Looking for concerts, plays, art shows and movies in the Bay Area this fall?
Let KQED Arts & Culture’s trusted recommendations be your guide. While the world becomes ever more bombarded with advertising, algorithms and AI, we’re out at events and performances every single day to give you life pro tips, human to human, on what’s worth your time.
So base your plans on experience and discerning taste instead of a janky beta-tested chatbot, and explore our guides to fall arts in the Bay Area.
Go to a concert or music festival
Nastia Voynovskaya has covered music for more than a decade, spanning humid underground parties to huge outdoor concerts — and just about everything in between. This fall, she’s looking forward to reliable festivals like Hiero Day and Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, along with concerts by Kali Uchis, Larry June, Burna Boy and more. Read about concerts and live music here.
黄門：そのころの江戸はこうだった!!),’ 1965, part of the de Young’s ‘Art of Manga’ exhibition. (©Fujio Akatsuka)
See a museum exhibit or gallery show
Sarah Hotchkiss knows the Bay Area art scene like no one else, and can regularly be found at museums, galleries, warehouses, garages, backyards and anywhere else art might be on view. She’s excited about an art festival in Chinatown, the Museum of the African Diaspora’s reopening, a huge manga exhibit at the de Young Museum and more. Read about art exhibitions here.
Get to the theater for a play or musical
David John Chávez drives all over the Bay Area to catch small works in progress and big touring Tony winners alike. While local theater companies are no doubt in trouble, they’re offering up their best work this fall. David’s looking forward to Broadway hits like Stereophonic, along with a premiere of a hip-hop musical based on the Bay Area’s own Orange Sky Day. Read about plays and musicals here.
Catch a classic movie or film festival
Michael Fox’s eye for the silver screen has been honed by a lifetime of film viewing — coupled with a non-snobby mind that’s open to the new. So while he’s excited for the annual return of the San Francisco Silent Film Festival (displaced to Orinda this year), he’s also anticipating the Jeremy Allen White-starring Bruce Springsteen biopic and the wonderfully titled Drunken Film Festival. Read about film screenings here.
Enjoy a crisp outdoor fall festival
An unscientific analysis shows that Pendarvis Harshaw types the word “community” more than anyone else on the KQED Arts desk. And where better to find community than at an outdoor festival? This fall, Pen’s got his eye on a Chicano soul festival, the Black Cowboy Parade, and a world-champion DJ cuttin’ it up to benefit the library. Read more about fall festivals here.
Get lost in the pages of a book
Ugur Dursun reads constantly, with a stack of books always on her nightstand pile. This fall, she recommends five books to add to your own stack, including soon-to-be-released mysteries, memoirs and essay collections, spanning the streets of San Francisco in Michelle Chouinard’s A Tour To Die For to the Alabama schoolyards of Harper Lee’s childhood. Read more about reading more here.
Explore Bay Area fashion runways
Janea Melido’s style around the office puts the rest of us to shame most days, and while she keeps her eye on Paris, she knows there’s something special in the Bay Area fashion scene. Her roundup of fall fashion shows covers vintage bridal wear, Oakland style and a Ukrainian fashion show. Read about this year’s chic looks here.
Dress up for the opera, symphony or jazz club
As a kid, Gabe Meline played piano sonatas and jazz bass with fair-to-middling results; now he watches others do it far better. He’s especially excited about a returning maestro conducting Mahler, a world-premiere opera from Huang Ruo and David Henry Hwang, and jazz piano great Patrice Rushen playing a tiny room with a combo of all-stars. Read more about jazz and classical shows here.