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4 Free Things to Do This Weekend in the Bay Area

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A woman meets a goat at SF's CUESA Goat Festival (Amy Verhey for CUESA)

Looking for things to do this weekend in the Bay Area? Look no further. Here are four (free!) ideas:

Cherry Blossom Festival

Cherry blossom in SF's Japantown (Alyssa Jeong Perry/KQED)

Over 220,000 people attend this annual two-week festival in SF's Japantown, which celebrates Japanese and Japanese American culture. If you’re cool with crowds, you’ll be rewarded with cultural performances, martial arts, live bands and food—lots and lots of food. (Fun fact: San Francisco's Cherry Blossom Festival is the second largest after Washington, D.C.)

The festival begins Saturday, April 13, 2019, and continues through Sunday, April 21, 2019.
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CUESA Goat Festival

Goats a-plenty will be at the CUESA Goat Festival (Pexels)

Back for its tenth year, CUESA’s perennially-popular Goat Festival takes over San Francisco’s Ferry Building on the Embarcadero once more. Activities on offer include goat cheese tasting and meeting expert ranchers, but mainly: it’s all about hobnobbing with those goats (even though it looks like formal Goat Petting Tickets have, alas, sold out). Definitely not just for kids.

Saturday, April 13, 2019 (9 am - 2 pm)
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CAL Day 2019

Cal Day attendees fill the UC Berkeley campus (Elena Zhukova/ UC Berkeley)

UC Berkeley’s annual Open House jamboree isn’t just geared toward prospective students – it’s open to all, including kids and families, and hundreds (seriously) of free events all around the scenic campus. Highlights include Cal Men's Tennis vs. Stanford at Hellman Tennis Complex, live psychedelic soul with The Marías in Memorial Glade, a walking tour of the Space Sciences Laboratory and a fashion lecture on the history of menswear.

Sponsored

Saturday, April 13, 2019 (times vary)
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Record Store Day

Contact Records in Oakland: one of many Bay Area stores that will participate in Record Store Day. ( Leeza Arbatman)

Yes, opinions “differ” among music lovers on whether Record Store Day is a good thing for independent vinyl sellers. Nonetheless, April 13 is the worldwide day on which you can pick up special, vinyl-only limited releases, take advantage of special promotions (raffles! giveaways!) and generally support your local record store.

Saturday, April 13, 2019 (contact individual stores for hours)
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