Choose your location
Sun / May 19
Ethnic Festival
May 19 Hakone Estate and Gardens (Saratoga, CA) ... more Culture hounds from all over the Bay head to the annual Hakone Matsuri Festival. Held on a day in May, the 2013 Hakone Matsuri Festival takes place at the Hakone Estate and Gardens
21000 Big Basin WayArts Festival / Food Festival
May 18–20 Downtown Campbell (Campbell, CA) ... more New Orleans might be thousands of miles away from San Francisco, but that doesn’t stop Bay Area residents from partying with the same spirit as their brothers and sisters in
Campbell, CA 95008Ethnic Festival
May 18–19 Live Oak Park (Berkeley, CA) ... more Held annually since 1983, the Himalayan Fair in Berkeley is a vast marketplace with more than 100 privately owned shops selling goods at booths, several food vendors featuring Tibetan
1301 Shattuck Avenue
May 19 Fourth Street at Hearst Avenue (Berkeley, CA) ... more The free Jazz on Fourth is an annual benefit music festival that raises funds for the Berkeley High School jazz program. First held in 1996, the event has collected more than $150
Berkeley, CA 94710Conference / Convention
May 18–19 San Mateo County Event Center ... more Maker Faire Bay Area is an annual celebration of innovation and creativity held in May at the San Mateo County Event Center in San Mateo, CA. Located a half hour south of San Francisco
2495 South Delaware StreetFilm Festival / Arts Festival
May 18–26 Center for Sex & Culture ... more Kinky guys and gals of all sexual preferences head to the San Francisco Sex Worker Film & Arts Festival in the Bay Area every May. The San Francisco Sex Worker Film & Arts
1349 Mission StreetFestival
May 15–19 Yoshi's Oakland (Oakland, CA) ... more Founded in 1986 by aspiring comedian Tony Spires, the Bay Area Black Comedy Competition & Festival has become one of the largest live showcases of urban comedians in the world
510 Embarcadero West
Oakland, CA 94607
Festival
May 17–19 Yoshi's Oakland (Oakland, CA) ... more Founded in 1986 by aspiring comedian Tony Spires, the Bay Area Black Comedy Competition & Festival has become one of the largest live showcases of urban comedians in the world
510 Embarcadero West
Oakland, CA 94607
Festival / Music Festival
May 20–27 Vacaville ... more Every year in May in California, Vacaville residents put their sun-block on and happily head outside to the Vacaville Fiesta Days. Vacaville Fiesta Days provides summer fun for the
California 95688Festival / Arts Festival
May 1 through Oct 27 Yerba Buena Gardens ... more The Yerba Buena Gardens Festival celebrates arts and culture with free community programming that seeks to enhance the quality of parks and open spaces in the San Francisco Bay Area
772 Howard Street
San Francisco, CA 94103
Fair / Carnival / Street Fair
May 23–27 Cal Expo (Sacramento, CA) ... more The 2013 Sacramento County Fair is a fun Memorial Day Weekend activity for the entire family! Established in 1937, the festival brings in nearly 90,000 attendees. Participants enjoy
1600 Exposition BoulevardArts Festival
May 23–25 ... more The SF Offside Festival celebrates the diversity and creativity of Bay Area jazz, bringing attention to homegrown talent in an effort to build a larger audience for the local jazz
Throughout the city
The Legendary Boonville Beer Festival
Beer Festival
Every year in May
Uncorked! San Francisco Wine Festival
Festival / Wine Festival
Every year in May
Tiburon Wine Festival
Wine Festival
Every year in May
Livermore Wine Country Festival
Wine Festival
Every year in May
Shit Kicking Memorial Day Outdoor Festival ...
