What's on around San Francisco and Oakland in November 2026

Two miles of the Great Highway along Ocean Beach have carried no cars since March 2025, and on Tuesday, November 3, San Francisco voters decide whether to put them back. Proposition G is one of six local measures on a ballot that also carries a regional sales tax for transit and a parcel tax for Muni. Election day lands on the first Tuesday of a month that then fills up with basketball, a craft fair at Fort Mason, the 129th Big Game in Berkeley and a Victorian Christmas fair at the Cow Palace.

November across the five counties opens with Day of the Dead in the Mission and the general election, and closes with the Dickens Fair, the Bishop Ranch Turkey Trot and the first nights of Illuminate SF.

I confirmed every date below for 2026 with the organizer, the venue, the county elections office or the visitor bureau. I left out anything I could only find on a previous year's listing, and there is a section further down naming which ones those were.

I'm Jeff Moran, NMLS #483943, a mortgage broker licensed in California through C2 Financial Corporation, and I have been in the mortgage business since 1996. I work out of Bluffton, South Carolina, so nothing here is a first-hand claim. Every fact comes from a public source, linked beside it, and the dates were checked on October 22, 2026. If you are looking at homes in any of these counties this fall, the San Francisco-Oakland area buyer's guide covers the counties, the city transfer taxes and the disclosure packet that goes with them.

The first weekend: altars in the Mission and back-to-back Warriors games

The Warriors open the month at home on Sunday, November 1 against the LA Clippers and again on Monday, November 2 against the Phoenix Suns. The team's published 2026-27 schedule has both games at Chase Center on Warriors Way in Mission Bay.

Day of the Dead in the Mission is on Monday, November 2. San Francisco Travel's November listing describes the processions and the Festival of Altars as annual community events in the district, and gives the date. The Chronicle's 2026 guide puts the altars from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. and has the procession stepping off at 7 p.m. from 22nd and Bryant streets. The altar location moved between Garfield Square and Potrero del Sol Park in recent years, so the organizers are the ones to ask before you walk over.

Tuesday the 3rd is the general election, and five of the measures would change a number you pay

Election day is Tuesday, November 3. The San Francisco Department of Elections has a four-card ballot, 501 neighborhood polling places open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., 37 drop boxes, and same-day registration at the City Hall Voting Center. Mailed ballots have to be postmarked by election day and reach the department by November 10. Preliminary local results are scheduled for 8:45 p.m. that night, and the final certified results for December 3.

I am not taking a position on any of these. Five of them would change a number you pay, so they are worth reading before you set a budget on a home here.

Proposition H is a San Francisco parcel tax for Muni. SPUR's voter guide and the SFMTA's own measure page describe an annual tax on San Francisco parcels, running from July 1, 2027 to June 30, 2042. The base is $129 for a single-family home, and the rate scales up with building size and property type. Owners aged 65 and older would be exempt on a primary residence.

The two published estimates of what it would raise do not agree. The Controller's economic impact report estimates $184 million a year, and SPUR puts it at about $160 million. Either way, a parcel tax is collected on the property tax bill, which means your lender's escrow account has to cover it. Escrow Accounts, Explained covers why a new parcel tax changes a monthly payment well after closing.

Two school parcel taxes do the same thing in the East Bay. Alameda County's measure list for November 3 has San Lorenzo Unified's Measure J on it. The county counsel's analysis puts it at $99 per parcel, for twelve years, beginning July 1, 2027. The district expects about $1.8 million a year from it, and it needs two-thirds of the vote to pass.

In Contra Costa, Measure V would renew West Contra Costa Unified's parcel tax at 7.2 cents per square foot of building area. It would run nine years, also from July 1, 2027, and it would replace one that runs out on June 30, 2027. That one needs two-thirds of the vote as well.

Measure RTM is the regional transit sales tax. The Metropolitan Transportation Commission and SPUR describe a fourteen-year measure that would add one cent in San Francisco and half a cent in Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. The commission puts the proceeds at roughly $980 million a year for BART, Muni, AC Transit, Caltrain and the ferries. Marin County is not in it. A sales tax is not collected on a property tax bill, so it would not change an escrow account.

Proposition J changes the transfer tax on foreclosures. SPUR's summary has it removing the foreclosure exemption from San Francisco's real property transfer tax for commercial, mixed-use and multi-family buildings of more than five units, starting March 1, 2027. Single-family homes and buildings of up to four units would stay exempt, and the tax rates themselves would not change.

Proposition G is the Great Highway question from the top of this post. SPUR's voter guide covers it alongside the rest of the San Francisco measures. It asks whether private vehicles return to the upper Great Highway through Sunset Dunes Park, the two-mile stretch San Francisco voters turned into a park by passing Proposition K in 2024.

Across the bay that night, the XG World Tour plays Oakland Arena on Coliseum Way. The arena's own listing has doors at 6:30 p.m. and the show at 8.

