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San Francisco’s Spring Festivals & Street Fairs (2025)

Look forward to St. Patrick’s Day festivities, Holi, Easter, Cherry Blossom festivals, and more!
By - posted 3/20/2025 No Comment
Union Square Alliance

Spring is blooming! Here’s a round-up of fun and fabulous spring festivals, street fairs, and the best events you can look forward to this Spring 2025.

> Please note that we’ll be continuing to update our Spring Festivals & Street Fairs Guide for 2025.

MARCH 2025

APRIL 2025

MAY 2025

The Union Square Alliance

Ocean Beach Bonfires Return for 2025

March 1 – October 31, 2025 – SF (Ocean Beach) – FREE – Gather your friends; beach bonfire season is back. For the first time in four months, it’s finally legal again to have a bonfire at Ocean Beach.

nps.gov

GG Park’s 2025 “Illuminate LIVE” Free Concert Season

March 1 – mid November – SF (Golden Gate Park) – The 2025 season has more than 125 free performances planned to celebrate the Bandshell’s 125th anniversary. Catch live music in the park every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday (plus select Saturdays) through November. The 2025 season kicks off on March 1 with a Tribute to Paul McCartney.

San Francisco Recreation and Park Department

2025 North Beach Mardi Gras Parade

March 1, 2025 – SF (North Beach) – Free to watch the parade – Get out your handkerchiefs and join Tupelo and North Star for their 13th Annual Mardi Gras 2nd Line March with by MJ’s Brass Boppers Brass Band, an authentic New Orleans singing and swinging Second Line brass band. The Second Line weaves through North Beach where the band takes the stage at Tupelo. Get yourself a party ticket ($20) for drink specials and a special menu of N’awlins staples included in the price.

North Star Cafe

SF’s 2025 Mardi Gras & Fat Tuesday Parade & Festival in the Fillmore

March 4, 2025 – Fillmore Center Plaza – FREE – Fat Tuesday in the Fillmore returns to San Francisco with a free blues concert. Celebrating Fat Tuesday in the Fillmore with great blues, Zydeco Music, a second line processional, creative costumes, good food and colorful beads, the Village Project will host this year’s annual Mardi Gras, San Francisco Style.

Reynaldo Garcia/The Skyline View via Flickr / CC BY 2.0

SF’s 2025 “Mardi Gras Crawl” Through the Mission + Festival

March 4, 2025 – All Over the Mission – FREE – Come meet your neighbors and make new friends at our 2025 Carnaval San Francisco Mardi Gras Celebration in several Mission District venues. Enjoy live samba drummers, dance performances, and lively music from soca to cumbia and rumba. Wear your costumes, masks & beads.

San Francisco Giants FanFest 2025 at Oracle Park

March 8, 2025 – SF (Oracle Park) – FREE – The San Francisco Giants host their annual FanFest at Oracle Park with live KNBR broadcasts on the field, free former-player autographs, places to take photos, walk on the field (weather permitting), self-guided tours, a kids zone, take photos with the World Series trophies and more.

Reynaldo Garcia/The Skyline View via Flickr / CC BY 2.0

Rare Total Lunar Eclipse Over San Francisco

March 13, 2025 – All Over North America – FREE – Look up to see a Total Lunar Eclipse. A total lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes entirely through Earth’s dark shadow, known as the umbra. During this event, the Moon gradually darkens before taking on a reddish hue, often called a “blood moon.” This eclipse will be visible across all of North America.

Ray Saint Germain/Bay City News

2025 Pi (π) Day Celebration at The Exploratorium

March 14, 2025 – SF (Embarcadero) – $39.95 – Exploratorium invites you to celebrate its own homegrown holiday which commemorates the never-ending ratio that helps describe circles of all sizes. Explore math-inspired activities and presentations, then join the Pi parade and eat a free piece of pie.

Visit Oakland

2025 Mexica New Year Festival in San Jose

March 14-16, 2025 – San Jose – FREE – Join the largest Azteca Mexica New Year Ceremony & Celebration in the nation with Native traditional dancers, a sunrise ceremony, arts & crafts market, and delicious food.

