August 2012 Fairs & Festivals

Summer may not be warm in San Francisco, but it certainly heats up all of the events, fairs and festivals.

August 2012 brings us the America’s Cup and the Alamo Square Flea, a chance to learn both juggling and how to ride a unicycle, street fairs and celebrations for anyone from yoga freaks and anime geeks.

Here’s Funcheap’s picks for our Top 9 Fairs & Festivals for August 2012.
Anything we missed? let us know!

Nihonmachi Street Fair
August 4-5
Enjoy everything from hip-hop performers to Hawaiian lunch plates at the 39th Annual Nihonmachi Street Fair in San Francisco’s Japantown neighborhood. So join the Bay Area’s Asian and Pacific communities for a weekend of taiko drumming, Polynesian performers, children’s crafts and much more. 

Japantown (Post St. & Laguna St., SF) | Sat, Aug. 4 & Sun, Aug. 5 | 11a-6p | FREE 

Oakland Art & Soul Festival
August 4-5
Check out everything from eclectic mixed media art to electronic dance music at the 12th Annual Oakland Art & Soul Festival, which spans 10 city blocks and features art vendors, a variety of musicians and more. This year, the festival will also be bringing in a late night party in the plaza complete with a DJ, audio-video art installations and live performances, so whether you’re more interested in digital art or dancing, there’s something for everyone at this huge celebration of the Oakland arts scene.

Downtown Oakland (1 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, Oakland) | Sat, Aug. 4 & Sun, Aug. 5 | Sat 2p-Midnight & Sun Noon-6p | $10*
*$10 advance online tickets, $5 seniors & youth (13-17), children under 12 free

2012 Olympics Big Screen Telecast from Civic Center
August 7 & August 11
The city of San Francisco hosts two Olympic Viewing Parties at Civic Center, featuring Olympic skills games, gourmet food options, kids arts and crafts, and plenty of family fun. From 9am to 4pm each day watch the action live from London (at least as live as NBC will allow) on a big screen in Civic Center.

Civic Center | Tue, Aug 7 & Sat, Aug 11 | 9a-4p | FREE

Berkeley Juggling & Unicycling Festival
August 17-19
Join the circus this summer at the Berkeley Juggling & Unicycling Festival, which is known for being three-days of community-focused circus arts performances, classes and more. In the past, the festival has offered whip-cracking workshops, juggling tutorials and a variety of vendors, so don’t miss your opportunity to finally see some “fire pros” or roll on one wheel.

Berkeley High School (1980 Allston Way, Berkeley) | Fri, Aug. 17-Sun, Aug. 19 | Fri 3p-Midnight, Sat 9a-Midnight, Sun 9a-5p | FREE*
*Free workshops, Saturday’s Public Variety Show is $15, $5 for children

Alamo Square Flea Market
August 18
The favorite of avid flea market goers, the 29th Annual Alamo Square Flea Market is back with even more oddball vendors and wacky garage sales. Spend your entire Saturday pursuing all of the antiques, vintage and artisan booths, and find anything from random kitchen knick-knacks to a swinging 60s shift.

Alamo Square (Scott St., Hayes St. & Fulton St., SF) | Sat, Aug. 18 | 9a-3p | FREE 

Caltopia
August 19-20
You don’t have to a fratstar to take advantage of all the freebies at the 10th Annual Caltopia festival sponsored by Cal Recreational Sports. Everyone from the community is welcome to come celebrate all things related to the Cal college lifestyle and enjoy a bunch of exhibitors ranging from apparel makers to art suppliers.

Recreational Sports Facility, UC Berkeley (2301 Bancroft Ave., Berkeley) | Sun, Aug. 19 & Mon, Aug. 20 | 10a-4p | FREE

 J-Pop Summit Festival
August 25-26
Get your otaku on at the 2012 J-Pop Summit Festival, which promises to be an entire weekend worth of the best anime, manga and Japanese pop culture this side of the Pacific. So chow down on some Japanese curry and enjoy the cosplay, all while taking in dance contests, live entertainment, a pop-up anime museum and much, much more.

Japantown Peace Plaza (Post St. & Buchanan St., SF) | Sat, Aug. 25 & Sun, Aug. 26 | 11a-6p | FREE

2012 America’s Cup World Series
August 21-26
Kick off the America’s Cup World Series Season 2 by watching teams from all over the world handling the challenging waters and catamarans. If you want to see the race in person, The Marina Green is the place to be, especially since you can watch it all from the special AC Village set-up, which features a big screen broadcast, live commentary, interviews and more.

AC Village, Marina Green (SF) | Tues, Aug. 21-Sun, Aug. 26 | All Day | FREE

Free Yoga Week
September 2012 – Signup Begins August 1st
Get your “om” on with National Yoga Month’s free week of yoga special. Starting August 1, potential yogis like you can register for a card that’s redeemable for an entire free week of yoga at any participating studio during the month of September, so sign up soon to spend your free week learning sun salutations, standing splits and everything in between.