The second week: a festival at Oakland Arena, a night market at Yerba Buena Gardens, and a craft fair at Fort Mason

The Warriors keep the Chase Center busy through the middle of the month, with Miami on Thursday the 5th, Orlando on Saturday the 7th and New Orleans on Monday the 9th, all on the published schedule above. Oakland Arena has Bay Area Fest on Saturday the 7th and Jo Koy on Friday the 13th, both listed on the arena's own calendar with doors an hour or ninety minutes ahead.

The Bhangra and Beats Night Market comes to the Great Lawn at Yerba Buena Gardens on Friday, November 13 from 4 to 9 p.m. The festival's event page calls it the first time the South Asian celebration has been held at the Gardens, with dhol drumming, dance lessons, DJs and a marketplace of food vendors and local makers. The Gardens are on Mission Street between 3rd and 4th, a block from Moscone Center. The Yerba Buena Partnership is one of the presenters, along with the mayor's office and the city's Office of Economic and Workforce Development. Admission is free with an RSVP that the organizers had not posted when I checked.

Renegade Craft's winter fair returns to the Fort Mason Center Festival Pavilion on Saturday and Sunday, November 14 and 15. Renegade's own event page has both days from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 2 Marina Boulevard, with more than 250 artists, indoor booths, outdoor food trucks and the fair going ahead rain or shine.

KATSEYE on the 19th, and the Big Game comes back to Berkeley on the 21st

Oakland Arena's own listing puts KATSEYE on the Coliseum Way stage on Thursday, November 19, with doors at 6:30 p.m. and the show at 8.

Cal hosts Stanford at California Memorial Stadium on Saturday, November 21 in the 129th Big Game. The Cal athletics schedule has the date and the venue on Piedmont Avenue, and the department's schedule announcement confirms it as a home game. Kickoff time and television had not been set when I checked.

Boston is at Chase Center the following day, Sunday, November 22.

The Dickens Fair opens on the 21st at the Cow Palace

The Great Dickens Christmas Fair opens Saturday, November 21 at the Cow Palace Exhibition Halls on Geneva Avenue in Daly City, and runs five weekends through December 20. The fair's general information page has it open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays, plus Friday, November 27, the day after Thanksgiving. Tickets are sold online only, in advance, and are date-specific, because daily attendance is capped. There is no ticket window at the Cow Palace.

Thanksgiving week, a turkey trot in San Ramon, and Illuminate SF

Thanksgiving is Thursday, November 26. Sacramento is at Chase Center the night before, Wednesday the 25th.

The Bishop Ranch Turkey Trot runs Thanksgiving morning in San Ramon, starting and finishing at City Center Bishop Ranch on Bollinger Canyon Road. City Center's event page and the race's registration page have the 5K at 8:30 a.m. and the Tiny Turkey for ages five and under at 9:30, on a flat course around the lakes and gardens. Bib pickup is November 24 and 25, parking is free in the City Center lot, and the race goes ahead rain or shine.

Illuminate SF starts on Friday, November 27, the day after Thanksgiving. San Francisco Travel's November calendar gives that start date, and the festival's own page at the visitor bureau describes more than 60 permanent and temporary light art installations around the city. The end date for this year's run had not been published when I checked, and the bureau's older pages carry a January 31 close that does not line up with the November 27 start.

Cal closes the regular season against Pittsburgh at Memorial Stadium on Saturday, November 28, and the Warriors finish the month at home against the Clippers on Sunday the 29th.

Farmers markets that run straight through the winter

The Ferry Plaza Farmers Market runs three days a week all year at the foot of Market Street. Foodwise, which operates it, has Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. with more than 100 sellers, and Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. with a smaller set. The market is outdoors and runs in any weather. That gives you Saturdays the 7th, 14th, 21st and 28th, Tuesdays the 3rd, 10th, 17th and 24th, and Thursdays the 5th, 12th, 19th and 26th.

In Oakland, the Grand Lake Farmers Market takes over Splash Pad Park on Grand Avenue every Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Agricultural Institute of Marin's market directory lists more than 100 participants and over 40 farmers, and says the market runs rain or shine. The directory does not flag a winter break for Grand Lake, though an older schedule of theirs marks one Saturday market as seasonal without naming it, so it is worth a look before Thanksgiving week.

Dates I could not confirm for 2026

Several things turn up on November lists around the Bay and are not in the dated list above, because this year's date never came from the organizer or the venue.

Veterans Day is Wednesday, November 11. San Francisco's Salute to Veterans Parade ran on Sunday, November 9 in 2025, as its 106th edition, from the Embarcadero at North Point and west on Jefferson Street at Fisherman's Wharf. No 2026 details had been published when I checked, and the times circulating online belong to earlier years. If you are buying here with a VA loan, VA loans in California covers how the program works across the state.

The San Francisco Coffee Festival held its ninth year at Fort Mason's Festival Pavilion on November 8 and 9, 2025, and no 2026 listing had gone up. The San Francisco International Hip Hop DanceFest has a page for its 28th edition at the Palace of Fine Arts Theatre, and the page itself does not state a date. Macy's Great Tree in Union Square was lit quietly on November 11 in 2025 with no ceremony, and the 2026 date is not out. The Jack London Square holiday tree lighting in Oakland was November 29 in 2025; Visit Oakland currently shows a December 5 entry with no year on it. The Inner Sunset Flea season finale and the Arab Film Festival both turn up on event listing calendars for November, and neither one had an organizer page I could reach.

