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This Weekend
in SF
Three street festivals run on Saturday, one in the Mission and two in the Richmond, San Francisco Opera opens its season and then sings free in Golden Gate Park on Sunday, a dozen pianos sit out in the Botanical Garden all weekend, and BART cancels the Green Line both weekend days.
Friday, September 11 to Sunday, September 13, 2026. Refreshed twice a week. For Monday through Thursday, see Things to Do in San Francisco This Week. For the rest of the month, see our September 2026 guide.
Friday, September 11
BeChinatown Night Market on Grant Avenue
The free night market runs on the second Friday of the month from May through October, and September 11 is the September date. It closes five blocks of Grant Avenue between California and Pacific for food stalls, outdoor dining, beer and wine gardens, lion dancing, and live performances, with Chinatown bakeries and snack shops among the vendors. Our guide to the night market has the vendor list. Take BART or Muni Metro to Montgomery and walk up, or take the 30 Stockton or the 1 California.
Union Square Dances: Country Western Night
Union Square Park runs free outdoor dancing on Friday evenings, and the style rotates through the season. The park lists September 11 as country western with Sundance Saloon. Each night opens with a lesson and then moves to open dancing, so no partner and no experience are needed. Powell Street station and the Powell Street cable car turnaround are both a block away. The park notes that its program schedule can change, so check the park programs page before you go.
Flower Piano Plays Its First Weekend
Sunset Piano has put more than a dozen tuned grand pianos across the 55 acres of the San Francisco Botanical Garden for its eleventh year, September 10 to 20. About 130 individuals and ensembles are booked, and anyone can sit down and play when no performance is scheduled. This is the first full weekend of the run. Entry is included with regular garden admission, and the separate Flower Piano Lounge performances are ticketed, so check the garden site for admission and ticketing before you go. Our guide to the festival covers how the schedule works.
Giants Host the Padres at Oracle Park
San Francisco opens a three game series against San Diego on Friday night and plays through the weekend, with day games Saturday and Sunday. First pitch is 7:15pm Friday, 1:05pm Saturday, and 4:20pm Sunday. The Muni Metro N Judah and T Third both stop at the ballpark, and King Street closes to eastbound traffic around first pitch and again from the seventh inning, so transit is the simpler way in.
Saturday, September 12
Fiesta de las Americas on 24th Street
Calle 24, San Francisco's Latino Cultural District, runs its annual free street festival along the 24th Street corridor in the Mission, with local artists, nonprofits, and small businesses. SFMTA puts the festival hours at 11am to 6pm and the footprint on 24th Street between Treat and Alabama, with Harrison between 23rd and 25th and the adjacent alleys also closed. Calle 24 still listed the music and youth stage running orders as coming soon this week, so check calle24sf.org for the schedule. Take BART to 24th Street Mission and walk east.
Richmond District Autumn Moon Festival on Clement Street
The Richmond version of the Mid-Autumn Festival takes over four blocks of Clement Street for its 10th year, with more than 100 local vendors and community booths, live performances, family activities, a petting zoo, raffles, and a giant mooncake cutting ceremony. The organizers are adding hot food vendors for the first time this year. This is a separate event from the Chinatown Autumn Moon Festival on Grant Avenue, which falls a week later on September 19 and 20. The 1 California, 2 Clement, and 38 Geary all serve the area.
Art Walk SF and Far Out Fest on Balboa Street
Balboa Village Merchants close five blocks of Balboa Street in the Outer Richmond for a block party of live music, local artists, makers, and neighborhood food and drink vendors, run with Art Walk SF. SFMTA puts the event hours at noon to 5pm and expects up to 1,500 people. This one was added to the SFMTA calendar this week, so it is a late addition to the weekend. The 31 Balboa and 18 46th Avenue both reroute around it. It sits about 20 blocks west of the Clement Street festival, so the two Richmond events can be combined on foot or on the 31.
Ferry Plaza Farmers Market
The Saturday market wraps around the Ferry Building with more than 100 vendors, the largest of the three weekly days Foodwise runs there, with produce, food makers, and brunch and lunch stands. It has operated since 1993 and runs year round. If you want the cheaper and larger version, the Alemany Farmers Market opens at 7am the same morning at 100 Alemany Boulevard. The Ferry Building sits at the end of the F Market line and a short walk from Embarcadero station.
Kite By The Bay at Candlestick Point
California State Parks runs this free afternoon at Candlestick Point State Recreation Area with Faces SF and Parks California, now in its fourth year. Kites are decorated and flown on the shoreline lawn, and there are learn to fish sessions, family activity tables from the Randall Museum and the Exploratorium, a DJ, and a taco truck. Registration on Eventbrite is free and covers the food tickets. This is the one weekend event on the southeast waterfront, and the wind off the bay there is reliable. Take the T Third to Sunnydale and transfer, or drive in from Harney Way.
