For the foodie:

*May 21: Pledge to be veg and check out Oakland Veg Fest at the Lake Merritt Amphitheater. Speakers, local vendors, and lots of free food samples.

*Aug 20: Join 15,000 other summer loving people and take part in NoisePop’s 20th Street Block Party in San Francisco. Music, food and drinks collide in this delicious summer event.

Aug: 25-28: Eat. Drink. SF. is the premier food, wine, and spirits festival of the Bay Area. Get your fancy on with a one of four Grand tastings taking place over the weekend. Tickets are on sale now. Prices range from $75 – $189

For the sports fanatic:

May 27, and every Tuesday: Get out to a game and score a great deal at the same time at $5 game night with the Oakland A’s

July 30: Who wouldn’t want to get a hug from Buster Posey? The first 20,000 fans will receive a Buster Hugs Mug giveaway with the San Francisco Giants

July 31: It might not be as lively as Bay to Breakers, but the SF Marathon, half marathon, and 5k will snake through the city during the dog days of summer.

Aug 13: Get greeted by a Stormtrooper and even the dark lord himself, Darth Vader, at Oakland’s Star Wars Night, complete with a fireworks spectacular finale.

For the nature lover:

*May 20: Come hang out with a great horned owl and learn about native California animals for free every third Friday at the Lindsay Wildlife Experience.

*June 1:  Become one with nature every first Wednesday of every month when admission is free to enter the UC Berkeley Botanical Gardens.

For the free spirit:

May 21, and every full moon:  Join in an ancient tradition at the Tibetan Full Moon Chanting Ceremony. Students take part in chanting and meditation at the Berkeley location on Hearst Avenue from 8 p.m. – 9:30 p.m. every full moon.

*June 12: Hang out with the bridge and tunnel crowd and like totally enter a poster contest at the 39th annual Haight-Ashbury Festival

June 21: Celebrate the summer solstice wandering the halls of Oakland’s beautiful Chapel of the Chimes as local musicians play modern classical and experimental tunes. Tickets will be on sale soon.

For the intellectual:

*June 7: Walk amongst great pieces of art for free every first Tuesday at The de Young Museum and Legion of Honor.

*July 2 – Oct 2, weekends only: Spendeth thy summer watching The Winter’s Tale at the Shakespeare Festival. Nearest performances art taking lodging in Pleasanton and SF.

*July 16: Pub crawl meets book worm at Oakland’s Beast Crawl Literature Festival. Spread over 3 hours and 36 venues, drink your way through a variety of literary and poetry readings and performances.

Aug: 29-30: Dave Matthews Band: why deal with multiple stages and set times at a sold out Outsidelands when you can just listen to DMB jam out for three straight hours instead? They hit the Greek Theater in August and tickets are $85.

For the country folk:

May 21, and every Saturday: Get revved up and take witness to some serious carnage at the Antioch Speedway. Races take place every Saturday, and tickets run $15.

May 15: Swoon over acts like Jason Aldean, Luke Bryan and Florida Georgia Line at the Shoreline Amphitheater with the Country Megaticket. See eight mega country acts with one ticket starting at $259

*=Free! (use a special symbol to denote free events)