Update, Aug. 21, 2023: The Lights On Festival in Mountain View, previously included in this roundup, is now canceled.
The best thing about living the Bay Area is that just when summer feels like it’s ending, we get hit with an extra two months of warm weather — and a fresh slate of festivals, concerts and dance parties. Here are 10 must-see fall shows to get on your calendar.
Doja Cat
Oct. 31, 2023
Chase Center, San Francisco
$140+
Doja Cat’s had an incredible rise from SoundCloud standout to viral sensation to international pop superstar, and signs suggest that the next phase of her career will be her most expressive and hard-hitting yet. With her recently shaved head, cinematic music videos and bars that remind everyone she can rap rap, it’s clear that she doesn’t want to play into a cookie-cutter pop mold, and Halloween is a perfect occasion to see this shapeshifting mastermind.
Playlist: Angela Y. Davis at Oakland Symphony
Oct. 21, 2023
Paramount Theatre, Oakland
$40–$125
What music gave Angela Davis strength to survive imprisonment on false charges in the early ’70s, when she was a member of the Black Panther Party? What did she listen to as she prepared her lectures on feminism and African American studies at UC Santa Cruz, or sat down to pen her best-selling books on prison abolition? Fans will find out when the world-renowned activist and scholar curates one of the Oakland Symphony’s Playlist concerts, a series started by the late conductor Michael Morgan where prominent culture-makers select songs for the orchestra to reimagine. Comedian W. Kamau Bell will host.
Portola Festival
Sept. 30 and Oct. 1
Pier 80, San Francisco
$229.95+ single day, $359.95+ two-day
Portola is designed for open-minded ravers and partiers. You have house music legends Armand Van Helden and Chris Lake going back to back; Tokischa, the Dominican sex siren of dembow and reggaeton; a Basement Jaxx DJ set; one of the UK’s finest MCs, Little Simz; cult-favorite indie band Little Dragon; and Skrillex. These artists don’t have a ton in common on the surface, but all of them are bound to have party-goers sweating on the dance floor.
Hardly Strictly Bluegrass
Sept. 29–Oct. 1
Golden Gate Park, San Francisco
Free
As concert ticket prices continue to rise, it’s become even more clear how much of a San Francisco treasure Hardly Strictly is. The 23rd annual free festival celebrates bluegrass, roots music and more, with a lineup of fiery up-and-comers like blues singer-guitarist Christone “Kingfish” Ingram and veterans like country-punk band Lucero. Phases and one and two of the lineup have already been announced, and phase three should be dropping any day now.
Art + Soul
Sept. 17, 2023
Frank Ogawa Plaza, Oakland
Free
The popular, family-friendly Oakland street fair Art + Soul joins forces with AfroComicCon this year for a weekend of music, comics, graphic novels and art. Headliners include the lauded hip-hop duo Latyrx and special guests, Grammy-winning children’s music group Alphabet Rockers and the Women in Hip-Hop Revue, which includes a heavy-hitting, diverse lineup of Suga-T, RyanNicole, Coco Peila, Dakini Star, GinaMadrid, Breathless, Shy’an G and Versoul, with DJ LadyRyan behind the decks.
Through the Looking Glass
Sept. 16, 2023
Children’s Fairyland, Oakland
$70–$85
Oakland artist Spellling has a gift for transporting listeners into magical realms, both with her mythical lyrics and her band’s otherworldly instrumentation. She draws from a long legacy of experimental, spiritual Black music — a legacy she’ll connect to at her own festival, Through the Looking Glass, which also stars Afrofuturism purveyors Sun Ra Arkestra, Laraaji, Zachary James Watkins, AroMa and more. The event will transform Children’s Fairyland into an adult playground of imagination and top-tier artistry.
Dock of the Bay Festival
Sept. 9 and 10, 2023
Mare Island
Single day $95+
Funk and soul lovers can two-step on the waterfront at Dock of the Bay Festival, which brings together boogie hitmakers Morris Day and the Time, funk legends Average White Band and Bay Area favorites like Grammy-winning blues-rocker Fantastic Negrito and soul revivalists Monophonics. Expect danceable grooves and instrumental excellence.
Sound Summit
Sept. 9, 2023
Mountain Theater, Mount Tamalpais State Park
$120+
On a mountaintop among frolicking chipmunks, underneath circling hawks, Sound Summit brings a day of indie rock and folk to one of the Bay Area’s most spectacular view spots: Mount Tam. This year festival-goers will hear the ballads of Lord Huron, Sierra Ferrell’s genre-bending explorations of jazz and calypso, Kevin Morby’s twangy garage punk, country supergroup Brokedown in Bakersfield and Mill Valley salsa, Afrobeat, reggae and funk band Vinyl. Remember to pack in, pack out and leave no trace.
Hiero Day
Sept. 4, 2023
Frank Ogawa Plaza
Free
Hip-hop’s 50th anniversary coincides with the 30th anniversary of Souls of Mischief’s essential album ’93 ’til Infinity, so 2023 promises an auspicious Hiero Day. This year, the intergenerational, homegrown hip-hop festival moves from Jack London Square to Frank Ogawa Plaza, and is free with RSVP. The lineup so far includes Hieroglyphics with special guest Common, Breakbeat Lou, Paris, Abstract Rude, Lil Blood and more, with additional artists soon to be announced. Several pre-Hiero Day events — including a Souls of Mischief mural reveal — are planned at Hungry Ghost Studio, Moxy, Crybaby and more, and an afterparty at is slated for Crybaby on Sept. 4.
