Leaves are falling, pumpkin bread is baking and folks are bundling up in their coziest sweaters. This November is packed with things to do, including a number of holidays that coincide, like Día de los Muertos, Diwali, Veterans Day and Thanksgiving. Marin’s November events mean seasonal festivities and plenty of opportunities for holiday shopping. Add in film festivals and local concerts, and you’ll be anything but bored this month.
On the Scene | Fairs & Festivals | Arts, Theater & Lectures | Film | Music | Events | Museums
Partner Events
PNOC Foundation Gratitude Gala, Open House: SOARING at Marin Primary & Middle School
On the Scene: Community Events and Fundraisers
2025 Dates TBD Gratitude Gala benefitting the Pediatric Neuro-Oncology Consortium
World renowned physicians from the Pacific Pediatric Neuro-Oncology Consortium (PNOC) will join patient families, biotech leaders and other supporters for the PNOC Gratitude Gala. The goal: raise funds to accelerate treatments for pediatric brain cancer, including clinical trials providing hope and access to novel treatments. Photos by Ronny Knight.
2025 Dates TBD Glide Annual Holiday Jam
Each year, the inspirational Annual Holiday Jam raises funds for Glide’s comprehensive services that provide opportunities to help more people off the streets. Held at the Masonic in San Francisco, the evening’s celebration features joyful music, delectable dining, and uplifting, soul-stirring reflection. The musical portion of the evening always centers on a roster of legendary and emerging artists who perform alongside the nationally renowned Glide Ensemble and the Change Band.
2025 Dates TBD Save Sight Now’s Gift of Vision
Save Sight Now — a Marin nonprofit with a mission to find treatment or a cure for Usher syndrome type 1B, a condition that has affected hundreds of children worldwide — hosts an annual gala to raise funds for medical research to combat the impact of the syndrome. The nonprofit’s fifth annual gala will be held in the Cascade Room at the Mill Valley Community Center.
2025 Dates TBD Tiburon Gives Back to SF-Marin Food Bank
In November, the Tiburon Peninsula Chamber of Commerce embarks on its Tiburon Gives Back program to support the SF-Marin Food Bank. Expect a festive launch party and many area businesses promoting give-back incentives and donations.
Fairs & Festivals
2025 Dates TBD Marin Arts and Crafts Show
For holiday gifts or your next favorite knick-knacks, browse textiles, glasswork and artisan crafts of all kinds at this fair in the Marin Center Exhibition Hall.
2025 Dates TBD Día de los Muertos
A free community celebration at Pickleweed Park, the 36th annual San Rafael Day of the Day event brings ofrendas (altars), live music, art workshops and cultural performances.
2025 Dates TBD Diwali by the Bay
Set up a rangoli and scarf down kulfi at Tiburon’s celebration of the Indian festival of lights, when Main Street comes alive with music, dancing, henna art and food.
2025 Dates TBD Holiday Ice Rink Union Square
The winter wonderland at S.F.’s Union Square returns, with special skate events throughout the season like Flashback Fridays, Drag on Ice and Polar Bear Skates.
2025 Dates TBD The Great Dickens Christmas Fair
Five weekends of costume, performances and family fun, all set in 4 acres of winding streets straight out of Victorian England. The Cow Palace hosts this Dickensian delight for its 40th season.
Arts, Theater & Lectures
2025 Dates TBD Thoughts in Paint
Abstract expressionist Willy Heeks presents mixed media works on paper — pieces that incorporate vibrant color and shapes that are both ethereal and edgy.
2025 Dates TBD Kimberly Akimbo
This original musical swept the Tony Awards in 2023, and now embarks on a national tour. Watch Kimberly, a New Jersey teen with a genetic disorder that ages her rapidly, as she maneuvers high school shenanigans with unfaltering optimism.
2025 Dates TBD Blithe Spirit
Noel Coward’s snappy, supernatural farce from 1941, Blithe Spirit follows Charles Condomine, a writer who accidentally summons the ghost of his first wife in a seance — a big surprise to his second wife. On view at Ross Valley Players.
2025 Dates TBD Nikole Hannah-Jones
Investigative reporter Nikole Hannah-Jones has earned numerous accolades for her work covering race and civil rights, including the monumental 1619 Project. Now touring the country for an illustrated version of the book, Hannah-Jones will stop at Sydney Goldstein Theatre for City Arts and Lectures.
