Summer 2025: The best arts events of the season are outdoors

San Francisco Chronicle​

22-05-2025

It's summer, so get outside (with plenty of sunblock, a hat and a refillable water bottle) and enjoy the weather. Music, dance, art and — yes, food — are on the menu in the Bay Area this summer.
45th annual community Planetary Dance on Mount Tamalpais
In 1980, the revolutionary Bay Area choreographer Anna Halprin hosted the first-ever Planetary Dance, a ritual of simple running and walking in circular formation, on Marin County's Mount Tamalpais. The event welcomed people of diverse ages and abilities to participate. Over the decades, the dance even spread around the globe. This year the Bay Area's Planetary Dance will take place in the Elk Glen Picnic Area of Golden Gate Park on May 31, with a theme of Gathering Our Voices: Dance to Take Action. Participants are asked to meet at 11:30 a.m. for a noon start.
— Rachel Howard
Stray Kids
Since its inception, K-pop boy group Stray Kids has regularly blown the lid off venues. The eight members use concussive hip-hop and electronic music as their energy base, rapping and dancing with an explosiveness and athleticism that's only gotten sharper over the years. Their Oracle Park concert on Wednesday, May 28, unlocks a rare achievement in K-pop that only a handful of their peers have achieved in the U.S.: outdoor stadium status.
'Trolls: Save the Humans' at Filoli Historic House & Garden
This summer, troll sculptures created by Danish artist Thomas Dambo from reclaimed materials will delight visitors in wooded parts of the property in 'Trolls: Save the Humans.' The exhibition features six activist trolls 'that have come to teach humans how to rediscover nature and inspire humans to be good stewards of the earth,' according to Filoli. The exhibition opens June 7, at the Woodside estate, with tickets starting at $29.
— Tony Bravo
Presidio Theatre Bliss Fest
The Presidio Theatre plans to host this intimate, family-friendly outdoor food and music festival for the third year in a row. Scheduled for June 21-22, Bliss Fest has rounded up an array of local artists, including San Francisco R&B vocalist Martin Luther McCoy and the late Phil Lesh's son's band known as Grahame Lesh & Friends. Single-day tickets are $35 for adults and $10 for children, with package discounts available for those looking to attend both days.
— Zara Irshad
Frameline's Proxy outdoor movie screening
The San Francisco International LGBTQ+ Film Festival, better known as Frameline, is partnering with Proxy in Hayes Valley to present an outdoor screening of 'Jimmy,' director Yashaddai Owens' impressionistic imagining of author James Baldwin's time in Paris. Bring blankets, chairs and picnic baskets for this free event at 8:30 p.m. June 22. In addition to live events, Proxy regularly shows outdoor films. Check its website at www.proxysf.net for scheduling updates throughout the summer.
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Rhythmix Cultural Works/City of Alameda: 'Rising Seas'
The climate-focused arts series will host monthly, free Saturday performances through August. Locations around the Alameda waterfront offer compelling backdrops for its live global music, immersive dance and site-responsive theater. Headliners for 'Rising Seas 1' on Saturday, May 31, are Puerto Rican bomba ensemble Batey Tambó. On June 21, 'Rising Seas 2' offers headlining artists Gamelan Sekar Jaya. 'Rising Seas: 3,' scheduled for July 12, plans to feature Hawaiian music and dance from Hālau Ka Ua Tuahine. The 'Rising Seas Exhibit' will be on view through Aug. 16.
— Anne Schrager
'Summer @Live' at Frost Amphitheater
See the San Francisco Symphony in the great outdoors at Stanford's Frost Amphitheater. Take in a Tchaikovsky extravaganza on July 10, closing — of course — with the 1812 Overture. Hans Zimmer's film music comes to the fore on July 17, with music from Disney's live action 'The Lion King,' 'Interstellar' and more. Tickets start at just $15.
— Lisa Hirsch
Andrew Rannells at Broadway and Vine
Picture rows of grapevines rolling into a sunset horizon while you cradle a glass poured by a local vintner. Now add Tony Award winner Andrew Rannells, of 'The Book of Mormon' and 'Girls' fame, singing selections from his Broadway career and other favorites. That's the magic of outdoor concert series Broadway and Vine, under whose auspices Rannells performs Aug. 28, at Brindare Napa Valley, with tickets starting at $75. Go to www.broadwayandvine.org for the full schedule of stars this season.
— Lily Janiak