Post from Bay Area Wag

After the forced isolation of the pandemic, fall in the Bay Area is chock full of festivals, cultural shows, and street parties. The Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival returns for three days of great music in Golden Gate Park with luminaries such as Allison Russell, Aoife O’Donovan, Arooj Aftab, Bela Fleck, and Bonny Light Horsemen (Sept. 30, Oct. 1 & Oct. 2, Hellman Hollow, Lindley & Marx meadows in Golden Gate Park). Book lovers should brace themselves for LitQuake, San Francisco’s literary festival, which jams October full of book-related events for readers of all ages (Oct. 6-22, throughout the city). The 39th Annual Tiburon Wine Festival brings lovers of great food and drink to Marin, with around 50 participating wineries and a host of craft breweries and local restaurants taking part (Oct. 1, Tiburon). Up the road in Fairfax, there’s Biketoberfest, a celebration of two-wheeled transportation that adds great food and events to a celebration of the bicycle (Oct. 15, Fairfax). Oakland joins in with Oaktoberfest, the city’s annual Teutonic extravaganza (Oct. 1 & 2, Dimond district, Oakland). No place on the planet does Halloween better than the Bay Area, with celebrations all around the region. San Jose gets things rolling by celebrating 125 Years of Dracula (Oct. 5, Winchester Mystery House). Look out for a grotesque array of spooky events throughout the region, but we love the Day of the Dead celebrations in the Mission, which feature a blessing, traditional dancers, and of course, colorful skull masks (Oct. 31 22nd & Bryant Streets, San Francisco). —Laurie Strode