Free Shakespeare in the Park Closes at McLaren Park
The San Francisco Shakespeare Festival plays Antony and Cleopatra at the Jerry Garcia Amphitheater in McLaren Park, directed by Katja Rivera, in its 44th season of free outdoor Shakespeare. Saturday and Sunday are the last two performances at McLaren before the production moves to Sue Bierman Park downtown on September 19, 20, 26, and 27. The show runs about 90 minutes with no intermission. No tickets or reservations are needed and seating is first come, first served, so bring a low chair or a blanket. The festival posts a content warning for theatricalized battle sounds, depictions of violence and suicide, and threatened self harm.
San Francisco Opera Opens Its 104th Season
San Francisco Opera opens with Verdi's Simon Boccanegra at the War Memorial Opera House, Music Director Eun Sun Kim conducting. The company is selling tickets from $30 and lists further performances on September 16, 19, 22, 25, and 27. One caveat: the company's orchestra musicians said in late August that they will not play opening night without a new contract, their previous agreement having expired July 31. As of September 9 the two sides were still apart. Musicians leafleted outside the final dress rehearsal on Tuesday evening, negotiations over the Labor Day weekend produced no reported progress, and the company website says nothing about it. The musicians put management's current offer at a five year wage freeze, which they read as an effective 20 percent cut after inflation; management describes the same offer as holding earnings at current levels for five years. The Opera Ball has already been moved off this date to November 12. Check sfopera.com the day of.
Sunday, September 13
Opera in the Park at Robin Williams Meadow
The free outdoor concert that follows opening night is the part of the weekend anyone can walk up to. Eun Sun Kim conducts the San Francisco Opera Orchestra in duets, arias, and more, sung by artists from the company's 2026-27 season, among them sopranos Eleonora Buratto and Heidi Stober, tenor Joshua Guerrero, baritone Amartuvshin Enkhbat, and bass-baritone Christian Van Horn. It starts at 1:30pm and runs about two hours. There are no tickets and seating is first come, first served on the grass, so bring a blanket or a low profile lawn chair. Tarps are not allowed on the meadow. Food and drink are sold on site and four free water refill stations are set up around the meadow, but bring your own cup or bottle and leave glass at home. There is a free bike valet on the east side of the meadow from 9:30am to 5:30pm with room for 300 bicycles, and ASL interpretation at the stage. The same orchestra contract dispute applies here. The 5, 7, 21, 33, and N all serve the park.
Golden Gate Park Band: Viva Mexico
The Golden Gate Park Band, a registered San Francisco Legacy Business that has played free concerts in the park since 1882, performs Viva Mexico: Bailamos con la Musica at the Spreckels Temple of Music, joined by Ballet Folklorico Mexicano de Carlos Moreno. The program runs from rancheras and romantic melodies to regional dances in costume. Concerts run continuously with no intermission and wrap up around 2:30pm. The bandshell sits on the Music Concourse between the de Young and the Academy of Sciences, about half a mile west of Robin Williams Meadow, so the two free park concerts on Sunday are within walking distance of each other.
Head West Marketplace in Hayes Valley
The roaming maker and vintage market returns to Hayes Street at Patricia's Green for the third of its four Hayes Valley dates this year. Booths run along Hayes Street, around Patricia's Green, and down Linden Street, where a vintage row of secondhand sellers sets up. Jewelry, ceramics, apparel, art, and prepared food make up most of the roster. The market is kid and pet friendly, runs light rain or shine, and there is a music booth on Hayes. Street parking is limited and the closures make driving awkward, so take the 21 Hayes or walk up from Van Ness station.
250 Years on the Presidio
El Presidio de San Francisco was founded on September 17, 1776, and the Presidio Trust is marking the 250th anniversary across the year rather than on a single day. This guided walk, listed on the Trust's calendar for Sunday at 11am, looks at how the landscape and the stories told about it have changed over time, from the Ramaytush Ohlone homeland through Spanish and Mexican settlement, the U.S. Army, and the park era since 1994. The Trust also lists a free outdoor yoga class in the park at 10am the same morning. Our piece on the anniversary has the rest of the September programming. The Presidio GO Shuttle from downtown is free.
Getting Around
The biggest disruption this weekend is on BART, not on the streets. Green Line service is cancelled all day Saturday and Sunday while crews replace an interlocking near Fremont Station, so there are no trains between Union City and Warm Springs/South Fremont. BART is running a free AC Transit bus bridge between Union City, Fremont, and Warm Springs/South Fremont, with a direct service and a hopper that also stops at Fremont, and it tells riders to expect 30 to 40 minute delays through that stretch. Fremont Station stays open for buses. The Orange Line loops between Warm Springs and Berryessa, with northbound departures moved 10 minutes earlier and the last two Berryessa northbound trips, normally 11:38pm and 11:49pm, cancelled. If you are coming into San Francisco from the south bay, transfer to a Blue Line Daly City train at Bay Fair. Orange and Blue line trains run eight cars instead of six, and the Blue, Red, and Yellow lines keep their normal 20 minute weekend headways. Our explainer on the closures covers the full schedule, and the same work repeats September 26 and 27. Separately, the 24th Street Mission elevator is out of service through September 18, which matters if you are heading to Fiesta de las Americas.
