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 Dรญa 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.
Annual Fairs & Festivals | Arts, Theater & Lectures | Comedy I Film | Fundraisers & Galas | Museums | Music | Outdoor Fun | Other Events
Get Involved: Community Happenings
MOOlin Rouge โ A Cow-baret Gala, SchoolsRule-Marin Fall Fundraising Gala: A Season for Giving and Festival of Lights
Fundraisers & Galas
Hot Tickets, Media Partners & Premium Calendar Listings
MOOlin Rouge โ A Cow-baret Gala
November 7
Fairfax
Fairfax Pavilion
142 Bolinas Road, Fairfax
Moolin Rouge is our cheeky, compassionate spin on the bohemian magic of turnโofโtheโcentury Paris โ a world where artists, misfits, and bigโhearted dreamers gathered under glittering lights to celebrate everything that made life feel electric.
SchoolsRule-Marin Fall Fundraising Gala: A Season for Giving
November 7
Novato
Bill & Adele Jonas Center
College of Marin, Indian Valley Campus
1800 Ignacio Boulevard, Novato
Join SchoolsRule-Marin for A Season for Giving, featuring farm-to-table dining, live music, student performances and fundraising to support educational equity across Marin.
Festival of Lights
November 27 โ December 20
Fort Bragg
Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens
18220 CA-1, Fort Bragg
Experience the magic of the season at Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardensโ Festival of Lights, where sparkling displays, festive treats, and coastal charm create unforgettable holiday memories.
Annual Fairs & Festivals
Holiday musts, craft fairs and more.
Holiday Ice Rink Union Square
November 4 onward
San Francisco
Union Square
The city’s only outdoor ice rink sets up in Union Square for its annual winter run, with a full slate of public skating sessions and special on-ice events through the season.
Dรญa de los Muertos
November 7
San Rafael
Albert J. Boro Community Center at Pickleweed Park
A free community celebration at Pickleweed Park, the 37th annual San Rafael Day of the Dead event brings ofrendas (altars), live music, art workshops and cultural performances.
Marin Arts and Crafts Show
November 6-8
San Rafael
Marin Center Exhibit Hall
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.
The Great Dickens Christmas Fair
November 21-December 20
Daly City
Cow Palace
Five weekends of costume, performances and family fun, all set in four acres of festive streets straight out of Victorian England. The Cow Palace hosts this Dickensian delight for another season.
Arts, Theater & Lectures
The Big Open, a radio play and more.
When Simon Met Ralph: A Retrospective
October 1-January 7
San Rafael
Civic Center Art Gallery
Marin designers Simon Ungless and Jody Niederkohr take over two floors of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Civic Center with two decades of work from their brand When Simon Met Ralph, known for reworking luxury fabric into one-of-a-kind pieces. The show also debuts a fashion collaboration with ceramicist Susan McKinney.
Siddharth Parasnis: Conversation in Color
November 5-30
San Francisco
Caldwell Snyder Gallery
Pune, India, native Siddharth Parasnis has called San Francisco home since 2001, and his new solo show is full of the places heโs traveled since. Temples, rooftops and street corners from India, Central America and beyond get broken into bold shapes and saturated color, landing halfway between abstraction and landscape. The artist will be at the opening reception on November 5 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play
November 19-December 20
Ross
Marin Art and Garden Center
Back by popular demand, Joe Landry’s stage adaptation re-stages Frank Capra’s holiday classic as a live 1940s radio broadcast. Directed by Adrian Elfenbaum, this play transports audiences into the holiday season.
ICB ART Open Studios
November 14-15
Sausalito
ICB Building
ICB Art Open Studios returns again this year, with more than 100 artists displaying their work across the three floors. Bonus: there’s free parking and ferry access, and Sausalito’s waterfront makes for a vibrant atmosphere.
Film
The Transgender Film Festival, a foundation gala and more.
An Evening with Bruce Dern โ Tiburon Playhouse Foundation Gala
November 5
Tiburon
Cinelounge
40 Main Street
This special night in Tiburon draws in movie star Bruce Dern, for a special screening of Dernsie: The Amazing Life of Bruce Dern, followed by an intimate conversation. Limited to 60 gala guests, the evening includes a red carpet reception, the screening, and a live conversation with Dern and filmmaker Mike Mendez. Tickets range from $70โ$1,000, benefiting the Tiburon Playhouse Foundation.
