Fireworks and Parades
It’s often said, by me, that the best fireworks are the one’s closest to your home. After all, who wants to drive half an hour to deal with parking and crazy traffic when you can relax in your lawn chair with a cold beer in hand. Ideally, your lawn is within sight of a local fireworks display. If not, you may need to mosey down to your local park for a decent view. Go early, and you may even get a parade and some. Here’s a list from KRON of parades and fireworks, while this rundown from Red Tricycle includes best viewing spots and tips.
This is the largest jazz fest on the West Coast, and it’s free. Stroll the 12 blocked-off blocks along Fillmore between Jackson and Eddy to enjoy acts such as Lavay Smith & the Red Hot Skillet Lickers and Alphabet Soup. Eat and drink at one of the many food booths and beer gardens along the road, and check out the dozens of arts and crafts. Saturday and Sunday, 6/30-7/1, 10:30am-6pm.
Imagine a time when food trucks didn’t exist (besides the roach coach’s parked at construction sites) and you had to schlep to an actual restaurant for your dinner. And then you see that the granddaddy food truck event of them all, Off the Grid, is a tender 8 years old. Celebrate its birthday at Fort Mason with dj’s, chill people and of course lots of food truck food and beer. Friday, 6/29, 5-10pm.
As if the Fillmore wasn’t hopping enough this weekend, add the Japan Day celebration to the mix with stages of music, dance and arts. Naturally there will be Taiko, and origami, and excellent ramen and other Japanese delights in the adjacent malls. Sunday, 7/1, noon-4:30pm.
Monte Rio along the Russian River in Sonoma is host to a weekend of its famed Big Rocky Games. It’s the ideal summertime event with inner tube races, rock skipping, a rubber ducky contest, water balloon toss, canoe and swim races and an ice cream eating contest. The town’s firehouse cooks up its Fireman’s BBQ, while Sunday’s highlight includes homemade floats with people performing skits as they float by. Saturday and Sunday, 6/30-7/1, noon-4pm.
This is what summer is all about. Concerts, carnival rides and farm animals, and all the deliciously terrible fried food you can dare to eat. Oh, and a fireworks show every night. Saturday-Wednesday, 6/30-7/4, all day.
SFbaytripper 