Saturday carries five street closures, one more than SFMTA had listed at the start of the week. In the Mission, 24th Street closes between Treat and Alabama for Fiesta de las Americas, along with Harrison between 23rd and 25th and the alleys in between, from 8am to 9pm. The 48 Quintara/24th Street reroutes both directions from 7:30am to 9pm, running via Folsom, 26th, and Bryant inbound and via Bryant, 25th, and Folsom outbound; the stops at 24th and Folsom, 24th and Harrison, and 24th and Bryant are all missed. The 14 Mission and the 49 run on Mission Street and are not affected. In the Outer Richmond, the newly posted closure is Balboa Street between 35th and 39th Avenues, plus 37th Avenue between Anza and Cabrillo, from 6am to 7:30pm for Art Walk SF and Far Out Fest; the 18 46th Avenue and the 31 Balboa both reroute via Anza from 5:30am to 7:30pm, missing the Balboa and 37th stops in both directions and the Balboa and 40th stops outbound, with a flag stop at Anza and 37th instead. Further east in the Richmond, Clement Street closes between 8th and 11th Avenues for the Autumn Moon Festival, which sits on the 2 Clement corridor; SFMTA still had not posted a reroute page for it as of Thursday, so check before you go. Downtown, Larkin Street closes between Eddy and O'Farrell from 8am to 8pm for a Shared Spaces community festival with music, arts, and games, and the inbound 19 Polk reroutes via Eddy and Polk. In Visitacion Valley, Sunnydale Avenue closes between Hahn and Sawyer from 8am to 3pm for the River of Life prayer breakfast, with the 8 Bayshore and 56 Rutland rerouting. In Hayes Valley, Hayes Street is closed between Gough and Octavia for Shared Spaces on Friday from 4 to 10pm and Saturday from 7am to 10pm.
Sunday belongs to Hayes Valley and Golden Gate Park. Head West Marketplace closes Hayes between Gough and Octavia, Linden between Gough and Octavia, and Octavia between Hayes and Fell from 6am to 7pm, and the outbound 6 Hayes/Parnassus reroutes from Hayes and Franklin via Franklin, Grove, and Webster, missing the Gough, Laguna, and Buchanan stops. In the park, Bowling Green Drive is closed to everything but permitted vehicles for Opera in the Park, and sections of Bowling Green, Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, and Nancy Pelosi Drive are reserved for event parking, so public parking nearby will be tight. There is a free shuttle within Golden Gate Park; the Tennis Center and Dahlia Dell stop is the one for Robin Williams Meadow. No race or parade is listed on the SFMTA event calendar for either weekend day. The JP Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge race in Mission Bay runs on Thursday evening, September 10, and is finished before the weekend starts.
In SoMa, Howard Street stays fully closed between 3rd and 4th through 10pm on Sunday, September 20 for the Dreamforce build out, with partial closures on Howard between Hawthorne and 3rd, 3rd between Folsom and Mission, Folsom between 3rd and 5th, and 4th between Howard and Folsom. The conference itself runs September 15 to 17, the following week, so this weekend is construction rather than crowds. Howard traffic is detoured by southbound 2nd Street to Harrison, or by New Montgomery and Hawthorne to Folsom or Harrison, and there is a signed bike detour north at 2nd Street. SFMTA states there are no Muni reroutes for any of it. A further partial closure of 4th Street between Minna and Folsom starts at 10pm on Sunday. One piece of good news for drivers: the northbound US-101 closure at the Hospital Curve does not fall on this weekend. The next one runs Friday, September 18 to Monday, September 21, and our closure explainer has the detour.
Around the ballpark, eastbound King Street between 3rd and 2nd closes to vehicles about two and a half hours before first pitch, reopens, and closes again from the seventh inning until traffic clears, and the northbound 4th Street Bridge closes after the game to everything but Muni, taxis, and bicycles. Meters near Oracle Park charge the $13 per hour special event rate, and meters in that area are enforced seven days a week, so Sunday counts. Two longer projects still affect driving: the Broadway Tunnel is down to one lane in each direction for about 14 months during the Chinatown Public Health Center work, and sewer and water replacement on Geary between 32nd Avenue and Stanyan has moved some 38 Geary and 38R stops to temporary locations marked with orange signage. Caltrans runs overnight lane closures on the eastbound Bay Bridge deck from 10pm to 7am Sunday through Thursday, so Sunday night is affected and Friday and Saturday nights are not. Check SFMTA travel updates for reroutes before you travel. For Monday through Thursday, see Things to Do in San Francisco This Week. For the rest of the month, see our September 2026 guide.
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