ABCey’s Weekend Lineup 7/28-7/30

It’s almost Friday! ABCey brings you this week’s Weekend Lineup with the top events in the Bay Area for the upcoming weekend! There is everything from kite festivals and yoga fests to picnics and music in the park! 


Weekend Lineup: Berkeley Kite Festival

Weekend Lineup

July 29th-30th | 10am-6pm | Free Admission, Parking $15| Berkeley Marina, University Ave and Marina Blvd

Who said kites were only for kids?! Come fly your kite at the 32nd Annual Berkeley Kite Festival and West Coast Kite Championships. The event will also include music, food and hands-on activities for everyone to enjoy!

Yoga Fest

Weekend Lineup

Saturday, July 29th | 10am-5pm | Free Admission | Sports Basement Berkeley, 2727 Milvia St, Berkeley, CA

The Yoga Fest in Berkeley is finally here! Join this event with your fellow yogis as there are 5 different classes to choose from. If you come join the relaxation and fun, you will have the opportunity to get 20% off at the Sports Basement store!

Music in the Park

weekend lineup

Saturday, July 29th | 12pm-8pm| Free Admission | Mission Dolores Park, San Francisco, CA

Come party at Dolores Park while listening to live music from local musicians! Sit back, relax and have fun with your friends and family under the sun in the beautiful park of San Francisco!

Presidio Picnic

weekend lineup

Sunday, July 30th | 11am-4pm | Free Admission| Main Post Lawn, 103 Montgomery St, San Francisco, CA

Who doesn’t love food trucks?! Off The Grid at The Presidio is back for families to enjoy good food and fun activities! Even though there will be tasty food, there will also be free activities such as yoga classes, games and a photo booth!


What events will you be attending this weekend? Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook or Twitter! 

 

 

 


ABCey’s Weekend Lineup: 7/1/16 – 7/3/16

July is already upon us and it’s almost the weekend! We hope you are just as excited as we are for Independence Day on Monday, and ABCey has you covered with all of your 4th of July events coming soon! Until then, make the most of your weekend and check out these fun Bay Area events!


1. Alameda County Fair

Fri. July 1st – Mon. July 4th, 2016| 11am-11pm |prices vary| 4501 Pleasanton Ave. Pleasanton, CA

If you haven’t gone to the fair yet, GO!  This fair is a must-see attraction for everyone!  For kids, there is a children’s park, adventure park, petting zooferris wheel, and carnival.  Adults can be entertained with horse races, a beer garden, a wine bar, shopping areas, and live concerts.  There are only 4 more days til’ the fair is over, so come check it out before it’s too late!

Alameda county fair at night with lights

2. 32nd Annual Fillmore Jazz Festival

Sat July 2nd & Sun July 3rd, 2016 | 10am-6pm | FREE | Fillmore St.–Jackson to Eddy St, San Francisco

Enjoy two days of music, food, art, and fun at the Fillmore Jazz Festival!  This festival takes over more than 12 blocks and has every kind of food and craft imaginable.  With 32 years under its belt, this festival has become incredibly popular and the largest free jazz festival on the West Coast.  Join the other 100,000 people who attend this event and jazz up your weekend!

Weekend Fillmore Jazz Festival image with flying seagull carrying a jazz musical instrument case, wearing a black hat.

3. Golden Gate Park: Guided Trail and Nature Walk

Sat. July 2nd, 2016 | 10am-12pm | FREE | Stow Lake, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco

Experience nature this weekend and take a guided tour through Golden Gate Park.  This guided tour is free and a perfect way to collect your thoughts while getting fit!  With your own personal tour guide, you can learn all about the park, plants, and wildlife.  So get out and enjoy the great outdoors with a nice stroll!

Golden Gate Park pond with birds floating in the water and sunlight coming through the trees

4. Free Opera at the Ballpark: Carmen

Sat. July 2nd, 2016 | 7:30pm | FREE, RSVP for Early Entry Tickets | AT&T Park; 24 Willie Mays Plaza, San Francisco

Mix things up this weekend by seeing a play…a free play!  This Saturday, the San Francisco Opera is hosting a live simulcast and projecting their current play, Carmen, on AT&T Park’s huge video screen.  You will definitely be entertained by Carmen, a femme fatale play with jealousy, danger, love and murder.  Head out to the ball park to watch this captivating play and a special pre-show and intermission with the other 30,000 attendees!

SF opera at AT&T Park

 

5. Off the Grid: Presidio Picnic & Food Truck Party

Sun. July 3rd, 2016 | 11am-4pm | FREE | 103 Montgomery Street, Main Post, Presidio, San Francisco

This year, Off the Grid has revamped their picnic and food truck event held in Presidio Park. They now have over the 30 food and beverage trucks, free yoga classes, games, and music!  You can also get clothes and accessories at their mobile shop, produce from their market, and help planning your next activity in San Francisco.  There are also FREE shuttles, PresidiGo, that travel to Embarcadero BART, certain SF streets, MUNI, and around the park.  Don’t miss the chance to relax on the grass field and enjoy great food and company!

