Get ready for the first weekend of winter and the last Saturday and Sunday before Christmas with an array of great things to do around the San Francisco Bay Area.
In Berkeley, the annual Telegraph Avenue Holiday Street Fair turns over four blocks of the famed street to local crafters, vendors, and artisans. On Sunday afternoon, there’s a free Chanukah Festival happening at Redwood City’s Courthouse Square.
Sports fans have a chance to watch the 49ers play their final regular season home game Saturday against the Los Angeles Rams. There will also be college basketball at the Chase Center, which hosts the inaugural Al Attles Classic.
If you’re thinking of driving out to Vista Point, it’s likely you’ll need to find another way to go, as private cars won’t be allowed to park at either of the Golden Gate Bridge’s lots on weekends and holidays for a while (details below).
Speaking of traffic and transit, it’s a good idea to keep an eye on your favorite travel agencies’ plans for next week. For example, on Christmas Eve, the Golden Gate Ferry system will be running on a reduced schedule; BART will have some peak-commute-time reductions on the Yellow (Antioch) Line; ACE Train cuts its service by half; and most Muni express lines will not run. On Christmas, December 25, many transit agencies will run on a Sunday schedule (BART; Muni; AC Transit; Caltrain; SamTrans; VTA; Golden Gate Transit buses) – but other transit systems will not run at all (Golden Gate and San Francisco Bay ferries and ACE Train).
SOUTH BAY:
Sat, Dec 21 at 5:15pm: Levi’s Stadium: The Forty Niners play the Los Angeles Rams. Expected attendance is 64,000. Parking lots open at 9:55am; stadium gates open at 11:25am. Full City of Santa Clara Traffic Advisory is
here.
- Areas and roadways affected: There will be increased traffic on Highways 101 and 237, I-880, the Lawrence and San Tomas Expressways, and Great America Parkway. Traffic impacts will begin to be felt from around 1:30pm until game time and then again after the game lets out (guesstimated at around 8:40pm). Tasman Drive will be closed from Convention Center Drive to Centennial / Marie P DeBartolo Way beginning at 1:30am and will remain closed through the game.
EAST BAY:
Sat, Dec 21, daily thru Tues, Dec 24 from 11am-6pm: Berkeley: 36th
Annual Telegraph Avenue Holiday Street Fair continues on the four blocks of Telegraph Avenue between Dwight Way and Bancroft Way. 200+ local artisans offering handcrafted wares. The fair runs Saturday, December 21 through Tuesday, December 24.
- Pro tip: From the Downtown Berkeley BART Station, it’s about a 15-minute walk to the Street Fair. AC Transit also has several bus lines that serve the area. A transit and parking map of Downtown Berkeley can be downloaded from here.
- Areas and roadways affected: To the extent that people know about the 4 blocks of Telegraph being closed, there’s likely to be extra traffic on Shattuck (This is in the UC Berkeley/People’s Park area, so there's not really any expectation of free-flowing traffic anyway).
PENINSULA:
Sun, Dec 22 at 4pm: Redwood City’s Courthouse Square:
Chanukah Festival features a 9-foot-tal Decade Recap Menorah, Chanukah in Virtual Reality, arts and crafts, live deejay, latkes and sufganiyot (aka jelly donuts). You'll find children’s activities at 4pm and a menorah lighting at 4:30.
- Pro tip: From Caltrain’s Redwood City station, it’s a 5-minute walk to Courthouse Square; or you can hop on one of the SamTrans bus lines serving the area (296, 398, ECR).
- Areas and roadways affected: Possible extra traffic on El Camino Real in downtown Redwood City and on the streets in the Courthouse Square area.
SAN FRANCISCO:
Sat, Dec 21 at noon and at 7pm: Chase Center: The Al Attles Classic is a newly created college basketball showcase event/one-day quadruple-header. The
first session, at noon, features Stanford vs. San Diego and Cal vs. Boston College. The
second session, at 7pm, features Arizona vs. St. John's and St. Mary's vs. Nevada.
- Pro tip: As usual, northbound 3rd Street between 16th Street and Warriors Way will be closed from a half-hour before the tipoff, to 45 minutes after, the event ends; and there will be no-parking rules in effect on Warriors Way and parts of 16th Street and Terry Francois Blvd. For information on getting to and from the Chase Center, parking options, etc., visit this Muni page.
NORTH BAY/SOLANO:
Sat, Dec 21 thru Wed, Jan 1, on weekends and holidays starting at 11am and continuing until (usually about) 5pm: At the Golden Gate Bridge: In order to reduce weekend congestion on the Bridge,
holiday parking restrictions will be in effect. This means that no personal vehicles will be allowed at either the Vista Point parking lot or the welcome center parking lot. Tour buses will be allowed to park at both the welcome center and Vista Point lots. Taxis and rideshare vehicles will be allowed to pick-up and drop off passengers only at the welcome center. They will not be allowed to enter Vista Point. In addition, no taxi or rideshare staging or waiting will be allowed.
- Pro tip: The ban on personal vehicles still leaves people with several options of getting there: bicycle, tour bus, corporate shuttle, taxi, or a ridesharing service; or you can park your car in the overflow lots along Merchant Avenue, Lincoln Boulevard, or in the Presidio, strap on your walking shoes, and hoof it to the Bridge.
