The Chinese New Year Concert and Banquet includes a pre-concert reception at 3 p.m. with lion and ribbon dancing, tea bars, Chinese calligraphy, children’s entertainment, and “lucky” red envelopes; a 4 p.m. concert by San Francisco Symphony in Davies Symphony Hall; and a 6 p.m. dinner at Zellerbach Rehearsal Hall. Or buy only the concert tickets.
Zinfandel tasting
February 1, 2020
(begins Jan. 30)
2 miles NE
Billed as the world’s largest tasting event for a single varietal, Zinfandel Experience features hundreds of wines at multiple events, including a Grand Tasting on Saturday at Pier 27.
Watch off-road motorcycles race on dirt tracks with steep jumps, tight corners, and obstacles at AMA Supercross at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.
Seafood & wine dinner
February 1, 2020
55 miles north
Enjoy fresh seafood and Sonoma County wine at the Great Sonoma Crab & Wine Fest, plus a live auction at Sonoma County Fairgrounds in Santa Rosa.
Classic films
February 1 - 2, 2020
(begins Jan. 24)
1.6 miles SW
Noir City screens classic films that are stylish, cynical, and melodramatic at the Castro Theatre.
Brazilian dance show
February 1 - 2, 2020
Berkeley & San Francisco
Watch exotic costumed dancers celebrate the spirit of the African deity that honors the essential nature of water at Yemanjá Arts Festival.
Feb. 1 - Mission Cultural Center, S.F.
Feb. 2 - Casa de Cultura, Berkeley
Chinese New Year at the zoo
February 1 - 2, 2020
(uncertain)
7.7 miles SW
Celebrate the year of the pig by watching Chinese lion and folk dancers, and then do a scavenger hunt of animals found on the Chinese calendar during Lunar New Year at the San Francisco Zoo. The cafe will sell Asian food.
California Twilight Cruise includes two hours of romantic views on San Francisco Bay, live guitar music, a drink, and appetizers, departing from Fisherman’s Wharf.
The San Francisco Half Marathon & 5K both begin in Golden Gate Park, but the half marathon continues south to the zoo with ocean views.
Urban films
February 2 - 9, 2020
multiple locations
Organized by urban planners, SF Urban Film Fest (SFUFF) screens compelling films about cities and civic engagement to help shape urbanist ideas and improve our cities.
Uplifting play
February 2 - March 7, 2020
1 mile NE
Based on the experiences of an advice columnist, Tiny Beautiful Things is about “reaching when you’re stuck, healing when you’re broken, and finding the courage to take on the questions that have no answers” at San Francisco Playhouse.
Featuring a score that blends hip-hop, jazz, blues, rap, R&B, and Broadway tunes, Hamilton tells the story of America’s Founding Father Alexander Hamilton with amazing emotion and energy at the Orpheum Theatre.
Featuring the folkloric music style of Veracruz, the Son Jarocho Festival offers concerts, workshops, and family activities at Brava for Women In the Arts.
Cocktail party
February 7, 2020
2.4 miles NE
Try creative drinks from 12 bars, hear live music and DJ dance music, and explore exhibits during Science of Cocktails at the Exploratorium on Pier 15 for age 21+.
Book fair
February 7 - 9, 2020
10.6 miles south
Shop for a wide variety of books and paper products from 115 dealers at the California Antiquarian Book Fair at South San Francisco Conference Center.
Bird festival
February 7 - 9, 2020
34.3 miles north
Celebrate the peak of migration season with guided bird walks, self-guided walks, a wildlife expo, and an art show at San Francisco Bay Flyway Festival in Vallejo. [This event is tentative due to recent fire.]
German film festival
February 7 - 13, 2020
San Francisco & Berkeley
See films from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland at Berlin & Beyond Film Festival in S.F. at Castro Theatre and Goethe-Institut, and in Berkeley at Shattuck Cinemas.
Musical variety show (circus theme)
February 7 - 15, 2020
(8 p.m.)
0.9 miles NE
Kat Robichaud and the Darling Misfits present Circus, “a splendiferous variety show centered around magical music with a rotating cast of eccentric performers” at Alcazar Theatre.
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is an “irresistible and riotously funny musical” [New York Times] about overachievers, at Pacifica Spindrift Players Theatre.