Calpulli Tonalehqueh Aztec Dancers Danza Azteca

SF’s “Brides of March” Wedding Dress Pub Crawl 2025

March 15, 2025 – SF (Washington Sq. Park) – FREE – Don a wedding dress and join the Brides for this annual San Francisco tradition at the 25th annual Brides of March. The party will begin with a gathering in Washington Square Park, followed by a bridal procession up Columbus Avenue, and DIY wedding receptions at the bar and restaurant parklets on Grant Avenue.

David Yu

2025 Non Stop Bhangra’s Holi Festival Of Colors

March 15, 2025 – Oakland – $20 – Join in for a one-of-a-kind Holi celebration. Welcome spring under the open sky, doused in color, enjoying delicious food & drinks, dance lessons, color fights, a kid-friendly arcade, surrounded by friends while dancing nonstop.

David Yu

2025 “FOG Holi” Festival of Colors

March 15, 2025 – Fremont – $5 – Join over 5,000+ attendees to come out to Fremont and celebrate Holi, a grand and unique festival of colors.

City of Dublin

Dublin’s 40th Annual St. Patrick’s Day Festival & Parade 2025

March 15-16, 2025 – Dublin – FREE – Where else but Dublin would you want to celebrate St Patrick’s Day. Celebrate with a festive parade; three stages of Irish music and dance; authentic Irish food and beverages; more than 250 fine arts and commercial vendors, including an Irish Marketplace; roaming leprechauns and bagpipers; carnival rides; and an Irish Tea Cottage.

City of Dublin

2025 Oakland Restaurant Week

March 20-30, 2025 – Oakland – $15* (Special menu deals likely start at $15) – Take advantage of some amazing specials from your favorite local restaurants featuring unique pre-fixe menus, new menu items, or various lunch and dinner deals.

Visit Oakland

80,000 Free Tulips Are Coming to SF’s Union Square 2025

March 22, 2025 – SF (Union Square) – FREE – More than 80,000 tulips will cover Union Square in San Francisco and you are invited to visit the square and pick your own bunch of tulips to take home for free.

The Union Square Alliance

2025 Holi Festival at City Center

March 23, 2025 – San Ramon – FREE – Celebrate Holi, the vibrant Indian spring festival of color and joy, at San Ramon’s City Center.

City Center Bishop Ranch

2025 Renegade Craft Fair Market at Fort Mason

March 29-30, 2025 – SF (Fort Mason) – FREE* ($5 suggested donation) – Shop from over 250 artists at Renegade San Francisco featuring the best craft designers, artists, and creatives from SF and beyond, plus food trucks on site.

Non Stop Bhangra
Northern California Cherry Blossom Festival

2025 St. Stupid’s Day Parade?

April 1, 2025* – SF (Downtown) – FREE – Noon – A weird and wild DIY street parade through downtown. This “wonderfully idiotic tradition” parades through San Francisco often with a doggie diner head floats, chants of “No More Chants,” silly costumes and all the meaningless fun you’d expect from a city filled with fun weirdos. *Please note that the 2025 parade details have not yet been announced (as of 3/27/25); seeing as we’re so close to the event date with no news yet, we’re skeptical it’s taking place. We’ll update the event post if we hear more info.

Edward Holmes

San Francisco Chocolate Salon and Festival 2025

April 6, 2025 – SF (Golden Gate Park) – $23 (save $2 w/ secret code FUNCHEAP24YRD) – At the International Chocolate Festival, enjoy tastings from a wide array of artisan, gourmet & premium chocolate, plus demonstrations, chef and author talks.

David Yu via Flickr

2025 Cesar Chavez Day Parade & Festival

April 12, 2025 – SF (Mission Dist.) – FREE – Be a part of the largest event honoring labor and civil rights leader Cesar E. ChavezCesar Chavez in Northern California with a parade, and big festival with live performances, a lowrider car show and more.

David Yu via Flickr

SF’s 2025 Cherry Blossom Festival

April 12-20, 2025 – SF (Japantown) – FREE – One of the largest Cherry Blossom festivals in the country, San Francisco celebrates for two weekends, April 12-13 and April 19-20, culminating in a grand parade on the final Sunday of the festival.

