Travel Locally to Multicultural Bay Area Festivals

The Bay Area is one of the most diverse areas in the world with an amazing array of annual festivals that celebrate our melting pot of cultures and historic celebrations. I’ve compiled a list of annual family-friendly cultural events to look forward to 2025. Skip the passport, hassle and jet lag and get ready to travel the world’s continents and through time only closer to home.

All the links are conveniently listed below, allowing you to easily access the information you need at your fingertips and start your round the world journey.

NORTH AMERICA

CUBA 🇨🇺
Salsa Festival, Redwood City, event is on-hold
Salsa Rueda Festival, San Francisco, February 6-9, 2025
SF Salsa Festival, San Francisco, March 27-29, 2025

EL SALVADOR 🇸🇻
Independencia Salvadoreña, September, Marin Civic Center

HAWAII 🌺
May Day Festival, Alameda County Fairgrounds, May 10th & 11th, 2025
Bay Area Aloha Festival, San Mateo County Event Center, August
Aloha Polyfest, San Francisco, TBA
Aloha Races and Polynesian Festival, Santa Cruz, September
Pacific Islanders Festival, Rohnert Park, August
Napa Valley Aloha Festival, Napa Valley Expo, September
Aloha Festival, Auburn, September

MEXICO 🇲🇽
Cinco de Mayo Festivals, TBA
Mole & Mariachi Festival, Santa Cruz State Historic Mission, TBD
Fiesta Patrias, Redwood City, September
Day of the Dead, TBA, October/November

NATIVE AMERICAN
Marin Pow Wow, Kentfield, March 23, 2025
Native Contemporary Arts Festival, San Francisco, June
Miwok Big Time Festival, Point Reyes, Cancelled until further notice
Native American Trade Feast, Novato, September
Indigenous Peoples Day, Berkeley, October
Ohlone Big Time Festival, San Francisco, TBA
Santa Clara University Pow Wow, Santa Clara, May 3, 2025
Bay Area American Indian Two-Spirits Pow Wow, San Francisco, February 1, 2025
American Indian Child Resource Center Pow Wow, Oakland, December

TIME TRAVEL ⌛
Martin Luther King Jr. Day, January, TBA
Fort Point Living History Day, San Francisco, January & November
Cesar Chavez Holiday Parade and Festival Celebrate, San Francisco, April
Living History Day, Petaluma Adobe State Historic Park, May
Island Waterways, Alameda, May
Civil War Living History, Alcatraz, April 12, 2025
Civil War Days, Angel Island, June, TBA
Pasados del Presidio, Presidio Officers' Club San Francisco, June
Western Weekend, Point Reyes, June
Juneteenth, June, TBA
Pride, June, TBA
4th of July, TBA
Rivertown Revival, Petaluma, July, TBA
Civil War Days, Duncan Mills, TBA
Gold Rush Days, Sacramento, October 18 & 19, 2025
Fandango, Petaluma Adobe State Historic Park, September
Alaska Native Day Weekend, Fort Ross, May, TBA
Free Walking Tours
PresidiGo Shuttle, free guided tours offered monthly, check website

SOUTH AMERICA

BRAZIL 🇧🇷
Carnaval Celebration, San Francisco, May 24-25, 2025
SF Bay Brazilian Day & Lavagem Festival, Berkeley, September

PERU 🇵🇪
Peruvian Independence Day, Berkeley, July
Peruvian Market Day, San Francisco, July

EUROPE

AUSTRIA/GERMANY 🇦🇹/🇩🇪
Maifest, San Francisco Tourist Club, Mill Valley, May
Sommerfest, San Francisco Tourist Club, Mill Valley, July, TBA
Kinderfest, San Francisco Tourist Club, Mill Valley, September
Oaktoberfest, Oakland, October
German Lantern Festival & Parade,The Presidio, San Francisco, November

BULGARIA 🇧🇬
ANTIKA Bulgaria FEST, San Francisco, May

CROATIA 🇭🇷
San Francisco Tamburitza Festival, San Francisco, February
Croatian Heritage Festival, San Francisco, October

DENMARK 🇩🇰
Aldersly Tivoli Festival, San Rafael, September

ENGLAND 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿
The Northern California Renaissance Faire, Hollister, September/October
Guy Fawkes’ Celebration, Pelican Inn, Muir Beach, November 5
The Great Dickens Fair, San Francisco, November/December

FRANCE 🇫🇷
Bastille Day, July

GREECE 🇬🇷
Marin Greek Festival, Nativity of Christ Greek Orthodox Christian Church, Novato, May 23-25, 2025
Belmont Greek Festival, Belmont, August 30-September 1, 2025
Oakland Greek Festival, Oakland, May
San Francisco’s Only Greek Food Festival, San Francisco, September

IRELAND 🇮🇪
Céilí on the Lake, Marin’s Lagoon Park, San Rafael, April
Saint Patrick's Day, March, TBA
Silicon Valley Irish Fleadh, Mountain View, May
San Francisco St. Patrick’s Day Parade and Celebration, May

ITALY 🇮🇹
North Beach Festival, North Beach District, San Francisco, June Festa Colonial Italiana, Italian Athletic Club, San Francisco, May 31-June 1, 2025
Italian Heritage Parade, San Francisco, October 12, 2025
Little Italy San Jose Festival, October

NETHERLANDS 🇳🇱
SFKingsday, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, April

NORWAY 🇳🇴
Norway Day Festival, San Francisco, May

POLAND 🇵🇱
PolskaFest, San Jose, September

PORTUGAL 🇵🇹
Dia de Portugal Day Festival, History Park, San Jose, June 15, 2025

ROMANIA 🇷🇴
ROFest, Hayward

RUSSIA 🇷🇺
Russian Festival, San Francisco, February/March

SCOTLAND 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿
Scottish Highland Gathering and Games, August-September, Alameda County Fairgrounds, Pleasanton

ASIA

ASIAN
Lunar New Year, January/February
Asian Pacific Heritage Festival, Marin Y, San Rafael, April
Asian Heritage Street Celebration, Oakland, May

CHINA 🇨🇳
Chinese New Year Parades & Festivals, February
Chinatown Autumn Moon Festival, San Francisco, September

EGYPT 🇪🇬
A Taste of Egypt, Redwood City, September

HONG KONG 🇭🇰
Northern California International Dragon Boat Festival, Foster City, September

INDIA 🇮🇳
Holi, March

IRAN 🇮🇷
Nowruz, March

ISRAEL 🇮🇱
Israel Festival, San Francisco, May

JAPAN 🇯🇵
Japanese New Year Bell-Ringing Ceremony, 11-2pm, Asian Art Museum, San Francisco, December 29, 2024
Sumo Champions Exhibition, Santa Clarita, September
Nihonmachi Street Fair, San Francisco, August
Children's Day Celebration, San Francisco, May
Japan Day Festival, San Francisco, June

NEPAL🇳🇵
Himalayan Fair, Berkeley, May

PALESTINE 🇵🇸
Palestine Culture Day, Foster City, September

PHILIPPINES 🇵🇭
Pistahan Parade and Festival, Yerba Buena Gardens, San Francisco, August
Parol Lantern Festival, San Francisco, December 14, 2024

SOUTH KOREA 🇰🇷
Korean Chuseok Festival, San Francisco, September

TAIWAN 🇹🇼
Taiwanese American Cultural Festival, San Francisco, May

AFRICA

Umoja African Festival, Oakland, August, TBA
Africa Day, Oakland Museum of California, May, TBA
Festival of Eritreans, Oakland, TBA

Do you know any other cultural festivals and events happening in the Bay Area? Please leave a comment below.