November in San Francisco opens with Día de los Muertos and Election Day in the first three days, then turns to the holiday season: two outdoor ice rinks open on November 4, ZooLights starts on November 6, and the Great Dickens Christmas Fair opens on November 21. Thanksgiving is Thursday, November 26. The city has also asked residents to get ready for El Niño storms that officials say could arrive this month.
Here is what is happening in San Francisco in November 2026, with the dates and costs we have been able to verify from first-party and published sources.
Día de los Muertos and Election Day
Tenderloin Street Fair Día de Muertos, Sunday, November 1. A free street fair at 150 Golden Gate Ave. from 2pm to 8pm with a main stage, a lucha libre stage, ofrendas and food vendors.
Day of the Dead procession, Monday, November 2. The 45th annual procession starts at 7pm at Bryant and 22nd streets and moves onto 24th Street toward Mission Street. Free. Our Día de los Muertos 2026 guide has the route, transit and the other events that week, including the San Francisco Symphony’s Día de los Muertos concert on Saturday, November 7.
In Their Name: Día de Los Muertos, to November 20. SOMArts’ 27th annual altar exhibition is open at 934 Brannan St. with free gallery admission, closing with a reception and drag show on November 20. See our exhibition preview.
Election Day, Tuesday, November 3. San Francisco’s ballot includes Proposition G, a measure to reopen the Great Highway through Sunset Dunes to cars on weekdays. Our explainer on the measure covers what a yes or no vote would do. For City Hall Voting Center hours, the 37 drop boxes and mail ballot timing, see our guide to voting on November 3.
Ice Rinks, Lights and Holiday Fairs
Union Square holiday ice rink, from November 4. The rink at 333 Post St. runs daily through January 18, 2027, with $22 admission for adults and $17 for kids 8 and under, skates included. Opening night is November 4 from 5pm to 7pm. Our Union Square rink guide has session times and theme nights.
Fisherman’s Wharf ice rink, from November 4. A 6,300-square-foot outdoor rink opens on the Wharf the same day. See our Fisherman’s Wharf rink report.
ZooLights, November 6 to January 3. The San Francisco Zoo’s light show runs Wednesday through Sunday evenings, with tickets at $30 for adults and $21 for children. See our ZooLights guide.
Great Dickens Christmas Fair, from November 21. The fair runs five weekends, November 21 to December 20, plus the Friday after Thanksgiving (November 27), from 10am to 6pm at the Cow Palace Exhibition Halls, 2600 Geneva Ave. in Daly City. Tickets are sold only at dickensfair.com, with no box office at the door.
Museums: What Opens and What’s On
Opening: Azzedine Alaïa: Sculpting Fashion opens at the Legion of Honor on November 21 and runs through April 11, 2027; see our exhibition preview. The same day, SFMOMA opens Sarah Sze: Forever is Composed of Nows, a light, sound and video commission in the Floor 1 atrium that is free to visit.
Still running: Vishnu’s Cosmic Ocean at the Asian Art Museum to January 25, 2027, included with general admission. New Work: Raven Chacon on SFMOMA’s Floor 6. Syd Mead: Future Pastime at the Transamerica Pyramid Annex Gallery, 535 Washington St., to December 17. Treasures of the Pharaohs at the de Young through January 31, 2027, ticketed separately.
Free and on view: relics of St. Francis of Assisi and St. Clare are at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption on Gough Street through November 28; see our report on the relics. In Alamo Square Park, the 20-foot sculpture Axis Mundi is on view for about a year.
Reopening: the Mission Branch Library at 24th and Bartlett reopens on Saturday, November 14 with a restored 24th Street entrance, a teen space and a larger children’s room. See our library report.
Opera and Theater
San Francisco Opera. The Marriage of Figaro runs at the War Memorial Opera House from October 31 to November 29, conducted by Sebastian Weigle in his company debut, per San Francisco Opera. November performances fall on the 3rd, 7th, 10th, 13th, 15th, 18th, 21st, 27th and 29th.
Oh, Mary! at the Curran, through November 1. The tour’s last San Francisco performances are on the first day of the month, with rush seats at the box office two hours before each show. See our rush ticket details.
Food, Shopping and Things to Do Indoors
T&T Supermarket opens at 2675 Geary Blvd. on Thursday, November 5, at 9am. The store is on the upper level of City Center at Geary and Masonic, in the former Best Buy space, with a hot food bar, a sushi counter, a bakery, live seafood and the chain’s first T&T Cafe in the U.S., according to SFist and The Shelby Report. Our T&T opening preview has the departments, San Jose prices and Muni lines.
Ripley’s Believe It or Not! at 175 Jefferson St. has its last full month. The museum closes on December 1, with $19.67 admission on Thursdays until then and $1.50 adult admission on the final day. See our Ripley’s closing report.
California Climbing Collective, the bouldering gym at 1264 Folsom St. in SoMa, plans to start selling $25 day passes in November. See our report on the gym.
Getting Around: Closures and Changes
Daylight saving time ends at 2am on Sunday, November 1, so sunset moves an hour earlier.
Alcatraz Island is closed to visitors from October 26 while crews replace two ferry dock pilings, with repairs expected to be finished by November 18. See our Alcatraz closure report before you book.
Beach Street bikeway. A two-way separated bikeway opened on Beach Street between Van Ness Avenue and Columbus Avenue in Fisherman’s Wharf on October 26. Our Lyft Bike report has the route and bikeshare prices.
Southbound US-101 through the Hospital Curve closes from 11pm Friday, November 6, to 6am Monday, November 9, between 17th Street and Cesar Chavez, the weekend Caltrans says finishes the repaving. Our US-101 closure report lists the closed on-ramps and ways to reach SFO that weekend.
Highway 37 closes again for the weekend of November 13 to 15 as Caltrans shifts traffic for its flood work between Vallejo and Sears Point. See our Highway 37 post for the detour routes.
Landline coaches from Sonoma County Airport to SFO start November 17, with eight daily trips for $55 and TSA screening done in Santa Rosa. See our Landline report.
Powell Street. Construction on the Powell Street rebuild between Market and Geary, around the cable car turnaround, is set for this fall. Our Powell Street update covers the schedule.
Weather and El Niño
Mayor Daniel Lurie declared a local emergency on October 23 so city departments can buy flood supplies faster, and officials said storms could arrive as soon as November. Our report on what the emergency declaration changes has the city’s checklist, and our El Niño prep guide covers free sandbags and flood maps. High tides already closed part of the Embarcadero sidewalk and bike lane near Pier 14 on October 27. The first king tides of the season are predicted for November 24 to 26; see our king tide dates. If rain cancels outdoor plans, the museums above and the SOMArts altar exhibition are indoor alternatives.
Looking Ahead to December
Ripley’s closes on December 1, Syd Mead: Future Pastime closes on December 17, and the Dickens Fair’s last day is December 20. In Potrero Hill, Bottom of the Hill’s current owners play their final shows December 26 to 31 before a new owner takes over in 2027.
For more, see our guides to things to do in San Francisco, the main attractions for first-timers, and what is on this week.
Photo: Al83tito, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.
