Hosted by the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America, the CA International Antiquarian…read moreBook Fair was a joy to attend this past weekend. Parking at Pier 27, on the Embarcadero, was free and easy on Saturday afternoon. There was no line to get in, and the event seemed to be well organized. It was spacious inside with plenty of visitors. But with two floors of vendor booths and displays, it never felt crowded. Exhibitors came from various countries including Argentina, Denmark, and the UK. Speaker sessions on the schedule offered ample seating in a separate space from the vendor booths. There was also a dining area on the first level selling food and drinks, with tables and seating available as well. Sure there were antique book collectors and researchers at this event. However, there were also visitors like me and my bf who probably couldn't afford to purchase anything on site and simply enjoyed exploring this museum of rare works, not just books, but maps, photographs, and various art pieces too. Some of the interesting items we came across were the book of Ancient and Oriental Music, the first american edition (second printing) of the diary of Anne Frank, On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin, 18th century Aesop's Fables in rich contemporary hand-color and engravings, old comic books like Weird Tales and Wonder Stories, Yoshitoshi's Dramatic Portraits of 47 Ronin (woodblock prints, Tokyo 1869), uncorrected proofs for the first three books in J.K Rowling's Harry Potter series, an 18th century playing card recycled as a funeral notice, elaborate vintage pop-up books, and one of my faves, 18th and 19th century paper peep shows (3D tunnel books), featuring unique and amazing artworks I found delightful.

Bring your appetite when you come to this Street Festival. Lots of good food to chose from, all…read morefresh off the grill. Everything smelled so good, it was hard to choose. I settled on Teriyaki chicken on a stick with veggies, so good. The prices are comparable to Fair prices, but they give you plenty. Many booths, from clothes to jewelry to just a little bit of everything. Parking is a bit of a challenge, but if you don't mind walking, free parking is available far away. The Alameda Street Festival is a nice way to spend a Saturday, I had a good time there.

This is my first time experiencing Alameda Spring Festival and I have to say that I'm a fan…read more Consisting of roughly 4 blocks of downtown Alameda on Park Street, this area has been sectioned off to car traffic and consists of a multitude of arts and craft booths, as well as a wide assortment of food and drinks. Some of the highlights included a petting zoo area for kids, bubble balloons inside a pool for kids to climb into and play, as well as a slingshot type apparatus (also for kids) to bounce up and down in. While there were a variety of different food vendors to choose from, my favorite was definitely the one that sold only bratwurst sausages on a hotdog bun. The sausages themselves were huge, and came with an optional topping of grilled onions, all for $7. Each bite of the sausage was so juicy and delicious, and was worth the inflated price that is to be expected at these fairs. Parking can be rather tricky as this is a rather popular fair for the area. I'd recommend either coming early, or hitting up the Civic Center Parking Garage on Oak St.

REVIWER # 1 Castro…read moreValley is coming out with all these festivals and fairs that I had no idea about and I truly love and enjoy them! This event was Castro Valleys 10th Annual Car Show and they had some sexy muscle cars out for display. Taking it back just a little bit...I am a sucker for sexy colorful cars...It seems to catch my attention better than seeing a sexy man on the street....but any who...When I had drove by Castro Valley Blvd and noticed all the cars I couldn't help but to stop, park and explore! This event took place on Saturday June 11th from 2PM-7PM and I had arrived a little before they closed. Most of the cars and the owners were still there while individuals like me snapped pictures from the inside of the car to the outside. FOOD: They had one side designated for food trucks. I was happy to see: ~WoKitchen-Never heard of them before but they sold food items from Veggie Eggrolls to Tacos! ~Smokes Poutinerie-I have tried them at their Berkeley location and I'm a big fan and supporter of this business! I was really excited to see they had a food truck! Looks like many of attendees were happy about them as well! ~Chick-N-Chill food truck was there. By the time I arrived they were cleaning up and headed out! :( ~Taco food truck ~Jenns Cupcakes- https://www.yelp.com/biz/jenns-cupcakes-and-parties-castro-valley?osq=jeens+cupcakes They event took over 5-6 blocks of Castro Valley Blvd and they even had a section for the children such as painting, arts, jumpers! It was really nice! I am so happy I was able to explore the festival and now that I know about it I will be on the lookout for next year! REVIEW 47/196

Came here over the weekend on what turned out to be a beautiful day with perfect weather and no…read morewind. I had never attended a dragon boat race before, so I wasn't entirely sure what to expect. What I was envisioning originally was several teams lined up together at a start line, and competing for a good length of the entire lake. What we got instead was about 6 teams lined up at a time, who would race down a very short stretch of the lake and finish in about a min, before they turned around and docked to make room for the next group of 6. While the minute of racing was pretty exciting, it was too short lived for the 10mins of prep time it takes for the next team to get into place. In addition to the race itself, there are live performances here from a variety of local talent, as well as a small handful of vendors. While it is always fun to browse the vendors, there weren't very many in attendance so the selection was easily browsed through from 5mins of walking. The lake itself is beautiful and worth walking around after checking out the festivities. Porta-potties are also available aplenty and school buses are available every 5mins to shuttle people from the corner of Webster and 21st to the festival grounds and back, which makes commuting from BART a breeze. Not a bad way to spend an hr of your day, but I wouldn't recommend commuting from far away to attend otherwise.

i've haven't attended a dragon boat festival @lake merritt yet. i did attend one in Foster City a…read moredecade or so ago. it wasn't that crowded. the large size of viewing area may have altered my view of the actual crowd size. i discovered a long time friend who was on one of the dragon crews. he was amongst a few who were "hired" to be a roller. he's also involved in hoisting the golden dragon during the Chinese New Years Parade. he said both are fun, provides a good workout. the $ was good too. my family loved watching the dragon boat races though they never asked to go again.

