It’s hard to beat the SF arts and culture scene, especially when it comes to Bay Area music festivals. There are dozens of diverse events to keep track of, ranging from famous names like Outside Lands and Hardly Strictly Bluegrass to smaller niche celebrations like Jerry Day and Yerba Buena Night. Read on for our running list of the best 2024 music festivals in the Bay Area or nearby.
Table Of Contents
Ongoing music festivals in the Bay Area
1. Illuminate Live
The Golden Gate Park Bandshell presents over 100 free performances throughout the year in a variety of genres including R&B, soul, jazz, funk, big band, strings, indie, rock, reggae, salsa, electronic, and EDM.
🗓️ Dates: March-Nov, 2024
📍 Location: Golden Gate Park Bandshell, San Francisco
2. Yerba Buena Gardens Festival
For six months of the year, this nonprofit puts on accessible cultural events including world-class music, theater, dance, and more.
🗓️ Dates: May-Oct, 2024
📍 Location: Yerba Buena Gardens, San Francisco
3. Blue Note Summer Sessions
Enjoy a series of summer concerts at the Silverado resort in Napa. Past performers include EmmyLou Harris, St. Paul & The Broken Bones, Marlon Wayans, and more.
🗓️ Dates: May-Sept, 2024
📍 Location: Silverado Resort, Napa.
Spring 2024 music festivals in the Bay Area
1. How Weird Street Faire
How Weird presents 9 areas of world-class electronic music representing diverse genres and styles. This year’s theme is “May the 4th be with you” and, as is customary, everyone is expected to show up in costume.
🎤 Headliners: Pulse, Muti Music/Northern Lights Music Festival, Polyglamerous/Electroluxx, and more
🗓️ Dates: May 4, 2024
📍 Location: SoMa, San Francisco
2. Mill Valley Music Festival
Mill Valley began introduced this fun boutique music festival in 2022 as a way to bring more visitors to the beautiful mountain town. The outdoor music festival takes place on the sprawling Friends Field next to the Mill Valley Community Center.
🎤 Headliners: Fleet Foxes, Greensky Bluegrass, Thee Sacred Souls, Margo Price
🗓️ Dates: May 11-12, 2024
📍 Location: Friends Field, Mill Valley, CA
3. Carnaval San Francisco
Carnaval SF is a free music festival in San Francisco that’s gearing up for its 46th year. The enormous event takes over SF’s Mission District with 5 stages, 50 performers, 400+ vendors, and the famous community-led cannabis garden.
🎤 Headliners: Noel Torres, Pirulo y La Tribu, Banda Blanca, Franco Toda La Vida
🗓️ Dates: May 24-26, 2024
📍 Location: Mission District, San Francisco
4. California Roots
California Roots highlights the best musical artists in the realms of hip hop, reggae, and folk. The festival is known to draw over 11,000 attendees per day and is considered one of the largest reggae festivals in the country.
🎤 Headliners: Ziggy Marley, E-40 & Too $hort, Damian Marley & Stephen Marley, Rebelution, Ice Cube
🗓️ Dates: May 24-26, 2024
📍 Location: Monterey County Fair & Event Center, Monterey, CA
5. BottleRock Napa Valley
BottleRock launched just over a decade ago as Napa Valley’s first large-scale music festival, also presenting some of the best California food and wine. See a diverse range of artists play across three stages at the Napa Valley Expo.
🎤 Headliners: Stevie Nicks, Megan Thee Stallion, Pearl Jam, Maná, Ed Sheeran, Queens of the Stone Age
🗓️ Dates: May 24-26, 2024
📍 Location: Napa Valley Expo, Napa, CA
More spring music festivals around the Bay Area
- Berkeley Bluegrass Festival – Apr. 26-28, 2024 – Freight & Salvage, Berkeley
- Pickin’ on the Polk – Apr. 27, 2024 – Polk St, San Francisco
- San Francisco International Arts Festival – May 2-12, 2024 – San Francisco
- NoisePop Festival – Feb. 22-Mar. 3, 2024 (passed) – San Francisco
- 420 Hippie Hill – canceled for 2024 – Golden Gate Park, San Francisco
Summer 2024 music festivals in the Bay Area
1. Country Summer
Country Summer is considered to be NorCal’s biggest country music festival, drawing over 26,000 attendees over three days in 2023. Enjoy on-site camping and craft food and drinks in the heart of Sonoma County.
🎤 Headliners: Old Dominion, Little Big Town, Jordan Davis
🗓️ Dates: June 14-16, 2024
📍 Location: Sonoma County Event Center, Santa Rosa
2. Outside Lands
The country’s largest independently-owned music festival takes over SF’s Golden Gate Park every summer. This is SF’s most highly-anticipated music festival, drawing upwards of 200,000 attendees each year.
