This Week
in SF
The Museum of the African Diaspora reopens Wednesday after six weeks closed, the California Academy of Sciences shuts for a private event on Tuesday, and the Giants season ended Sunday, so Oracle Park is dark.
Week of September 28 - October 1, 2026. Refreshed every Sunday. See our weekend roundup for Friday to Sunday.
All Week
Free garden mornings in Golden Gate Park
The San Francisco Botanical Garden is free for everyone daily from 7:30 to 9am. The Japanese Tea Garden is free during its first hour, 9 to 10am, on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, which this week means Monday and Wednesday. One thing changes mid week: the Botanical Garden runs on summer hours through Wednesday, with last entry at 6pm, and switches to its October schedule on Thursday, when last entry moves up to 5pm. The garden closes an hour after last entry.
Photosynthesis light show at the Conservatory of Flowers
The front of the Conservatory of Flowers becomes a projection screen every night, starting 30 minutes after sunset and running about 30 minutes. The show is outdoors and free, so it runs whether or not the building is open that day. The Conservatory itself is closed on Wednesdays and otherwise runs 10am to 4:30pm with last entry at 4pm.
Ferry Plaza Farmers Market
Foodwise runs the market outside the Ferry Building on Tuesday and Thursday, 10am to 2pm, year round. Tuesday brings about 20 vendors weighted toward produce and hot lunch. Thursday is smaller, 10 to 15 vendors, and leans toward street food.
Monday, September 28
Two big museums are open on Monday
Monday is the thinnest museum day of the week in San Francisco, and two of the largest are open anyway. The Asian Art Museum runs 10am to 5pm, one of its four regular days, and closes again Tuesday and Wednesday; on view are Ha Chong-Hyun: Retrospective, which opened September 25, and Garuda in Bali. SFMOMA also runs 10am to 5pm, with adult admission at $30. The de Young and MoAD are both dark on Mondays.
Tuesday, September 29
The California Academy of Sciences is closed on Tuesday
The Academy has posted that it will be closed to the public all day Tuesday, September 29, for a private event. It is the only closure of the week in Golden Gate Park and it is easy to miss, so anyone planning the aquarium, the planetarium or the rainforest should move that visit to another day. The museum is back to its normal 9:30am to 5pm schedule on Wednesday.
People in Plazas: The Hope Collective
People in Plazas runs free lunchtime concerts in downtown plazas. Tuesday brings The Hope Collective playing neo-soul at 101 California, noon to 1pm.
Wednesday, September 30
The Museum of the African Diaspora reopens
MoAD has been closed since August 17 to install its fall 2026 and 2027 exhibitions, and it reopens Wednesday, September 30, timed to its third annual Nexus: SF/Bay Area Black Art Week. The new slate includes Liberatory Living: Protective Interiors and Radical Black Joy, What We Carry To Set Ourselves Free, and Love + Basketball: My Freedom Gotta Rim On It. Wednesday hours are 11am to 5pm. Adult admission is $15, seniors, students and educators pay $7, and children under 12 are free. More on the fall season.
Dance Outdoors with Rhythm and Motion at Yerba Buena Gardens
The Yerba Buena Gardens Festival runs a free outdoor dance class on the lawn with Rhythm and Motion, noon to 1pm. No registration and no experience are required, and it is the festival's only program during these four days; the next one is the African Arts Festival on Saturday, October 3.
People in Plazas: two plazas at lunchtime
The Faya Squad Reggae Band plays at 555 Mission and The California Bluerunners play zydeco at 425 Market. Both run noon to 1pm and both are free.
Thursday, October 1
Museum late nights on Thursday
Thursday is the long day at three museums. The Asian Art Museum runs 1 to 8pm, its one evening of the week. SFMOMA runs noon to 8pm. MoAD, open again as of Wednesday, runs noon to 8pm as well. SFMOMA and MoAD are a block apart in SoMa; the Asian Art Museum is at Civic Center. The California Academy of Sciences has no NightLife event scheduled this Thursday and closes at 5pm.
People in Plazas: Aleta Simone at Rincon Center
Aleta Simone plays Americana under the Rincon Center atrium starting at noon. The series is free and the atrium is indoors, which matters if the fog holds.
Mission Community Market
Foodwise runs a neighborhood market on Bartlett Street on Thursday afternoons, 3 to 7pm, from mid March to mid November. About 25 small farms and local businesses take part, and the market doubles CalFresh EBT benefits through Market Match.
Getting Around
A quiet week on the street. The Giants finished their season at home on Sunday, September 27, so there is no Oracle Park traffic and no ballpark crowding on the N and T lines for the first time since spring. SFMTA lists no significant closures or reroutes in the city Monday through Thursday; the 37 Corbett goes back to 30-foot buses on Monday, September 28. On BART, the elevator at 24th Street Mission is out of service through October 23, which matters if you are carrying luggage or using a wheelchair, and late night single tracking on the Yellow Line in Contra Costa County runs September 29 to October 1. Hardly Strictly Bluegrass takes over the west end of Golden Gate Park from Friday, October 2, so expect setup traffic near the polo fields by Thursday. For Friday through Sunday see our weekend roundup, and for the rest of the month our September 2026 guide.
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