The music festival coincides with Folsom Street Fair and a packed weekend of events at Bay Area clubs.

Sep 23, 2026

Updated 12:19 pm PT

Festival attendees dance late into the night as Justice performs at Portola Music Festival in San Francisco on Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024. (Estefany Gonzalez for KQED)

Portola Music Festival returns to San Francisco’s Pier 80 on Sept. 26 and 27, showcasing the Bay’s dance and electronic music scene among a huge, international lineup that features  Kelela, Zara Larsson, Swedish House Mafia and more.

Channel Tres performs at Outside Lands on Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024. (Estefany Gonzalez for KQED)

Saturday, Sept. 26

The drag queens will be outside for Folsom Street Fair. Brunch Queens at Mayes Oyster House will feature RuPaul’s Drag Race stars Hershii LiqCour Jete, Heidi N Closet and Honey Davenport, alongside Tila Pia and host Aurris Garcon.

Vanessa Vanjie Mateo, Trinity The Tuck, Aquaria, Heidi N Closet and Sugar arrives at the The Abbey’s 35th Anniversary at The Abbey Food & Bar on May 20, 2026 in West Hollywood, California. (Steve Granitz/FilmMagic)

If drag and leather aren’t exactly your thing, Earthling, the experimental outdoor listening party, will be in Golden Gate Park, merging out-there electronic production with nature. Uhlmann Johnson Wilkes, The Space Lady, Dream Crease and W.A.L.A. will fill the Elk Glen Meadow with ambient sound.

If you’re looking to dance, Juke WRLD is taking over Mission District staple El Rio. DJs Twoseven, Mars Kasei, Tha Nxxt Step, New Juicy and DJ Ari B will spin Jersey and Baltimore club, ghettotech from Detroit and footwork from Chicago.

SXTPS, a body-positive dance party dedicated to Black and brown queer people, will have the dance floor moving at DNA Lounge for a Folsom pre-party with DJ Kidd, Iloveducky and Charles Hawthorne. Bringing the underground sounds of Black queer communities from New York, L.A. and Chicago to San Francisco, anything goes “as long as it’s gay and Black as fuck,” according to the organizers.   

Singer Julieta Venegas performs during a concert at Escenario GNP on May 29, 2026 in Monterrey NL, Mexico. (Medios y Media/Getty Images)

Sunday, Sept. 27

If you’re craving something slower after all that partying, Bar Shiru in Oakland will host their Silent Sunday listening session, playing Stevie Wonder’s Songs in the Key of Life on their hi-fi speakers. This could be a much-needed break from all the dance and electronic music pumping through the streets. 

Sunday night also offers some solid concert options: Chicago rapper Lucki will be at The Warfield, performing music from his Drugs R Bad album. Mexican singer and multi-instrumentalist Julieta Venegas is doing two nights at the Masonic, and the Mexican regional music band Elsabon Armado, who hail from the Central Valley, will be at the Fillmore.