See beautiful floats, elaborate costumes, ferocious lions, exploding firecrackers, and Miss Chinatown USA at the free Chinese New Year Parade, which begins at the corner of 2nd Street and Market Street. Free unless you reserve bleacher seats. Route map.
Scavenger hunt
February 8, 2020
(3 to 7:30 p.m.)
2.2 miles north
Solve puzzles to reach a mystery location in the family-friendly Chinese New Year Treasure Hunt, beginning at Telegraph Hill Neighborhood Center. Register in advance, and see the list of items to bring.
Chinese New Year in Oakland
February 8, 2020
(12 to 4:30 p.m.)
12.9 miles east
Family-friendly Lunar New Year Celebration and Other Asian Traditions offers lion and dragon dances, Chinese acrobatics, Vietnamese music, a magic show, a story about the Year of the Pig, K-pop dance performances, martial arts demonstrations, and a petting zoo with farm animals at Oakland Museum of California.
Family tea party
February 8, 2020
14.7 miles NE
Collect fragrant edibles in the garden, and then make tea, snacks, and pressed Valentine’s cards at A Botanical Valentine’s Day Tea at UC Botanical Garden.
Pole-dancing competition
February 8 - 9, 2020
14.6 miles south
Watch the best pole dancers in Northern California compete to go to the national finals at Golden Gate Pole Championships at Canada College Theater in Redwood City.
Tulip days
February 8 - 17, 2020
2.7 miles NW
Brighten up winter with a walk among 39,000 tulips, with or without a guide, at Tulipmania on Pier 39. Free.
Chinese food festival
February 9, 2020
0.8 miles SE
Buy Chinese food (bao buns, har gow, shumai, onion pancakes, fried chicken, fresh noodles, fried rice, and egg rolls) from 15 vendors during Dumpling Down at SoMa StrEat Food Park, with the option to buy unlimited drinks (Chinese beer & kumquat mimosas).
Sexy cabaret with poetry
February 12, 2020
(7 to 11 p.m.)
1.1 miles SE
The Poetry Brothel is “an immersive literary cabaret that fuses poetry, activism, vaudeville, burlesque, live music, visual art, magic, and mysticism” at The Great Northern for age 21+.
See who saves the underwater world from disaster in The SpongeBob Musical, which tells a story with “humor, heart, and pure theatricality” featuring the TV characters plus new music at Golden Gate Theatre.
Enjoy unlimited paella (a Spanish rice meal) with or without meat, unlimited organic beer, and flamenco guitar at Paella Fest at ThirstyBear Brewing Company.
Valentine’s Day speakeasy
February 13 - 15, 2020
2 miles NE
Strolling performers recite love sonnets, create personal poems, read tarot cards, and put on vaudeville shows at The Speakeasy: Cupid’s Arrow, which promises “an evening full of magic and romance” at 644 Broadway for age 21+.
See foreign films with no need for subtitles at the Mostly British Film Festival, from the U.K., Ireland, Australia, and India at the Vogue Theatre.
Valentine’s Day dinner
February 14, 2020
San Francisco Bay Area
OpenTable lists restaurants that offer special brunch, lunch, and dinner menus on Valentine’s Day.
Valentine’s Day cruise
February 14, 2020
2.1 miles NE
Enjoy brunch or dinner with views of the bay on the San Francisco Valentine’s Cruises from Hornblower, which depart from Pier 3 on The Embarcadero, or Berkeley.
Your group gets one dim flashlight to navigate a pitch-black haunted house during Valentine Haunt at Bayfair Center in San Leandro.
French classical music
February 14 - 16, 2020
0.1 miles SW
San Francisco Symphony performs works by three French composers (Dukas, Aaron Zigman, Saint-Saëns) led by the director of Québec Symphony Orchestra at Davies Symphony Hall.
Take a ride through wine country on the Napa Valley Wine Train for two or three hours as you enjoy a gourmet lunch or dinner with a glass of sparkling wine on the “Sweetheart Special” departing from Napa. No dinner option on Sunday.
Buy retro cocktails and dance the evening away to live music from The Ely Brothers & The Doubletake Band at Valentine’s Day Sock Hop at the Presidio Officers’ Club. Free with RSVP.
Mardi Gras party in Livermore
February 15, 2020
(7 p.m.)
45 miles SE
The Mardi Gras party has a band, dancing, a vocalist, a buffet, desserts, a no-host bar, and a silent auction at Bothwell Arts Center in Livermore.