Oakland First Fridays is not happening in November. The organizers say so on their own site, citing funding, and they are asking for donations to bring it back in December.

Several other turkey trots are listed and only one is confirmed. Race listing sites have Thanksgiving-morning events in Oakland, Novato, San Ramon, Moraga, San Leandro and San Pablo on November 26. Only the Bishop Ranch race had an organizer page confirming the date, so it is the only one above.

A fourth weekend closure of 19th Avenue is not on anything Caltrans published. A November 6 shutdown of State Route 1 in San Francisco shows up in a news summary I could not trace back to the outlet's own page. Caltrans District 4's project page lists three weekend closures that finished in May, with the work left over being done at night. So you will want to check with Caltrans before you count on 19th Avenue being either open or shut that weekend.

Roads, libraries and jobs: what changed for people living here

The Ygnacio Valley Library in Walnut Creek is closed until spring. Contra Costa County Library's branch page gives the closure as September 9, 2026 through May 30, 2027, and the county's announcement lists a new roof plus electrical and lighting upgrades. Anything you have on hold moves to the Walnut Creek Library, and the book drop and the parking lot are closed until the branch reopens.

Contra Costa broke ground on a new Bay Point library in October. Contra Costa News reported on October 20 that the county started work on Orbisonia Village, a mixed-use project with affordable housing, with the new library expected to open to the public in the spring of 2029. Construction runs through 2028.

The new southbound I-680 express lane is open and still free. Alameda CTC's project page has the lane between Alcosta Boulevard and State Route 84 open to drivers since February 13, 2026, with no tolls until the toll system is finished later in the year. No start date for tolling had been announced when I checked, and the northbound phase has no date either.

Tech layoffs slowed over the summer. The Press Democrat reported on October 7 that state filings showed about 3,043 planned job cuts across the region in the July-to-September quarter, down from 7,962 in April through June. That is one quarter of filings rather than a trend, and the same reporting names fresh cuts at Pleasanton and San Francisco employers.

A job change is the item on that list that shows up in a loan file. An underwriter reads a different set of documents depending on whether your income is salaried, commissioned or self-employed, and an underwriter looks closely at a change that happened recently. Getting pre-approved in California covers what gets reviewed before anybody writes a letter, and self-employed mortgages in California covers the tax return side of it.

Common questions

What is happening around San Francisco at Thanksgiving 2026?

Thanksgiving is Thursday, November 26. The Warriors host Sacramento the night before at Chase Center, and the Bishop Ranch Turkey Trot runs Thanksgiving morning in San Ramon. The Dickens Fair is open on Friday the 27th at the Cow Palace, Illuminate SF starts that same evening, and Cal plays Pittsburgh at Memorial Stadium on Saturday the 28th. The race's registration page and the Dickens Fair's information page have the details.

When is the 2026 Big Game, and where is it?

Saturday, November 21, at California Memorial Stadium in Berkeley. It is the 129th Big Game between Cal and Stanford, and the Cal athletics schedule has the date and the venue. Kickoff time and television had not been announced when I checked on October 22.

When does the Dickens Fair open in 2026?

Saturday, November 21, at the Cow Palace Exhibition Halls on Geneva Avenue in Daly City, running five weekends through December 20. Hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays, and Friday, November 27 is also open. The fair's general information page has the schedule, and tickets are sold online in advance only.

Are the Bay Area farmers markets open in November?

Yes. Foodwise runs the Ferry Plaza market on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays all year at the Ferry Building, and the Agricultural Institute of Marin has the Grand Lake market on Saturdays at Splash Pad Park in Oakland. Both run in any weather.

Which November ballot measures would change what I pay on a home here?

Three of them would land on a property tax bill. San Francisco's Proposition H would add a parcel tax for Muni starting July 1, 2027, at a base of $129 for a single-family home. San Lorenzo Unified's Measure J and West Contra Costa Unified's Measure V are school parcel taxes that also begin on July 1, 2027. Measure RTM is a regional sales tax, so it would not be collected on a property tax bill and would not change an escrow account. Proposition J changes the transfer tax on foreclosed commercial and larger multi-family buildings, and it leaves single-family homes and buildings of up to four units alone. SPUR's November voter guide covers all of them, and the county elections offices publish the official text.

I am moving to one of these counties this winter. Where should I start?

You'll want to start with which city the home is in, because that one answer changes the city transfer tax at closing, the parcel taxes on the bill and the local measures on your ballot. After that, the California page covers the statewide rules, and the California supplemental property tax bill explains the extra bill that reaches you after a purchase. In all five of these counties the 2026 conforming loan limit on a one-unit home is $1,249,125, and the FHA limit is the same figure. The national baseline for 2026 is $832,750, which puts the limits here more than $400,000 above most of the country. The FHFA's 2026 conforming loan limit values publish the county-by-county numbers, and Conforming vs. Jumbo covers what the limit does before you settle on a price range.