How to Find Fun Things to Do in the City
San Francisco is not dead. There’s never been a week when I couldn’t find fun events to add to my weekly SF Events list. Whether it be city-funded block parties, small hole-in-the-wall game nights, or even an eccentric drag show at a local dive bar, there’s always something going on in the city. Yes, most events are ticketed, but you can definitely have a fun week in the city by attending all the free events (even more so if you live in the Bay Area and can take advantage of resident-only perks, such as free admission days at museums).
Exhibition opening event inside SF MOMA
Before I dive into my favorite sources for San Francisco events, let me break down the 4 main categories that I like to organize these events into:
Arts & Culture
Food & Drinks
Public Events
Nightlife
Sometimes I have an excess of events that land in one of these two categories, so I’ll replace one of the main ones with one of these: Shopping & Markets, Health & Wellness. I like to curate a variety of different events because not everyone will enjoy watching a comedy show downtown, going to a cooking class in the Mission, enjoying free light bites at a public event in the Embarcadero, or seeing a headliner at a club in SoMa. I also like to sprinkle the free events in between the paid ones, because both can be equally fun. (Email me if you’d like to inquire about getting your event on my SF Events list!) Here are my 5 main sources of where I find fun events to do in SF:
1. Social Media
Lots of small businesses do well with posting a story on IG, having a link to their event in their Instagram bio, or even creating a TikTok story ad to promote their events. Since I regularly post and consume content on social media, I usually save events I see so I can add them to my SF Events list later. So if you see something interesting, save it!
These are often events I would consider attending myself, especially if I see friends engaging with that event promo or my followers send it to me because they want others to know about it. Because I only post 3 events per category for my weekly SF Events list, I often have to prioritize those I think my audience would enjoy the most.
Free Yoga Under the Dome at the San Francisco Centre
2. Fun Cheap SF
San Francisco is not a cheap place to live, and neither is most of the Bay Area. I’ve been following Fun Cheap SF for years, especially when I was an intern in the Presidio because I was so broke, but wanted to still have fun in the city. They always do a phenomenal job finding and sharing both recurring free events in the city (i.e. museum days for Bay Area residents), and also one-time free events like block parties and festivals funded by the city or third-party sponsors.
On the right side of their main page, they have a list called the “Most Popular Upcoming Events”, which is a great go-to if you don’t want to spend too much time searching for something fun to do. It takes a lot of the guesswork out, so it’s nice to check whenever you can. They also have some exclusive promo codes for the events they partner with, so that can also be a nice perk to look out for.
3. Eventbrite
It feels like every other event I want to attend has an Eventbrite link. It is definitely the easiest way to filter through events, my favorite featuring being the “date range”. Since I post weekly for events only happening that week, it’s helpful for me so I only see the upcoming events and not events 1 or 2 months out. You can also filter based on free vs paid events, categories, etc. Of all the event list websites, it’s the most complex so you can find exactly the type of events you’re looking for. I’ve also created my own events on their website, so it’s great to use as both someone who attends events and who hosts them.
On their main page, pay attention to their “Top Trending” section that’s curated to whatever city you’re searching in. They rank the trendiest events, likely based on ticket sales, demand, and page traffic. Below it, they also have other useful collections on top events based on categories like “Events $30 and under” and “Editor’s picks”.
4. Do The Bay
San Francisco Opera Gala via Red Curtain Addict
Do The Bay does a great job showing the most popular events with “upvotes”, similarly to how you can “upvote” posts on Reddit. You can choose the date and immediately find the most popular events for that date. So if you’re looking for a hot concert next Saturday night, it’s a good bet. I also like how you can enter their giveaways to some popular upcoming events. These events are mainly music, comedy, performing arts, etc.
5. Red Curtain Addict
This is mostly for the performing arts lovers; At first glance, you can find the top picks on the homepage of Red Curtain Addict, with the date ranges the shows will be in town for. They have a list of cities to choose from (including San Francisco), but the most impressive filter is the genre; so you can filter events based on genres such as choirs, jazz, opera, etc. If you create an account, you can get a more customized experience for suggestions based on your interests.
For performing arts, I often have to search on each organization’s website to find upcoming performances. In addition to performances like opera and symphonies, Red Curtain Addict also includes single-day events like galas! There’s so much more happening in the performing arts world, so definitely visit their website to learn more.
