#1 Music Event (up from #2)
The event is quickly becoming one of the premiere music festivals on the West Coast. The festival—which draws 210,000 fans and generates $70 million for the local economy—sold out months in advance this year, thanks to a lineup including Radiohead, LCD Soundsystem, Lionel Richie, and Lana Del Ray. Food and wine offerings include some of the city’s top eateries, which set up satellite booths and food trucks in Golden Gate Park for the event. Next: August 5-8, 2016
#2 Music Event (up from #8)
The free 10-week concert series in Stern Grove is the oldest admission-free summer performing arts festival of its kind in America.The 2016 lineup includes Janelle Monae, George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic, the New Pornographers, the San Francisco Ballet, and more. Next: June 19-August 21, 2016
#3 Music Event
Named one of the San Francisco Chronicle’s “things you must do in San Francisco before you die,” the festival spans three days, seven stages, and over one-hundred acts. This free music festival in Golden Gate Park regularly draws artists like Emmylou Harris as well as Conor Oberst (of Bright Eyes fame), who has curated the bands for one of the stages for years. Next: September 30-October 2, 2016
#4 Music Event (up from #6)
Less of a hipster fashion scene than festivals like Coachella and Outside Lands, the music festival assembles more than 70 bands for a three-day weekend in Napa that can appeal to 25- and 45-year-olds alike. Headliners at the sold-out 2016 festival included Stevie Wonder, Florence & the Machine, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Next: May 26-28, 2017
#5 Music Event
The caboose on the Bay Area’s music festival train, the event lures 20,000 music-lovers away from the city for two October nights. Saturday is typically filled with electronica and hip hop/rap performers, while the Sunday lineup skews toward rock and indie rock acts. Next: October 15-16, 2016
#6 Music Event
The radio station-sponsored concert draws 24,000 to the Shoreline Ampitheatre in Mountain View. Big-name acts at the 2016 show included the Offspring, Silversun Pickups, and Fitz and the Tantrums. Next: Spring 2017
#7 Music Event
Blending art and soul in San Francisco’s historic jazz corridor, the event is the largest free Jazz festival on the West Coast, drawing more than 100,000 visitors. This year’s theme—“In Tribute”—encourages performers to playing either a whole set or a few songs dedicated to deceased music legends such as Prince, David Bowie, and Natalie Cole. Next: July 2-3, 2016
#9 Music Event
Past acts at the indie music festival—which will celebrate its 25th year in 2017—include the White Stripes, Modest Mouse, the Flaming Lips, Death Cab for Cutie, the Shins, and Bright Eyes. The 2017 festival is expected to feature 150 alternative bands and draw some 20,000 guests. Next: February 2017
#11 Music Event (new to the list)
Now in its eighth year, the festival has become a landing platform for new trends from Japan, introducing the latest in music, fashion, film, art, games, tech-innovations, anime, and food. Japan’s reigning pop-music queen, Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, and original 90s J-Pop idol group, Tokyo Performance Doll, will perform. Next: July 22-24, 2016
