SF International Poetry FestivalAmiri Baraka, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Jack Hirschman. There’s a roster of 20 or so excellent, world-class poets coming to the city for the SF Poetry Fest. Reading take place all afternoon on Saturday at the Civic Center Plaza. And Sunday the North Beach Poetry Crawl runs throughout the day, capped with a street party in Jack Kerouac Alley adjacent to City Lights Bookstore.

Berkeley Kite Festival
This is kind of a big festival. Not crowded mind you, since it’s spread over Caesar Chavez park near the marina. But definitely a great opportunity to enjoy a summer day and see some amazing kites. Both Saturday and Sunday, with vendors, a kids zone and a full slate of events.

Night Market San Jose
If you’ve ever been Asian locales like Hong Kong or Taipei, you probably know all about the night markets that dot the cities – blocks long gauntlets of one vendor after another selling all manner of clothes, shoes, toys, stuff, crap, and of course all kinds of food stalls. They’re really cool, and big part of the travel experience to these places. This is what they’re trying to recreate in San Jose on Saturday night, right across from the San Jose Flea Market.

Sonoma County Fair
I had the thought of driving up north this weekend, and this seems like the best destination, at least for starters. Plus, the farther you get from the city, the bigger they do their county fairs. Or rather, the more county they are, which means the livestock barns increase in size relative to the rest of the fair and in direct proportion to the distance from San Francisco. Which is a good thing.