Halloween and other fun at Harvest Moon time.
Half Moon Bay Art & Pumpkin Festival
This giant fall festival ties up traffic on Highways 1 and 92 all weekend for a good reason: it’s a lot of fun. It’s not for those with very small children, unless you can heft them in a sling or carrier as the throngs make stroller-pushing no fun. Ambulatory kids, however, will thrill to the Great Pumpkin Parade (Saturday at noon), giant costume contest (contestants are grouped into age divisions; starts Saturday at 10am), bounce houses galore, the pie-eating contest, and pumpkin carving by the very talented Farmer Mike. A note for adults: if you want to miss most of the traffic, arrive in time for Saturday’s pancake breakfast (Saturday, 7-11am), and bring cash, because you will no doubt see art you want to purchase.
When: Sat. & Sun., 10/18-19, 9am-5pm; All ages; Free.
Where: Main Street between Miramonte and Spruce Streets, Half Moon Bay, 650-726-9652, miramarevents.com.
Red Bull Soapbox Race
If it’s wacky and wheeled, it’s probably racing down Dolores Street this weekend during this celebration of human-powered vehicles, where a soapbox isn’t a winner unless it makes you laugh as it goes by. Come early to check out the entrants; they’ll be lined up in rows on 20th Street (between Dolores and Church Streets) before lining up at the start line around noon. Parking in the neighborhood will be murder; ride the bus or train instead.
When: Sat., 10/18, first race begins at 1pm (event begins at 11am); All ages; Free to view and to enter.
Where: Dolores Park, between 18th and 20th Streets and Dolores and Church Streets, San Francisco, redbullsoapboxusa.com.
Target Family Day
Five major SF downtown museums throw open their doors today, with free admission to Zeum, SFMOMA, the Museum of the African Diaspora, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, and the Contemporary Jewish Museum. There’s live music at Yerba Buena Gardens too, so you can rest on the lawn between excursions.
When: Sun., 10/19, 11am-4pm; Age 3+; Free.
Where: The festival’s center is at Yerba Buena Gardens, Mission Street (between 3rd and 4th Streets), San Francisco, 415-543-1718, ygbf.org.
Goblin Jamboree
Work that Halloween high at the Bay Area’s best children’s museum, which offers a special party with spooky decorations, train and pony rides, live performers, Halloween games and art activities. Costumes are encouraged.
When: Sat. & Sun., 10/18-19, 10am-4pm; All ages; $12-14 (Free for kids under 1).
Where: Bay Area Discovery Museum, 557 McReynolds Road (at Fort Baker), Sausalito, 415-339-3900, baykidsmuseum.org.
Who would ever expect one of the best playgrounds in San Francisco to be smack in the middle of downtown? Yet the Yerba Buena Gardens Children’s Playground would be a wonder no matter what neighborhood it was set in. Set down in a recycled-rubber-matted depression (which creates a hill that’s its own attraction to kids), the accommodations are plush: a 25-foot tube slide, metal monkey bars, a wonderful water feature with running water the kids can dam, a metal xylophone to bang on. There’s a sand area for the younger ones, and a big structure to climb on.