Helloo Germany! Berlin and Beyond...Don't forget Germany…read more.. I got a ticket to see a film at this festival and went with some people. It was a decent movie, but not that thrilling or amazing. It was about middle class German life and diversity. The theatre was full. The director was at the festival for Q/A. That helped to shed light on the film we saw. The film festival is unique and it helps to show German films in a diverse, international city. I think it is interesting. Although, it is not my priority with film festivals. I'd rather see a Jewish Film Festival film.

Celebrating my German-by-marriage heritage, this is my 2nd year of the Berlin And Beyond Film…read moreFestival Not heavily promoted, this year almost slipped by me, until we saw an advertisement in the SF Examiner Most of the festival is shown at the Castro Theater & the final days were at the Goethe Institut. They also offer yummy German treats & wines to get everyone into the spirit Movies range from Swiss, to German, to Bavarian & everything in between. I really admire the Festival Directors who seek out these German movies & bring them back to SF so we can appreciate German Cinema at its finest This year, we had the pleasure of seeing the festival's centerpiece - "Ludwig II" and the 2012 Swiss Oscar entry - "More Than Honey" Before each movie started, we heard from the Director of the Goethe Institut & some guest speakers - centerpiece night also showcased an opera singer, doing a little Wagner ( very appropriate for Ludwig! ) and the German Consulate representative I really like how each of the films were filled to capacity & even had people trying to rush the show (like at the bigger film festivals) Organization & punctuality are not this festival's strong suit so be prepared to have films start late.......their film intro speeches last forever but they're just very enthusiastic about their festival. Just roll with it - you'll be thankful you did! See you next year!

What a beautiful sunny warm day to celebrate The Hawaiian May Day Festival in Downtown Hayward! The…read moreKumu Hula Assoc of Northern California has hosted this historical Hawaiian event every May since 1985 in various Bay Area cities and returned to Hayward, where it all began in 2022. Kumu Hula Assoc was founded by the late Ehulani Enoka Lum in 1978 to fulfill her dream to perpetuate the Hawaiian culture for Hawaiians and Hawaiians at heart. The goal of this May Day event is to highlight the islands' culture, traditions, music and dance to bring Hayward and the greater community together. The free event was held in Downtown Hayward and spanned four and a half blocks from B and Main Streets. There were three performance stages with musicians and dancers. We arrived for the 'Ote'a 'Api, School of Polynesian Dance performances at Ehulani Lum Stage 2. The dancers spanned from kekis to adults and they put on beautiful Polynesian dance performances. The festival had over 80 arts, crafts and service vendors and about 25 food vendors. We saw some nice Hawaiian t-shirts and caps for a friend. Had a great time at the May Day Festival and looking forward to next year's event.p

COME EARLY FOR PARKING OR UBER THERE…read more The event is super fun and I was shocked to see the amount of coffee vendors. You will definitely get your money worth if you come early. My session is 10am-1pm. There are plenty of coffees for tasting and shopping. We arrived around 10:30am(session starts at 10am) and took a long time trying to find parking. We had to resort to parking in a garage further away and ubered back. There's absolutely nothing near the whole Fort Pavilion area where coffee festival took place. So unfortunately we only spent 1 hour there and probably only tried 30% of vendors, partly also due to too many people lining at each vendors. Some had long lines that we didn't bother to wait due to time limit. I'm definitely coming back next year and will come early to avoid parking issues.

This is my first time going to the SF coffee festival at Fort Mason. There were a LOT of people and…read moremost vendors have long lines. Since it was a coffee festival, I was not expecting tea, apple cider vinegar, food and even a skin care vendor. They separated the sessions into am and pm to help control the crowd but still had to wait at each vendor. It was fun to try so many different types of beverages, including espresso martini and different flavor chai. I tried shrub from Little Apple Treats for the first time. It was refreshing among all the coffee drinks. My other favorite is K&K chai. They have chai flavors such as Apple Hill and blue magic, both were delicious. This is definitely a fun experience but come with lot of patience and appreciation for tea, coffee and other beverages.

I've heard about the Alameda Classic Car Show on but never had the opportunity to check it out…read more This year, I happened to be on Park St. for an appointment and afterwards I finally visited the car show. This year marked the 26th annual show and there were over 400 classic cars that lined five blocks of Park St from Encinal to Buena Vista Avenues. From 10 - 4pm, you can see antique roadsters, coupes, hot rods and muscle cars from the 1930s to the 1980s. There were some cars that were just beautiful. You want to be a classic car owner? There were a couple that were for sale. I was looking for the '67 Chevelle, a car my Dad owned. Seeing the several on display brought back childhood memories. Also, it was nice seeing the '55 Bel Airs, a classic owned by my dear friend. Now that we are in the EV world, the show also had electric cars on displayed on Central Ave where you can see these non-fossil fuel vehicles on "EV Alley". I'm glad finally made it to the car show. It is a great, free fun event for all ages.

If you're into Old School American Muscle, this is the Car Show for you. Lots of Fords and Chevys,…read moreOldsmobile, Dodge, and Pontiacs are represented well here also. The best things about these cars is that they are actually driven, not just sitting in someone's garage waiting for the next car show. Also some real hot rods were here, loved to hear them roar when they started them up. It's 3 blocks full of classics, I will definitely be coming back!!!