David Yu via Flickr

SFMOMA Free Community Day

April 13, 2025 – SF (SoMa) – FREE – Free Community Days offer free museum-wide admission to all visitors, combined with a wide range of immersive activities and performances inspired by the latest SFMOMA exhibition.

©noblige via Canva.com

Free National Parks Day 2025

April 19, 2025 – All Over USA – FREE – Celebrate the first day of National Park Week in nature with free entry to all national parks and monuments including Muir Woods and Yosemite National Park, and free admission aboard all of the historic vessels at the Hyde Street Pier of SF’s Maritime National Historical Park.

©noblige via Canva.com

SF’s World Naked Earth Day Bike Ride 2025

April 19, 2025 – SF (Rincon Park) – FREE – Be on the lookout as The World Naked Bike Ride rolls through San Francisco.

Yosemite National Park

SF’s Easter In the Park & Hunky Jesus Contest 2025

April 20, 2025 – SF (Dolores Park) – FREE – The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence host their annual Easter in the Park to crown their new 2025 Foxy Mary and Hunky Jesus.

Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, Inc.

SF’s “Bring Your Own Big Wheel” Race on Easter Sunday 2025

April 20, 2025 – SF (Potrero Hill) – FREE* ($10-20 donations are requested) – Watch dozens of contestants risk humiliation and serious injury racing their big wheels (those giant plastic tricycles from when we were kids – no rubber wheels allowed) down the crazy curvy Vermont & 20th streets – the actual curviest street in SF – on Easter Sunday, all for glory.

https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/58b7bc5017bffc11f23fe90c/1515200044283-B77M5A5V0Z5G1B54HLTP/420-ig-4.jpg

SF’s 420 Celebration at Hippie Hill 2025

April 20, 2025 – SF (Golden Gate Park) – FREE – 420 at Hippie Hill is a well-known San Francisco tradition, bringing tens of thousands of people from all over to Robin William Meadow (formerly Sharon Meadow) in Golden Gate Park to celebrate the right to use cannabis. The festival has evolved from unpermitted and unofficial to a full-blown free festival with DJs, yoga, guided meditation, ecstatic dance, a stretch session, sound healing, and more. The 2025 info has yet to be announced (the permitted 2024 festival was cancelled), but if there’s one thing you can count on, is people to show up anyway and celebrate.

420 Hippie Hill SF

2025 Lyrid Meteor Shower Peaks

April 21, 2025 – Bay Area – FREE – Look up for your chance to see The Lyrids which are known for their fast and bright meteors.

Canva Photo Unlimited License

Free Drive-Movie Night 2025

April 25, 2024 – San Jose & Concord – FREE – The West Wind Drive-In Theaters in Concord & San Jose offer a Customer Appreciation Night with music, games, and of course, free movies. Typically happens each year in April, but the 2025 date TBA (as of 3/14/25)

West Wind Drive-In and Public Market

2025 Dutch “King’s Day” Windmill Festival

April 26, 2025 – SF (Golden Gate Park) – FREE – Drape yourself in orange and head to the giant Murphy Windmill in Golden Gate Park to celebrate all things Dutch with traditional Dutch games, flea market, Dutch food, beer, music & more.

Cupertino-Toyokawa Sister Cities, Inc

San Francisco’s Annual DogFest 2025

April 26, 2025 – SF (Duboce Park) – FREE – DogFest is a mutt-tastic festival at one of the most dog-friendly parks in the city and the biggest dog event in San Francisco.

McKinley School

Cupertino Cherry Blossom Festival 2025

April 26-27, 2025 – Cupertino – FREE – Over two days, explore Japanese cultural exhibits like ikebana, swords, bonsai, Suiseki, and koi, live entertainment including Taiko drum, dancers, martial arts and live music, taste delicious Japanese cuisine, children activities and a play area with a petting zoo and pony rides, plus Japanese cultural demonstrations like tea ceremony, origami, calligraphy, and Soroban.

