November in the San Francisco Bay Area is an enchanting mix of late fall cheer and early holiday anticipation. Now’s the time to enjoy delicious fall coffee drinks, ice skating, get a head start on your holiday gift shopping, plan the ultimate Thanksgiving dinner, and find opening dates for the best winter light displays. Read on for our best tips to spend a memorable November 2025 in San Francisco.
If you’re looking for more inspiration, be sure to check out our favorite free things to do in the Bay, things to do in SF at least once, and things to do in SF with kids.
1. Día de los Muertos events
Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) is a Mexican holiday celebrated widely both within Mexico and in other countries by people of Mexican heritage. At the beginning of November, San Francisco will celebrate with multiple events, processions, and activities to honor this special holiday.
📅 Dates:
- Nov. 1, 2025 – Dia de los Muertos with SF Symphony
- Nov. 1, 2025 – Tenderloin Street Fair and Dia de Muertos celebration
- Nov. 2, 2025 – Festival of Altars in Potrero del Sol Park
- Nov. 2, 2025 – 44th annual Day of the Dead ritual procession
- And more
2. Ice skating rinks
Festive Bay Area ice skating rinks can be found in all nine local counties from San Francisco to Sonoma. We found a mix of seasonal and permanent rinks that offer the chance to strap on a pair of skates and hit the ice.
📅 Dates:
- Opening Nov. 5, 2025 – Union Square Ice Rink in San Francisco
- Opening Nov. 7, 2025 – Kristi Yamaguchi Holiday Ice Rink in San Ramon
- Opening Nov. 26, 2025 – Downtown Ice in San Jose
- See full list of Bay Area ice rinks here
3. AURA: An Immersive Odyssey of Breathtaking Proportions
AURA at Grace Cathedral offers a 45-minute immersive experience, combining music, projections, and the cathedral’s stunning architecture. This internationally acclaimed show transforms the historic space into a vibrant work of art, bringing its arches and details to life with light and sound.
📅 Dates: Select days in October and November 2025
4. Downtown First Thursdays
Downtown First Thursdays is SF’s monthly free block party that brings live music, activities, food vendors, and more to the streets. November’s celebration is on Thursday, November 6, and you can expect plenty of local vendors and a yet-to-be-announced performer.
📅 Date: November 6
5. Bay Area holiday markets
Holiday spirit is already in the air, and the crafters of San Francisco are working at full throttle to sell their wares! We’ve rounded up some of the best holiday markets, craft fairs, and more in the San Francisco Bay Area for November and December. Think Bay Area Christmas markets with homemade pastries, decorations, and innovative products. Or holiday craft fairs with all the handmade jewelry, pottery, and art you could wish for.
6. Thanksgiving weekend events
Looking for some fun activities to do post-turkey? Thanksgiving weekend in San Francisco brings plenty of events, activities, and fun spots to hit up from Nov. 27-30, 2025. Look out for the Turkey Trot, the Grace Cathedral tree lighting, Black Friday deals, and more as explained in our Thanksgiving guide. And if you’re planning your Thanksgiving dinner, now’s the time to book a reservation or take-home meal kit.
7. Candlelight Concerts
The extremely popular concert series known simply as Candlelight is turning heads right now in San Francisco! You’ll enjoy works from Beethoven, Vivaldi, and more played by a talented string quartet in an intimate environment surrounded by hundreds of luminous candles.
📅 Tickets: See the schedule of upcoming candlelight concerts here.
8. Free admission days around SF
We love San Francisco for its vibrant culture, history, and resources, but just about anyone in SF could benefit from finding new free things to do. Whether you’re a college student on a budget, or a bargain hunter wanting to see the sights, this list of free museum days in San Francisco will certainly help you get started.
9. SF Coffee Festival
Heads up, coffee lovers! The San Francisco Coffee Festival is coming up this November and tickets are now on sale. This exciting festival will feature great food, fun local products, a latte art competition, live music, learning sessions, and of course endless high-quality coffee.
📅 Dates: Nov. 8-9, 2025
10. Renegade Craft Fair
Fort Mason is known for hosting many creative events, and a massive craft fair featuring handmade goods will fill the center at the beginning of November. The Renegade Craft Fair includes over 250 creators who make everything from pottery to jewelry. It’s the perfect event to get the jump on your holiday shopping, or just buy yourself a treat.
🗓️ Dates: Nov. 1-2
11. Ballet of Lights: Sleeping Beauty
Ballet of Lights presents an enthralling rendition of Tchaikovsky’s The Sleeping Beauty at San Francisco’s Brava Theater Center this fall. See the famous ballet interpreted with a captivating combination of classical choreography and luminous LED costumes.
🗓️ Dates: Nov. 21, 2025
12. GLOW: Discover the Art of Light at the Exploratorium
The Exploratorium’s visitor-favorite GLOW: Discover the Art of Light is a luminous expansion of the Exploratorium’s typical exhibits featuring light art by seven innovative artists. Past years’ artworks have allowed visitors to compose music with light, play experimental LED dungeon crawlers, discover hidden crystals, and much more.
📅 Dates: Nov. 20, 2025 – Jan. 25, 2026
13. The Jury Experience
This live theater drama invites guests to step into a nail-biting 75-minute trial simulation at the Brava Theater Center. Audience members will closely follow the enthralling case, evaluating evidence and arguments, before delivering a final verdict that will determine the end of the show.
