-friendly activities and its classic uphill waiters race, where hospitality workers sprint through the neighborhood while impressively balancing trays.
11 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, June 6-7. Free. Union St., between Fillmore and Gough Streets, S.F. www.sunsetmercantilesf.com
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Late modern dance pioneer Anna Halprin is seen at her home in Kentfield, 2013. Her annual “Planetary Dance” event will take place in Golden Gate Park on June 13.
Liz Hafalia/The Chronicle
46th Annual Community ‘Planetary Dance’
It’s been 46 years since ground breaking Bay Area choreographer Anna Halprin hosted her first Planetary Dance — a movement ritual involving people walking, skipping and dancing in circular formation, on a wild, slopeside meadow, high upon Marin County’s Mount Tamalpais. With community togetherness and ideals of moving together in harmony with nature at its core, the endearing event has spread far beyond the local scene. This year the Bay Area’s annual Planetary Dance is scheduled to take place in Golden Gate Park, with a theme of “Calling for Peace.” Participants are asked to meet at 11:30 a.m. ahead of a noon-time start.
11:30 a.m. Saturday, June 13. Free. Elk Glen Picnic Area, 1017 Martin Luther King Jr Dr., Golden Gate Park, S.F. www.planetarydance.org
A mural at Ferry and Green Streets depicting a beaver, one of the city’s well-known symbols In downtown Martinez, Calif., on Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025.
Carlos Avila Gonzalez/S.F. Chronicle
Martinez Beaver Festival XVII
Famous as the birthplace of Joe DiMaggio, a certain shaken-not-stirred cocktail and home to John Muir’s historical vineyard homestead, the quirky town of Martinez most recent claim to fame comes from its protected beaver population and habitat conservation efforts. Celebrate the town’s unofficial mascot at the annual admission-free beaver festival, with family-friendly activities focused on beavers, live big band jazz, citizen science, urban wildlife education, family-friendly activities and more.
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10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, June 13. Susana Park, Martinez Estudillo and Susana Streets, Martinez, www.martinezbeavers.org
The Alphabet Rockers will perform in Alameda on June 13 as part of Rhythmix in the Parks: Unity Fest.
Sam Popp
Rhythmix in the Parks: Unity Fest
Join emcee Tae Poetically Divine and celebrate African and African diaspora culture at a free, family-friendly festival. The afternoon is set to feature interactive activities, food vendors and more. Performances include live music, dance and drumming from the Alphabet Rockers, Duniya Dance and Drum, Mbira dzaSoko, Fua Dia Kongo, Nkan and the Faraya Band, Mufaro weDzimbahwe and Michele’s Soul Line Dance.
Noon-5 p.m. Saturday, June 13. Chochenyo Park, 2430 Encinal Ave., Alameda. 510-865-5060. www.rhythmix.org
Dirtybird: ‘Back to Baysics’
Another Planet Entertainment and Dirtybird Records will present an open-air, free, all-ages music daytime rave at the S.F. bayfront plaza — now minus its somewhat controversial Vaillancourt Fountain. The program features live DJ dance sets from Dirtybird artists Justin Jay, J.Phlip, Kevin Knapp, Mat.Joe and guests to be announced. There will be food, drinks and merchandise vendors and the Embarcadero Plaza Padel Ball courts will be open for use, with reservations.
1-5 p.m. Saturday, June 13. Reservations required. Embarcadero Plaza, S.F. www.apeconcerts.com
A large crowd attends Dirtybird: Back to Baysics daytime rave at Embarcadero Plaza In San Franciscoon Sunday, July 21, 2024.
Scott Strazzante/The Chronicle
Novato Art, Wine & Music Festival
Kick off summer with a weekend of live music, local art, wine and relaxed summery vibes in downtown Novato. The annual admission-free street fair turns busy Grant Avenue into a lively celebration, with a vending marketplace, wine and craft beer tastings, family-friendly activities and two full days of live performances on multiple stages. Catch sets from Bay Area bands including Pop Fiction, Crying Uncle, Pardon the Interruption and Danny Click & the Hell Yeahs.
11 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday, June 13; 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday, June 14. Grant Avenue, between Redwood Blvd. and Seventh St., Novato. www.novatochamber.com
San Anselmo Live on the Avenue
This small North Bay town goes big on summertime weekends with a free downtown event highlighting live music on two main stages, children’s activities, late shopping and dining.
6-8:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday. June 20-Sept. 12. Creek Park and Town Hall, 525 San Anselmo Ave., San Anselmo. 415-258-4640. www.liveontheavenue.org
Attendees watch a performance from California Jazz Conservatory artists during a past Fillmore Jazz Festival in San Francisco. This year it is scheduled to happen on July 4-5.
Jessica Christian/The Chronicle
Fillmore Jazz Festival
San Francisco’s historic Fillmore district will once again host its legacy jazz festival, bringing two days of live music, food vendors and street-fair energy to one of the city’s most storied cultural corridors. Long billed as the West Coast’s largest admission-free jazz festival, the annual event will transform Fillmore Street into an open-air concert venue with performances on multiple stages featuring Bay Area and touring jazz artists including June Cavlan, Kim Nalley, Freddie Bryant, Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers, Mission Delirium, Tammy Hall and others.
10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, July 4-5. Fillmore St., between Jackson and Eddy Streets, S.F. www.fillmorejazzfest.com
18th Annual Sugartown Festival
Celebrate summer in the heart of historic Crockett with a free, family-friendly street festival. Enjoy live music, local artisan vendors, food trucks, a beer garden and activities for all ages. Local performers scheduled include the Billy Martini Show, Terry Hanck Band and ZZ Top tribute band Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers. Dog-friendly and full of community spirit, the beloved East Bay tradition offers a full day of summer fun.
11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday, July 19. Rolph and Pomona Streets, Crockett. www.sugartownfestival.com
Derby sports a blue mohawk while competing in the World Dog Surfing Championships in Pacifica, 2023.
Noah Berger/Special to The Chronicle
World Dog Surfing Championships
Watch pups hang ten and compete in catching waves with their human friends at Pacifica State Beach. Scheduled activities include a dog surfing competition, a pet wellness fair, mobile pet adoptions, a beach dog fashion show and a surf dog village area.
9 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 1. Linda Mar, Pacifica State Beach, 5000 Pacific Coast Hwy., Pacifica. www.surfdogchampionships.com