Annual Events in Sausalito

Sausalito doesn't run a packed festival calendar — this is a town that mostly lets its waterfront speak for itself — but a handful of traditions come back every year, and one long-running one is currently on hold. Here's what's actually happening, not what used to happen.

Sausalito Art Festival — on hold since 2021

If you've read that Sausalito has a Labor Day art festival, that's out of date, and it's worth knowing why before you build a trip around it. The Art Festival ran at Marinship Park every Labor Day weekend from 1952 to 2021 — several hundred juried artists, a crowd in the tens of thousands, one of the country's better-regarded outdoor art shows. In late 2020 a homeless encampment moved into the park, the city's plan to relocate it landed in federal court, and the Sausalito Art Festival Foundation had to cancel that year's event for lack of a confirmed site. The encampment's long gone, but the park itself is still closed and needs repair, and the Foundation says on its own site that no other location in town can hold an event even half the size of the original. It hasn't returned, and there's no announced date for when it will.

What's actually running in its place: Sausalito Art & Harbor Days, a fourth-Saturday-of-the-month market at Tracy Way, Ferry Landing Plaza, and Gabrielson Park with local makers and live music, and a full calendar at the Sausalito Center for the Arts at 750 Bridgeway, the year-round gallery space the Art Festival Foundation helped fund. If art was the draw, check the Center's calendar before you go — it's a better bet than waiting on the old festival.

Winterfest Sausalito Lighted Boat Parade & Fireworks — mid-December

Local sail- and powerboats string themselves with lights and cruise Richardson Bay after dark on a Saturday evening in mid-December, followed by a fireworks show over the water — the whole thing now runs under the name Winterfest Sausalito. It's free to watch, rain or shine, with the parade itself running roughly 6 to 7:15 p.m. and fireworks right after. Gabrielson Park, right on the downtown waterfront, is the spot the organizers themselves point people to, though it fills up by mid-afternoon — arrive early or stake out a table at a bay-facing restaurant instead. Premium reserved seating is sometimes sold in advance if you'd rather not compete for a spot on the grass. Dress warmer than you think; the wind off the bay after sunset in December is no joke. A Jingle Bell 5K and kids' fun run follow the next morning if you're still in town.

Sausalito Chili Cook-Off — September, at Dunphy Park

A one-day city-run fundraiser at Dunphy Park where local restaurants, community groups, and even a few city council candidates compete chili-for-chili in front of a live band, with a hot pepper eating contest around 1 p.m. for anyone brave enough to sign up. Tasting wristbands run $25 to $30 and get you unlimited samples starting at noon; the event itself is free to walk through if you'd rather just watch. It's a smaller, more neighborhood-feeling event than the old Art Festival ever was — closer to a block party than a production.

Floating Homes Tour — private, book-ahead

This one isn't a single weekend anymore — the Floating Homes Association now runs small private guided tours by request rather than one big annual open house. Book a date through the Association's own site for a group of 10 to 40, and a guide walks you through the community and inside one to four actual houseboats, depending on group size, with the chance to talk to homeowners directly. It's still the only sanctioned way to see the inside of one of these homes rather than just admiring them from the public walkway, and it's worth knowing that past residents of the community have included Otis Redding — he reportedly wrote "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" while staying on a houseboat here — actor Sterling Hayden, and members of the Kingston Trio. A deposit secures your date, so book ahead of a trip rather than hoping to walk up.

None of these are the reason to visit Sausalito on their own, but if one lines up with your trip, build the day around it. The rest of the year, the waterfront, the shops on Bridgeway, and the ferry ride itself are the real draw — see our Things To Do guide for that.