2025 Dates TBD A Whynot Christmas Carol
In the small town of Whynot, a local theater troupe bumbles their way through rehearsals to opening night of A Christmas Story. Spicing up their usual production of the Dickens classic, A.C.T. presents a meta-adaptation of the Scrooge story.
Film
2025 Dates TBD Transgender Film Festival
Shorts, documentaries, music videos and international films air at the Roxie Theater as part of this film festival by and about transgender and gender-nonconforming people. The longest running festival of its kind, the annual showcase returns to S.F. for its 27th year.
2025 Dates TBD Tosca
As part of a regular series, the Metropolitan Opera in New York transmits live performances to movie theaters across the country. Catch their rendition of Puccini’s opera at the Lark Theater, with more performances to come later in the season.
2025 Dates TBD Fort Point: A Bastion of Memory
A public film installation inside Fort Point brings the bunker’s 171-year history to life with photographs and oral histories. See the 45-minute film projected on the second floor, Thursdays through Mondays from 10 a.m.–4:30 p.m.
Music
2025 Dates TBD Kahn conducts Brahms
Marin Symphony welcomes conductor Robert Kahn for three performances of works by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Jennifer Higdon and Johannes Brahms.
2025 Dates TBD Peter, the Wolf and Totoro
In the spirit of its 25th anniversary season, Mill Valley Philharmonic is giving back with a free family concert featuring Peter & the Wolf and My Neighbor Totoro. Attend the matinee on Nov. 17, or the evening dress rehearsal on Nov. 15.
2025 Dates TBD Duke Ellington Tribute
Next up from Marin Jazz, a performance honoring the music of the pioneering bandleader and composer. Singers Kim Nalley and Paula West will perform.
2025 Dates TBD Cyndi Lauper
Cyndi touring career finished with a bang as part of her final “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun Farewell Tour.” Coming to the Chase Center, Lauper will be joined by a special guest opener, drag queen superstar Trixie Mattel.
Events
2025 Dates TBD Open House: SOARING at Marin Primary & Middle School
We invite all parents and guardians to Soaring at MP&MS, our signature admissions event! Soaring is an opportunity to sit where your child will sit and progress, like a student, from preschool through 8th grade. You will see our incredible teachers in action, gain a firsthand sense of the scope and sequence of our curriculum, and understand deeply what it means to soar.
2025 Dates TBD One Embarcadero Center Holiday Market
Your San Francisco tour of holiday decor can start at Three Embarcadero Center’s Urban Patio. Festive cocktails and mocktails, treats and live music welcome visitors to embrace the season and support local businesses. (Psst.. the first 200 attendees get a free drink.)
2025 Dates TBD Marin Turkey Trot
Make some room for Thanksgiving dinner with this annual run for the whole family. Running through the Indian Valley College campus in Novato, participants can choose among a 5K, 10K and a youth 1-mile course.
2025 Dates TBD FanExpo
Score an exclusive comic, meet your favorite voice actor or step up for lightsaber training. FanExpo at the Moscone Center is a gathering for all things fandom — whether you’re into comics, gaming, sci-fi or fantasy.
2025 Dates TBD Small Business Saturday
One day after Black Friday, communities nationwide rally around local shops for Small Business Saturday. Commercial districts around Marin are participating, including downtowns in Novato and San Rafael. (The latter boasts a bonus tree lighting event.)
Museums
Through Jan 2025 Maakon Yomi: Our Homelands of the Coast Miwok
The Marin County Civic Center’s Bartolini Gallery displays paintings, beadwork, clothing and more by Indigenous artists largely from the Coast Miwok and Southern Pomo tribes.
Through Feb 2025 Get in the Game: Sports, Arts, Culture
Sports culture and memorabilia are on display at this new SFMOMA exhibit. Highlights include art by and about athletes, a Guernica made of jerseys and even a playable 22-person foosball table.
Through March 2025 Directing at Disney
A special exhibition at the Walt Disney Family Museum presents rare film artifacts like storyboards, original sheet music and archival photographs from as far back as the 1930s, all showing the role of directors in animation.
Through Jan 2025 The Battle of Pavia Tapestries
Seven massive 16th-century tapestries have arrived at the de Young. An immersive depiction of a battle during the Italian Wars, these historical documents were prized in the Renaissance era as both artwork and propaganda.
Give Back When You Go Out: Volunteer
Looking for more ways to give back to our community by volunteering your time? Here’s a list of Marin County nonprofits supporting a variety of causes — ranging from helping our most vulnerable residents to keeping our environment healthy — where your assistance can really make a difference.
