Robogames, the North Beach Festival, Stern Grove, Pride and more -- Bay Area ...

An abundance of unbeatable, world-class events rock Northern California each summer.  On top of the manifold permanent wonders and attractions that San Francisco is renown for, a series of mind-blowing fairs and festivals -- churned up by the pacific summer breeze -- carry revelers happily into the fall (if they can remember what happened).  The following list, presented by the SF Bay Guardian, is a good starting point for Bay Area residents and visitors to get a grasp of what's happening when and where this month.

June 12th-14th:  Harmony Festival Sonoma County Fairgrounds, Santa Rosa; www.harmonyfestival.com.
$30-$99. One of the largest progressive life-style festivals of its
kind, Harmony brings art, education, and cultural awareness together
with world class performers like Michael Franti, Cake, India.Arie, and
Dead Kennedys.

June 12th-14th:  Robogames Fort Mason, SF; robogames.net. Fri, 12-7p.m.; Sat,
12-10p.m.; Sun, 12-7p.m.. $15-25. The world's best robots, humanoids,
soccer bots, and more compete in more than 70 events at this Olympics
for machines.

Robots v. Robots, for now...

"The ulimate goal of the RoboCup project is, by the year 2050, develop a team of fully autonomous humanoid robots that can play and win against the human world champion soccer team" - www.robocup.org

June 13th:  Great American Food and Music Fest Shoreline Amphitheatre, Mountain View; www.greatamericanfoodandmusicfest.com.
12-10p.m., $35-526. Chef and Food Network personality Bobby Faly hosts
this celebration of American cuisine and music, featuring food from
Pink's Hot Dogs, Southside Market Barbecue, and Tony Luke's
Cheesesteaks, and performances by Guy Fieri, Little Feat, and Big Bad
Voodoo Daddy.

June 13th-14th:  North Beach Festival Washington Square Park, 1200-1500 blocks of Grant and adjacent streets; (415) 989-2220, www.sfnorthbeach.org.
10a.m. -6p.m., free. Touted as the country's original outdoor arts and
crafts festival, the North Beach Festival celebrates its 55th
anniversary with juried arts and crafts exhibitions and sales, a celebrity pizza toss, live entertainment
stages, a cooking stage with celebrity chefs, Assisi animal blessings
(Vallejo/ Columbus), Arte di Gesso (Italian street chalk art
competition, 1500 block Stockton), live music, and more.

Shouldn't be too hard to find from the hostel:


June 14th:  Haight Ashbury Street Fair Haight and Ashbury, SF; www.haightashburystreetfair.org.
11a.m. -5:30p.m., free. Celebrate the cultural contributions this
historical district has made to SF with a one-day street fair featuring
artisans, musicians, artists, and performers.

June 20th: Rock Art by the Bay Fort Mason, SF; www.trps.org.
10a.m. -5p.m., free. The Rock Poster Society hosts this event
celebrating poster art, from its origins to its most recent
incarnations.

June 21st-August 23rd: Stern Grove Music Festival Stern Grove, 19th Ave.and Sloat, SF; www.sterngrove.org.
Sundays 2p.m., free. This beloved San Francisco festival celebrates
community, nature, and the arts is in its with its 72nd year of
admission-free concerts.

Stern Grove is awesome and many performances are not to be missed:


June 19th - 21st:  Sierra Nevada World Music Festival: Mendocino County Fairgrounds, 14480 Hwy 128, Boonville; (917) 777-5550, www.snwmf.com.
Three-day pass, $135; camping, $50-$100. Camp for three days and listen
to the best of roots and reggae music, including Zap Mama. a, Sila and
the Afrofunk Experience, and Femi Kuti.

June 27th-28th:  San Francisco Pride Civic Center, Larkin between Grove and McAllister, SF; (415) 864-FREE, www.sfpride.org. Celebration Sat-Sun, noon-6p.m.; parade Sun, 10:30a.m., free. A month of queer-empowering events
culminates in this weekend celebration, a massive party with two days
of music, food, dancing that continues to boost San Francisco's rep as
a gay mecca. This year's theme is "In Order to Form a More Perfect
Union."

The largest gay parade in world history:


The staff here at the GT front desk and the adventure office are here to help.  We're better than any visitor's information bureau.  We can help get you anywhere, just ask us for the info. We know what we're talking about.  See you this summer.