Pacific Inter-Club Yacht Association

2025 “Opening Day On The Bay” Boat Parade & “Blessing of the Fleet”

April 27, 2025 – SF (Marina Green) – FREE – Opening Day on the Bay marks the official start of the San Francisco boating season, and typically shows off over 100 historic workboats, fireboats, towboats, and classic and contemporary craft.

David Yu
David Yu

2025 Slavic Festival

May 2-3, 2025 – SF (Sutter Street) – $17.85 – Experience the rich traditions of Slavic culture at San Francisco’s two-day Slavic Festival held in a historic venue on Sutter Street in Lower Pacific Heights. The festival features live performances, authentic cuisine, and handcrafted goods.

Slavic Festival

2024 de Youngsters Day Out

May 4, 2024 – SF (Golden Gate Park) – FREE – Bring the family to de Young Museum for their annual free all-day celebration of the arts with a museum takeover of art activities and hands-on activities. Typically happens each year in May, but the 2025 date TBA (as of 3/14/25)

de Young Museum

2025 Yerba Buena Gardens Festival

May 10, 2025 (Season Opener with events through November typically) – SF (SoMa) – FREE – Yerba Buena Gardens Festival hosts a full lineup of free outdoor music, theater, circus, dance, poetry, and children’s programs. The Festival kicks off on Saturday, May 10, 2025 with La Santa Cecilia. Events are typically scheduled through November, but the full 2025 TBA (as of 3/20/25).

Yerba Buena Gardens Festival

2025 Taiwanese American Cultural Festival

May 10, 2025 – SF (Union Square) – FREE – The West Coast’s largest celebration of Taiwanese American culture features tasty Taiwanese cuisine in the festival food court, show-stopping performances, fun, cultural activities and crowd-favorite vendors.

TAP SF,

Hawaiian May Day Festival 2025

May 10-11, 2025 – Hayward – FREE – New for 2025, the Hawaiian May Day Festival is now two days. Join the family-friendly festival dedicated to perpetuating Native Hawaiian and Polynesian culture through arts, language, music, and dancing. New in 2025, it’s now a two-day festival.

Vincent Camacho via Unsplash

The Exploratorium’s Free Admission Day

May 12, 2024 – SF (Embarcadero) – FREE* (Pay What You Wish) – The Exploratorium opens up its doors to everyone each year to celebrate Mother’s Day. It’s typically the only “pay what you wish” day all year. Typically happens every Mother’s Day but the 2025 info TBA (as of 3/14/25)

© Exploratorium, www.exploratorium.edu / Gayle Laird

The Bay’s Huge “626 Night Market”

May 17-19, 2024 – Pleasanton (Alameda County Fairgrounds) – $5 – Inspired by the famous open-air nighttime bazaars of Asia, come ready to feast and explore 200+ food, merchandise, crafts, arts, games, music, and entertainment attractions. Typically happens each year in May, but the 2025 date TBA (as of 3/14/25)

626 Night Market

SF’s “Sundown Cinema” Film Night in the Park

May 17 – Oct. 18, 2024 – SF – FREE – This free outdoor movie series, the only one of its kind in the Bay Area, typically features seven films in seven parks across San Francisco. Typically happens each year in May, but the 2025 date TBA (as of 3/14/25)

Sundown Cinema

Bay to Breakers 2025

May 18, 2025 – SF (From Howard & Main to the Great Highway) – FREE to watch or ‘race’ unofficially – Welcome back to “Bay to Breakers,” the crown jewel of San Francisco events since 1912 with 20,000+ people racing (and 100,000+ watching) from the Bay to the Breakers at the western end of Golden Gate Park in a costumed mass of everything we love about San Francisco.

Bay to Breakers

2025 San Francisco Carnaval Festival & Parade

May 24-25, 2025 – SF (Mission Dist.) – FREE – San Francisco’s Carnaval features a free, two–day festival covering 17 blocks in the Mission District, with five main stages, 50 local performing artists, and 400 vendors, plus its Grand Parade which boasts a 60-contingent lineup, with over 3,000 artists representing the cultural heritages of Brazil, Mexico, Panama, Bolivia, Cuba, Peru, Puerto Rico, Nicaragua, Colombia, Trinidad & Tobago, Guatemala, El Salvador, and more.