October 2026

200 Channels, the SoMa party theater run by the crew behind Monarch, The Great Northern and The Pawn Shop, turns into a haunted forest for an immersive, spellbound night of performance. Book dinner at The Pawn Shop next door before or after and make it a double feature.

Three floors of working artist studios in the Mission throw their doors open for the weekend. Meet established and emerging artists, watch them work, and buy pieces straight from the people who made them. Kicks off with a Friday preview night from 6 to 9 PM, then 11 AM to 5 PM Saturday and Sunday.

San Francisco's big literary festival takes over the city for two-plus weeks of author readings, conversations and performances, with a book fair, kids' programming and the famously rowdy Lit Crawl, where readings pop up in bars and shops all over one neighborhood in a single night.

The Ruckus Revival and Disco Donutz Circus team up for a pre-Halloween dark carnival: burlesque, aerialists and contortionists, comedians, freestyle hip-hop and DJs until 2:30 AM. Costumes are strongly encouraged, with showcases for the best dressed and most deranged. Doors at 8 PM, 21+.

The Bay's annual salute to the armed forces peaks with its big weekend: the Blue Angels headlining the air show (ticketed, or catch it free from the waterfront), plus free Fleet Fest at Fisherman's Wharf and Pier 27 with ship tours, demos and live music.

Eight painters, twenty minutes each, blank canvases, and the crowd votes on the winner. This is San Francisco's championship round, so expect the city's sharpest live painters. Every finished piece hits a live auction right after, with half the sale going to the artist. Starts at 7 PM.

The season finale of an intimate Sunday daytime dance party right on the water in Sausalito. Rob Garza of Thievery Corporation, Steamy Windows and Bay Area house legend Julius Papp soundtrack the afternoon from 2 PM. 21+.

Northern California's biggest sandcastle competition turns Ocean Beach into a giant sculpture garden, with teams building on an impressive scale alongside local students. Free and all ages, with food trucks and live music, and it benefits Leap Arts in Education's work in Bay Area classrooms.

A long-running San Francisco Halloween tradition from the Sunset Sound System crew: a costumed dance party sailing the Bay with resident DJs Solar and Galen, then everyone rolls to The Great Northern to keep it going late.

Burning Man sound camp Space Cowboys throws its Halloween bash across three dance floors, with The Sponges, All Good Funk Alliance and a stack of residents and friends from 9 PM to 3 AM. Come in your wildest, spookiest, most outlandish costume.