These community fairs, festivals and events were voted the Bay Area’s 2023 Best of the Best by Bay Area Parent readers. Read the full list of winners here.
Silicon Valley
Gold: Cupertino Cherry Blossom Festival. Features cultural exhibits and performances, Japanese cuisine, Taiko drums, martial arts, traditional Japanese dancers, arts and crafts and more. Cupertino. cupertinocherryblossomfestival.org.
Silver: Christmas in the Park. San Jose. christmasinthepark.com.
Bronze: Music in the Park. San Jose. mitpsj.com.
Peninsula
Gold: Redwood City Lunar New Year Celebration. Each year this free event showcases city officials, recreation staff, lion dancers, martial artists, taiko drummers and other live performances. Redwood City.
redwoodcity.org/residents/redwood-city-events/cultural/lunar-new-year.
Silver: San Carlos Art and Wine Faire. San Carlos. facebook.com/sancarlosartandwine.
Bronze: San Carlos Hometown Days. San Carlos. Sancarloshometowndays.com.
San Francisco/Marin
Gold: Marin County Fair. This county fair features concerts and other live entertainment, carnival rides, food and drinks, competitive exhibits, agriculture competitions and fireworks. San Rafael. fair.marincounty.org/2023.
Silver: A Christmas Carol at the American Conservatory Theater. San Francisco. act-sf.org.
Bronze: Shakespeare in the Park. Multiple locations. sfshakes.org.
East Bay
Gold: Alameda County Fair. This family-favorite event in June and July includes rides, food, animals, a full line-up of concerts and other entertainment, live horse and pig racing and more. Pleasanton. annual.alamedacountyfair.com.
Silver: Oakland First Fridays. Oakland. oaklandfirstfridays.org.
Bronze: Piedmont Food Fest. Piedmont. Piedmontfoodfest.org.