Presidio park filled with people standing and sitting and tents for Off the Grid: Presidio Picnic

Extra Event: Marin County Fair Fireworks and S’more Feast

Fri. July 1st, 2016 | 8:30pm – 10:00pm | FREE | McInnis Park: 310 Smith Ranch Road, San Rafael, CA

Because this weekend is so jam packed, we have one more event that will get you in the mood for July 4th! Friday at McInnis Park, park rangers will have yummy s’mores to eat right before you walk to the top of the Nike Site to watch the 9:30pm Marin County Fair fireworks show.  Fireworks are always fun especially with s’mores and tomorrow you can get both for free!

McInnis Park with s'mores

What are you planning on doing this weekend? Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook &  Twitter!


How To: Party on the Cheap!

It’s summertime and there’s ALWAYS a reason to celebrate! Getting the gang together for a night out “just because” can get pricy, but don’t let that stop you! ABCey wants you to have a fun mini-event while staying within budget. Here are our favorite ways to party on the cheap!

1. Find your Happy Hour | Absolutely no one with normal job hours can make a 4 p.m. happy hour. Look for bars with both food and drink specials, like El Rio in the Mission. Their happy hour goes from 1 p.m.-8 p.m. and on Fridays after 5:30, they give away free oysters. Sounds like the happiest hours of the week!

2. Take it Outside | When the weather’s this perfect, who can bother staying indoors? Tell your friends to grab a blanket and a potluck dish and meet you at the nearest park, beach, or garden! Pro tip: keep an eye out for free outdoor events in your city, like concerts and craft fairs. There’s nothing better than taking in music, friends, and good food on a summer day!

3. Stalk it Out | All around your city on any given day, there are dozens of events going on that you don’t even know about! Be up to date on your city’s happenings with websites like Fun Cheap SF that help you stay on top of all things free and inexpensive. Bet you didn’t know that there’s a free core & endurance outdoor workout today at Kezar Stadium in SF!

4. Night at the Museum | When the sun goes down, skip the bars and head straight for the museum! Spots like the California Academy of Sciences, the De Young, and the Exploratorium offer free exhibits and special events or tickets cheaper (and more inclusive) than regular admission. Let’s be honest: haven’t you always wanted to have a glass of wine while looking at art?

5. BYOB | Nothing makes wine taste sweeter than paying $15 a bottle in a restaurant! OpenTable has a list of restaurants that allow BYOB and don’t have a corkage fees. Bring the party with you by buying your own booze (and maybe slipping in a flask for yourself!)

What do you and your friends do to have a fun night out on the cheap? Let us know in a comment or on Facebook & Twitter!


Top 5 Springtime Apps

When you think about the word “spring”, your first thoughts are probably about flowers, picnics, baseball season, and the Easter Bunny! We can now add Top 5 Springtime Apps  (app developers think of everything!) At ABCey, we’ve put together a short list of apps that’ll make your spring more enjoyable, fun, and…efficient.

1. Oh, Ranger! ParkFinder: Take advantage of the great outdoors while it’s still sunny (and before it become unbearably hot)! This app goes above and beyond usual search engines, such as Yelp and Google, in providing important information that can enhance your park experience like nearby attractions, seasonality, phone numbers, and even lodging and concession information if you want to make it an overnight trip!

2. Strava Cycling: We love San Francisco because there are plenty of beautiful trails to bike, like the famous Golden Gate Bridge. While there are hundreds of other fitness apps around, Strava Cycling was made specially for cyclists so you can be confident this app is a worthwhile investment. Strava Cycling provides users with not only more cool places to bike but it also tracks your fitness stats as you explore parts of your city or as work on your own health.

3. Eat St. by Food Network: Here in the city, there are a lot of great places to eat but sometimes, they’re difficult to find because they’re always moving around! Eat St. is a neat app that keeps you updated with the locations of mobile food trucks in North America so you won’t have chase that delicious Korean-Mexican fusion taco again.

4. CraigsPro+: Time to roll up your sleeves, because blooming flowers and bluer skies also mean springtime cleaning is near. CraigsPro+ is an amplified, sleeker version of the virtual ad board, Craigslist. You can use this app to find quick cleaning services (if cleaning really isn’t your thing), sell your old winter coats or promote your garage sale after you’re done.

5. Grill-It!: Pretty self-explanatory, but pretty helpful too! Our mouths all water at the thought of perfectly-grilled steak with the juicy, slightly burnt corn-on-the-cob on the side but let’s be honest, grilling is sometimes harder than it looks. Download this app to get tips and tricks, recipes, and detailed instructions to play host to your next barbecue.

We hope these apps will inspire you to try some fun, new things this spring! What are some of your favorite springtime activities? Would you ever use any of these apps? Let us know in the comments below or on Facebook & Twitter!