Super hero run - San Jose
February 15, 2020
57.6 miles south
The Super Run 5K provides a cape and welcomes costumes at Almaden Lake Park.
Monster trucks
February 15 - 16, 2020
16.8 miles SE
Big trucks with big wheels create big excitement at Monster Jam in the Oakland coliseum.
East Berlin was surrounded by a wall with armed guards when Bruce Springsteen performed there for an audience of 300,000 in 1988. Born in East Berlin contrasts “the freedom of a rock concert and the captivity of an oppressive government during the time of a great historical and cultural shift” at The Creativity Theater at Yerba Buena Gardens.
Set in a toxic New York office, Gloria is a “whip-smart satire” [New York Times] about young writers competing for a book deal in the cutthroat world of publishing at A.C.T.’s Strand Theater for mature audiences.
Meet the Brewers features beer from dozens of local breweries, food trucks, live music, and local art by SJ Made at Hermitage Brewing.
Outrageous musical
February 20 - March 15, 2020
1.1 miles south
Cheer on a group of misfit but lovable unemployed steel-mill workers who bare everything to earn cash for their families in The Full Monty, live at Victoria Theatre.
Browse the displays of 100 dealers and artists selling pre-Columbian, Spanish colonial, and American Indian antique and contemporary art at the American Indian Art Show at Fort Mason.
Billed as the largest U.S. orchid show, the Pacific Orchid Exposition has 150,000 beautiful blooms and offers docent tours, vibrant exhibits, and cultivation tips at the San Francisco County Fair Building.
The Fly Fishing Show has casting demonstrations, films, classes, celebrity speakers, fly-tying materials, rods, and reels at Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton. The International Fly Fishing Film Festival (IF4) on Friday evening requires a separate ticket.
Cute cats
February 22, 2020
(2 p.m.)
1.2 miles south
Join cat lovers watching a 75-minute compilation of “the latest, best cat videos culled from countless hours of unique submissions and sourced animations, music videos, and classic internet powerhouses” during CatVideoFest at Roxie Theater.
San Jose home show
February 22 - 23, 2020
48.3 miles south
See home improvement products, services, and demonstrations at the San Jose Fall Home Show at the San Jose convention center. Repeats in February.
Model train show
February 22 - 23, 2020
52 miles south
The Great Train Show features model train layouts and hundreds of vendors, with bounce houses and riding trains for the kids at Santa Clara County Fairgrounds. Children age 11 and younger are free.
Chowder festival
February 22 - 23, 2020
73.8 miles south
Buy tasting tickets to sample clam chowder prepared by costumed chefs (amateur chefs on Saturday and professional chefs on Sunday) at Clam Chowder Cook Off along the boardwalk in Santa Cruz.
Cirque in Berkeley
February 23, 2020
(3 p.m.)
13.6 miles NE
Cirque Éloize of Canada performs its new show “Hotel” with characaters that include a juggling janitor, a hapless tightrope-walking bellhop, and a starlet flying through the air on a trapeze at Zellerbach Hall in Berkeley.
The New Year Festival has a lion dance at noon, a children’s parade at 1:30 p.m., a magician, music, martial arts, calligraphy, Chinese food for sale, and vendors at Hakone Estate and Gardens in Saratoga.
Independent music festival
February 24 - March 1, 2020
San Francisco & Oakland & Berkeley
Noise Pop Festival is an indie music, arts, and film festival, with a focus on emerging talent.
Mardi Gras - Mission District
February 25, 2020
(6 to 10 p.m.)
1.5 miles south
“Enjoy live samba drummers, dancers winding their way through the party, and lively music from salsa and soca to cumbia and rumba at Carnaval SF Mardi Gras Fat Tuesday Kick-Off Celebration at 20 venues in the Mission District. Free.
Celebrity technologist
February 27, 2020
(8 p.m.)
13.6 miles NE
Popular New York Times columnist David Pogue leads a humorous “journey through the pleasures and pitfalls of our technological world” at Zellerbach Hall in Berkeley.
Enjoy wine, craft beer, appetizers, and an auction to support the YMCA at Pour Your Support at San Francisco War Memorial & Performing Arts Center.
Italian wine tasting
February 29, 2020
(3 to 6 p.m.)
3.9 miles NW
Sample wine from 90 top Italian vintners at the walk-around event Great Wines of Italy at the Golden Gate Club in the Presidio. Lower price for ages 21 to 28.
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