Transgender Film Festival
November 12-22
San Francisco
Roxie Theater
3117 16th Street
The country’s longest-running trans film festival hits its 29th year with shorts, documentaries and features by and about transgender and gender-nonconforming filmmakers. In-person screenings run November 12โ14 at the Roxie, followed by an online program through the 22nd.
Italian Wannabe
November 22
San Rafael
Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center
1118 Fourth Street
A celebrated LA chef trades the kitchen for a fresh start in a small Italian village in this Steve Dabal documentary exploring renewal, passion and human connection. The screening is followed by a conversation with director Steve Dabal and film subject Bill Disselhorst, presented with the Italian Film Festival of Marin County.
Music
Grant-Lee Philips, a Smileys Saloon show and more.
Grant-Lee Philips
November 6
Novato
HopMonk Novato
The former Grant Lee Buffalo frontman, known for the ’90s alt-rock hit Mockingbirds and now focused on folk and Americana, returns to HopMonk Tavern for a new tour date.
Marin Jazz Presents: Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers
November 14
Larkspur
Lark Theater
Sensuous jazz rumbles at the Lark this month as the Marin Jazz Series continues with vocalist Lavay Smith and her band, known for their high-energy blend of swing, blues and vintage jump jazz.
Mike Hellman and the Banned Books
November 21
Bolinas
Smileys Saloon
Mike Hellman plays roots rock with a Texas drawl, ping-ponging between quiet ballads and full-throttle rock ‘n’ roll. Catch him at Smiley’s, one of the oldest saloons in California, where the drinks have been flowing since the mid 1800s.
Museums
Can’t miss exhibits at the Bolinas Museum, SCA and the SFMOMA.
Paul Harris: The Boy Sews Like An Angel
October 31-January 3
Bolinas
Bolinas Museum
48 Wharf Road
Paul Harris made his sculptures โ stuffed fabric figures, bronze, papier-mรขchรฉ โ a few steps from where they now hang. This retrospective marks what would’ve been his 100th birthday with nearly 40 pieces spanning the 1950s through the 2000s, most made in his Bolinas studio, alongside his old tools, sketches and photos of him at work. It’s the biggest look at his career in 25 years. Opens October 31st.
New Work: Raven Chacon
Through November 7
San Francisco
SFMOMA
Floor 6, 151 Third Street.
Dinรฉ artist Raven Chacon, who won the Pulitzer for music composition, gets his first solo show on the West Coast. The centerpiece is a seven-channel video piece called The Naming of Names, which weaves Ray Bradbury’s science fiction with found footage shot by travelers in the 1950s and ’60s, set to Chacon’s own field recordings and electronic music. Opens October 24th.
SCA Open 2026
October 30-December 6
Sausalito
Sausalito Center for the Arts
SCA Open 2026 showcases nearly 300 paintings, sculptures and other works by 207 artists picked by a panel of judges. Submissions jumped about 40 percent this year for Sausalito Center for the Artsโ annual show, with nearly 1,000 artists sending in 2,250 works. Jurors, including SFMOMA curator Nancy Lim, picked close to 300 pieces by 207 artists from the Bay Area and beyond. Admission is free. Opening reception November 1st, 3-6pm.
Other Events
Thanksgiving events for the whole family.
Marin Turkey Trot
November 26
Novato
College of Marin Indian Valley Campus
Make some room for Thanksgiving dinner with this annual run for the whole family, held on Thanksgiving Day itself. Participants can choose among a 5K, 10K and a youth one-mile course.
Small Business Saturday
November 28
Novato
Grand Avenue
One day after Black Friday, communities nationwide rally around local shops for Small Business Saturday. Commercial districts around Marin are expected to participate again, including downtown Novato.
Looking for more?
Check out our teamโs suggestions for the best things to do in Marin.
Give Back When You Go Out: Volunteer
Looking for more ways to give back to our community by volunteering your time? Hereโs a list of Marin County nonprofits supporting a variety of causes โ ranging from helping our most vulnerable residents to keeping our environment healthy โ where your assistance can really make a difference.