Music Festival
Every year in May | Next: May 27, 2013 3:00 pmAdd to Calendar
Sacramento Music Festival
Music Festival
Every year in May | Next: May 24–27, 2013Add to Calendar
SF Offside Festival
Arts Festival
Every year in May | Next: May 23–25, 2013Add to Calendar
Hawaiian May Day Festival
Holiday Event / Arts Festival
Every year in May
A Fair to Remember
Festival / Street Fair
Once a month from May to October | Next: Jun 16, 2013Add to Calendar
Bottle Rock Music & Arts Festival
Arts Festival
Every year in May
Jazz on Fourth
Music Festival
Every year in May | Next: May 19, 2013 12:00 pmAdd to Calendar
Hakone Matsuri Festival
Ethnic Festival
Every year in May | Next: May 19, 2013 11:00 amAdd to Calendar
San Francisco Sex Worker Film & Arts Festival
Film Festival / Arts Festival
Every other year in May | Next: May 18–26, 2013Add to Calendar
Morgan Hill Mushroom Mardi Gras
Party / Festival
Every year in May | Next: May 25–26, 2013Add to Calendar
SF International Film Festival
Film Festival
Held each spring for 15 days
Boogie on the Bayou
Arts Festival / Food Festival
Every year in May | Next: May 18–20, 2013Add to Calendar
Uncorked! San Francisco Wine Festival
Festival / Wine Festival
Every year in May
Moodtu Fest
Music Festival
Every year in May | Next: May 25, 2013Add to Calendar
Asian Heritage Street Celebration
Ethnic Festival
Every year in May
Harmony Sweepstakes A Cappella Festival
Music Festival
Every year in May
Triple Rock: Firkin-Gravity Beer Festival
Beer Festival
Every year in April
San Francisco Cinco De Mayo Festival
Festival / Holiday Event
Every year in May
California Rejuvenation Festival
Music Festival
Every year in May
Vacaville Fiesta Days
Festival / Music Festival
Every year in May | Next: May 20–27, 2013Add to Calendar
Indieland
Music Festival / DJ Event
Every year in May | Next: May 25, 2013 7:00 pmAdd to Calendar
San Francisco Popfest
Music Festival
Every Memorial Day weekend | Next: May 24–26, 2013Add to Calendar
Healdsburg Jazz Festival
Music Festival
Every year in May | Next: May 31–Jun 9, 2013Add to Calendar
Yerba Buena Gardens Festival
Festival / Arts Festival
Every year from May to October | Next: May 1 through Oct 27, 2013Add to Calendar
Whole Earth Festival
Festival / Arts Festival
Every year in May
Funk out with R.O.C.K.
Music Festival / Party
Every year in May or June | Next: May 31, 2013 8:00 pmAdd to Calendar
San Francisco Green Film Festival
Film Festival
Every year in May/June | Next: May 30–Jun 5, 2013Add to Calendar
Bay Area Black Comedy Competition & Festival
Festival
Every year in May | Next: May 15–19, 2013Add to Calendar
San Francisco Carnaval
Arts Festival / Parade
Every year in May | Next: May 25–26, 2013Add to Calendar
Himalayan Fair
Ethnic Festival
Every year in May | Next: May 18–19, 2013Add to Calendar
How Weird Street Faire
Arts Festival
Every year in April or May
Norway Day Festival
Ethnic Festival
Every year in May
No one, no matter who they are or where they come from, will ever be able to say there aren’t a whole mess of festivals in San Francisco. The city by the bay seems to have a big celebration or parade popping up every week all over town, and chances are good that no matter where your particular tastes lie, you’ll be able to find an SF festival of interest.
The city’s gay pride festival alone attracts more than half-a-million people, and features live entertainment, guest speakers and hundreds of booths selling everything from rainbow flags to…you put that WHERE???
The annual 12K Bay to Breakers may be an intense race for some, but it’s more of a crazy parade for most participants who show up in full costume – or wearing nothing at all – to run from the Bay Bridge to the edge of Golden Gate Park, where the Footstock music festival then takes over.
Apart from having a name pretty much perfect for this eccentric city, The How Weird Street Faire in May is a creative showcase of music, performance art, and excellent exotic food that will entice hungry attendees of even the sanest demeanor, while the Fillmore Street Jazz Festival and North Beach Jazz Festival blanket San Francisco in bebop in July.
From waterfront fireworks and the Ghirardelli Square Chocolate Festival along Fisherman’s Wharf to the bondage-laden Folsom Street Fair to Oktoberfest by the Bay, San Francisco festivals cater to the extreme, the moderate, and everyone in-between.