14. Holidays at Filoli
Holidays at Filoli is one of the Bay Area’s most beautiful and lesser-known light displays, taking place at Filoli Estate & Gardens in Woodside. Thousands of glittering lights will adorn the garden’s trees, plants, and hedges for a must-see experience.
📅 Dates: Nov. 22, 2025 – Jan. 11, 2026
15. November museum exhibitions
Many of SF’s temporary museum exhibitions are refreshed and replaced every single month. We’re keeping tabs on the best new temporary exhibitions from SFMOMA to the Asian Art Museum, so you’ll never miss an amazing new display. Check our list to see what we have our eye on for November in San Francisco.
16. The Great Dickens Christmas Fair
This beloved annual event drops you into Victorian London, brought to life by hundreds of costumed players and a plethora of shops, stages, pubs, parties, and memorable performances. This annual event started in the 1970s and celebrates the world of writer Charles Dickens, author of A Christmas Carol, Oliver Twist, Great Expectations, and other literary classics.
📅 Dates: Nov. 22 – Dec. 21, 2025
17. Leonid Meteor Shower
Astronomy fans around the world will soon be treated to a glittering spectacle in the form of the Leonid Meteor Shower. Meteors will rain down this month with peak activity on the 18th, but due to the full moon, visibility will be limited.
📅 Dates: The meteor shower lasts from Nov. 3 – Dec. 2, 2025, with the peak expected on Nov. 17
18. The Jazz Room: A Journey to the Heart of New Orleans
San Francisco’s Palace Theatre hosts a live musical journey through the history of jazz, featuring a mix of carefully chosen classics and spontaneous improvisation courtesy of talented musicians and vocalists.
🗓️ Dates: Nov. 2 and 16, 2026
19. Fairmont Gingerbread House
San Franciscans await the return of the Fairmont’s enormous gingerbread house every single year. The 22-foot-tall installation is made of real gingerbread cookie bricks and decorated with real candy and royal icing. You can see the creation in the hotel’s lobby starting this month and even book it for a holiday tea or dinner.
🗓️ Dates: Opening Nov. 22, 2025
20. Garden of D’Lights
The Ruth Bancroft Garden is bringing back its whimsical Garden of D’Lights holiday event. Each year, they deck out the plants with multicolored lights, lasers, and more, transforming the already spectacular 3.5 acre space into an otherworldly outdoor adventure. Guests can stroll through the beautiful glowing gardens for 1-1.5 hours to discover countless photo ops and exciting displays.
📅 Dates: Opening Nov. 21, 2025
21. Fort Point candlelight tours
Starting in November, you can take a scenic tour by candlelight through the historic Fort Point site. The tours only happen for a few months on weekends between November and February, and you can learn all about the unique history of the incredible site. Tickets are typically released two weeks before the tour.
22. NightLife at the Academy of Sciences
NightLife at the California Academy of Sciences is one of our favorite ongoing events, and we’re thrilled to see more of these awesome themed soirees on the calendar. The popular Thursday night festivities feature live DJs, outdoor bars, ambience lighting, and more alongside the Academy’s nearly 40,000 animal residents.
📅 Dates: Thursday evenings
23. After Dark at the Exploratorium
The Exploratorium at Pier 15 in San Francisco is an exciting place for discovery any time of the day, but these 18+ After Dark events are a must for some epic kid-free fun at their exhibits. After Dark happens each Thursday from 6-10pm with a different theme every week, featuring guest speakers, films, great music, and more.
📅 Dates: Thursday evenings
24. November events at Fort Mason Center
When’s the last time you paid a visit to San Francisco’s amazing Fort Mason Center? The popular art center hosts numerous exhibitions and events throughout the year, and there are some special ones coming up, including the Guardsmen Holiday Tree Lot and popular craft fairs.
25. November events at the Ferry Building
San Francisco’s Ferry Building is one of the city’s most iconic landmarks, serving as a hotspot for tourists and locals alike. It’s a center for events, pop-ups, a farmers market, and countless excellent merchants who sell their wares daily in the building’s many stalls.
📅 Dates:
- Nov. 1-2, 2025 – SF International Tea Festival
- Nov. 2, 2025 – Head West
26. Self-guided Stranger Things bike ride
Part 1 of Stranger Things’ fifth and final season will finally debut on Thanksgiving Day, and cities all over the United States will celebrate with an honorary bike ride this November 23rd. Enter for a chance to win a Stranger Things-branded bike — more on that here.
📅 Date: Nov. 23, 2025
27. Free activities at Salesforce Park
San Francisco’s Salesforce Park is an amazing modern marvel in the Financial District. The verdant oasis rests 70 feet above the street atop the Salesforce Transit Center, and it’s completely free and open for the public to visit at any time.
It also hosts a collection of free events every week, including yoga classes, bootcamps, live music, bird walks, garden tours, drum circles, tours from SF City Guides, and much more.
28. Spots to see fall foliage
Fall foliage is truly a sight to behold and you can still catch it this November in San Francisco. Familiar shades of green give way to red, orange, yellow, and brown during an incredible seasonal display. We might not have the vast color-changing forests that the East Coast loves to brag about, but see our list for a few excellent local spots to enjoy this seasonal show.