🎤 Headliners: Tyler, The Creator, The Killers, Sturgill Simpson, The Postal Service, Grace Jones, Kaytranada, Jungle, Chris Lake, Gryffin
🗓️ Dates: Aug 9-11, 2024
📍 Location: Golden Gate Park, San Francisco
3. Stern Grove Festival
Stern Grove Festival is a free outdoor concert series featuring a wide variety of genres on Sundays throughout the summer. This beloved event is the oldest outdoor music festival in the Bay Area and will kick off its 87th season soon. Past headliners have included names like Mitski, The Doobie Brothers, Carlos Santana, Pink Martini, Janelle Monae, and more.
🎤 Headliners: TBA
🗓️ Dates: TBA, Summer 2024
📍 Location: Stern Grove, San Francisco
4. San Francisco Pride
SF Pride is the largest gathering of the LGBTQ+ community and allies in the country, dating back 54 years. The free, two-day celebration is centered around SF’s Civic Center Plaza with performances across 8 areas.
🎤 Headliners: Billy Porter (Celebrity Grand Marshal), music headliners TBA
🗓️ Dates: June 29-30, 2024
📍 Location: Market St, San Francisco
More summer music festivals around the Bay Area
- Half Moon Bay Wine & Jazz Festival – June 1, 2024 – Downtown Half Moon Bay
- San Francisco Jazz Festival – June 5-16, 2024 – San Francisco
- SFJAZZ Summer Sessions – June 5-Aug 18 – San Francisco
- Healdsburg Jazz Festival – June 15-23, 2024 – Healdsburg
- Free Live Music on the Colonnade – June 17-Aug. 9, 2024 – Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, Santa Cruz
- Sierra Nevada World Music Festival – June 21-23, 2024 – Mendocino County Fairgrounds, Boonville
- Fillmore Jazz Festival – July 6-7, 2024 – Fillmore District, San Francisco
- Mosswood Meltdown – July 6-7, 2024 – Mosswood Park, Oakland
- Stanford Live Arts Festival – July 14-27, 2024 – Frost Amphitheater, Stanford
- Festival Napa Valley – July 6-21, 2024 – Meritage Resort, Napa
- Midsummer Mozart Festival – TBA July 2024 – Saratoga
- Golden Gate Jazz Festival – July 22-24, 2024 – Presidio Theatre, San Francisco
- Petaluma Music Festival – July 27, 2024 – Sonoma-Marin Fairgrounds, Petaluma
- Jerry Day – Aug. 3, 2024 – Jerry Garcia Amphitheater, San Francisco
- San Jose Jazz Summer Fest – Aug 9-11, 2024 – Downtown San Jose
- SF Polo Fields concerts – TBA summer 2024, following Outside Lands – Polo Fields, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco
- Rock the Gates – Aug. 24, 2024 – United Irish Cultural Center, San Francisco
- Concord Jazz Festival – Aug. 3, 2024- Concord
Fall 2024 music festivals in the Bay Area
1. Hardly Strictly Bluegrass
Hardly Strictly Bluegrass is a completely free music festival in San Francisco dating back to 2001 in Golden Gate Park. It began thanks to the efforts of SF venture capitalist Warren Hellman, who originally founded it as “Strictly Bluegrass.” It evolved to encompass a multitude of genres, hence the decision to add “Hardly” to its name in 2003. Hardly Strictly Bluegrass has always remained completely free and noncommercial at the bequest of Hellman, who passed away in 2011.
🎤 Headliners: TBA
🗓️ Dates: Oct. 4-6, 2024
📍 Location: Golden Gate Park, San Francisco
2. Portola Festival
The Portola Music Festival is San Francisco’s newest live music festival happening at Pier 80. 2024 details are TBA, but last year’s festival featured Skrillex, Eric Prydz, Nelly Furtado, Major Lazer, Jon Hopkins, Labrinth, and more.
🎤 Headliners: TBA
🗓️ Dates: Sept. 28-29, 2024
📍 Location: Pier 80, San Francisco
3. Due South
The popular Due South concert series brings the house down at the Jerry Garcia Amphitheater in McLaren Park every summer. This festival is dedicated to celebrating the arts, culture, and communities in South San Francisco.
🎤 Headliners: TBA
🗓️ Dates: TBA summer-fall 2024
📍 Location: Jerry Garcia Amphitheater, San Francisco
More fall music festivals around the Bay Area
- Solano Avenue Stroll – Sept. 8, 2024 – Albany and Berkeley
- Art + Soul Oakland – TBA Sept 2024 – Frank Ogawa Plaza, Oakland
- Monterey Jazz Festival – Sept. 27-29, 2024 – Monterey County Fairgrounds, Monterey
- Breakaway Festival – Oct. 25-26, 2024 – Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, San Francisco
- SF Music Day – TBA Oct 2024 – San Francisco
- Day to Night Festival – TBA 2024 – Treasure Island, San Francisco
- Halloween Meltdown – TBA Oct 2024 – Mosswood Park, Oakland
- Yerba Buena Night – TBA Oct 2024 – Yerba Buena, San Francisco
- San Francisco International Hip Hop Dancefest – Nov. 9-10, 2024 – Palace of Fine Arts Theatre, San Francisco