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Free First Thursdays at SF’s Museum of Craft and Design

Every 1st Thursday
Thursday, January 1, 2026 - 10:00 am to 5:00 pm | Cost: FREE*
*Free Admission every First Thursday

Museum of Craft and Design | 2569 Third Street, San Francisco, CA 94107

Free / RSVP

Free First Thursdays at SF’s Museum of Craft and Design

There’s no better time to visit the Museum of Craft and Design than on their Free First Thursdays.

Committed to making art, craft, and design accessible to everyone the Museum of Craft and Design is Free on the First Thursday of every month. . 

Museum of Craft and Design’s Free First Thursdays
Every First Thursday | 10am to 5pm
Museum of Craft and Design
2569 Third Street (between 22nd and 23rd), San Francisco
RSVP | Free Admission

The MCD is closed on New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Day, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, July 4-5, Labor Day, Indigenous People’s Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas Day.

2025 Free First Thursday Dates*

  • June 5, 2025
  • July 3, 2025
  • August 7, 2025
  • September 4, 2025
  • *October 2, 2025 – Closed for exhibition installation
  • November 6, 2025
  • December 4, 2025

*Please note that in addition to major holidays, the museum may be closed for exhibition changeovers so please check their schedule before attending.

Special Exhibitions for 2025

Beau McCall: Buttons On!
May 10 – September 14, 2025

Buttons On! marks the first-ever retrospective for artist, Beau McCall. Proclaimed by American Craft magazine as “The Button Man,” McCall creates wearable and visual art by hand-sewing clothing buttons onto mostly upcycled fabrics, materials, and objects. Buttons On! showcases pieces from McCall’s nearly forty-year career, the debut of several new works, and select archival material.

Visitors will experience McCall’s button-embellished plethora of wearable art including jackets, vests, yokes, shorts, aprons, sneakers, jewelry, and durags; visual art such as a 450-pound cast iron bathtub, a life-size Kool-Aid Man, and an installation of over 100 jars of buttons; mostly never-before-seen archival materials documenting McCall’s career and evolution; and a few select items of McCall’s button-less works that spotlight his versatility and boundless creativity.

A Roadmap to Stardust
May 10 – September 14, 2025

Drawing on antiquarian images of the heavens, origin stories, and myths of early civilizations, A Roadmap to Stardust is a modern inquiry into the cosmos and humankind’s eagerness to explore distant planets. Astronomy, the most ancient of the natural sciences, is entwined with the religious, mythological, cosmological, and astrological beliefs of prehistory. While humans have looked to the stars for millennia, future stargazing may take on a more urgent tone as an escape from Earth’s changing climate.

General Admission Prices

Museum members: Free
General admission: $10.00
Students with ID: $8.00
Seniors (65 and older): $8.00
Children (through age 12): Free

North American Reciprocal Museum (NARM) member and a Blue Star Museum. *MCD offers free admission to our nation’s active-duty military personnel (including National Guard), veterans, first responders, and their families. As part of the SF Museums for All program, visitors who are part of Medi-Cal or Cal Fresh programs can get 4 free admission passes each visit.

Disclaimer: Please double check event information with the event organizer as events can be canceled, details can change after they are added to our calendar, and errors do occur.


Cost: FREE*
*Free Admission every First Thursday
Categories: *Top Pick*, Art & Museums, Free Museum Day, In Person, Sponsored
Address: 2569 Third Street, San Francisco, CA 94107

Thursday, January 1, 2026

7:30 am   Free Admission Day at SF Botanical Garden for New Year’s Day 2026  FREE*
*Free on the 2nd Tuesday of the month, on Thanksgiving, Christmas Day, New Year's Day, and daily from 7:30-9 am
All Day   SF’s 12 ft. Tall “Sugar Castle” at the Westin St. Francis (Nov. 26-Jan. 2)  FREE
All Day   SF’s Holiday Ice Skating Session at Union Square (New Year’s Day)  $22
10:00 am   13th Annual “First Day” Hike at Jack London Stat Park (North Bay)  $15*
*$15 plus $10 per vehicle park entry fee
11:00 am   Cancelled: Free First Thursdays at Berkeley Art Museum  FREE*
*Free admission to galleries. Film programs are excluded. No advanced tickets required, but subject to capacity limits
11:00 am   San Jose’s New Year’s Day “Skate Under the Palms” Ice Skating  $21*
*$21 includes skate rentals
12:00 pm   SFMOMA’s “Free First Thursdays” Free Museum Day for Locals  FREE*
*Residents of the nine Bay Area counties are invited to spend a day at the museum on us
12:00 pm   New Year’s (& Final) Day at San Jose’s “Christmas in the Park”  FREE*
*Free, but donations are accepted
1:00 pm   Free New Year’s Day 2026 Huge Sand Art-Making at Ocean Beach (SF)  FREE*
*Open to all
3:00 pm   Free SF Chamber Orchestra Concert on New Year’s Day (Palo Alto)  FREE*
*Tickets/RSVPs NOT required but it helps us to know you're planning to come. Supporting Members may enter up to an hour before downbeat for first choice seating. General Admission begins at 2:45pm.
4:30 pm   New Year’s Day at Oakland Zoo’s “Glowfari” 2025 Lights Festival  $30.75*
*Adult admission tickets start at $30.75; The Zoo is using dynamic pricing, so ticket prices will vary based on date and time and purchase date. Buy early. Tickets do sell out in advance.
5:00 pm   PIER 39’s Dazzling 60′ Tree Lighting Show (New Year’s Day)  FREE
5:00 pm   New Year’s Day at “Lightscape”: Immersive Holiday Light Trail  $32*
*Adult tix start at $32
5:00 pm   SF’s Epic “Photosynthesis” Light Show | Conservatory of Flowers  FREE*
*Free to watch from outside the building.
5:00 pm   SF’s Free DFT Monthly Block Party: “Downtown First Thursdays” (2026)  FREE*
*Free with RSVP
5:00 pm   SF’s DFT New Year’s Day: “Downtown First Thursdays” (2026)  FREE*
*FREE with RSVP
6:00 pm   SF’s 2025 Macy’s Union Square Great Christmas Tree (Final Night)  FREE
6:00 pm   Lower Polk / TL Art Walk | Trendyloin  FREE
7:00 pm   Hecklers Welcome: SF’s First Stand-Up Comedy Show That Invites Heckling  FREE*
*Free with RSVP
9:00 pm   16th & Mission Open Mic (w/out a mic)  FREE*
*Absolutely free for all!
9:00 pm   Every Thursday: “Inner Circle” Dance Party at White Rabbit (SF)  FREE*
*Inner Circle is always Free with RSVP
9:30 pm   Sadderday: An Emo/Pop-Punk/Screamo Dance Party | SF  FREE
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