San Francisco's Exploratorium offers free admission to the public on the first Wednesday of every month.

Housed within the walls of the Palace of Fine Arts in the Marina District, the Exploratorium boasts more than 400 interactive science, art, and human perception exhibits for kids of all ages.

Also offering public presentations such as hands-on workshops, lectures, performances, films, and other special events, the museum aims to create a culture of learning through innovative environments, programs, and tools that help people nurture their curiosity about the world around them.

San Francisco's most visited museums offer FREE admission on the first Tuesday of every month. Take advantage of Free Museum Tuesdays at:

Conservatory of Flowers
Located in Golden Gate Park, the Conservatory of Flowers boasts almost 2,000 plant species in five immersive galleries. From tropical flowers to giant water lilies, the conservatory is a lush and diverse living museum for all ages.

de Young Museum
Founded in 1895 in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, the de Young boasts a state-of-the-art new facility that integrates art, architecture, and the natural landscape in one multi-faceted destination. The museum showcases collections of American art from the 17th through the 20th centuries, and art of the native Americas, Africa, and the Pacific.

Museum of Craft and Folk Art
As the only folk art museum in Northern California, the museum is known for a rich offering of focused and unique exhibitions of traditional and contemporary folk art and craft from around the world, demonstrating how folk art, contemporary craft, and fine art are all part of the same continuum.

Palace of the Legion of Honor
Built to commemorate Californian soldiers who died in World War I, the Legion of Honor is a beautiful Beaux-arts building located in San Francisco's Lincoln Park. Displaying an impressive collection of 4,000 years worth of ancient and European art in an unforgettable setting overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge, the Legion is also home to an early cast of Rodin's famous "Thinker" sculpture.

San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
Located in downtown San Francisco, SFMOMA was the first museum on the West Coast devoted solely to 20th century art. Opened in 1935 to "explore compelling expressions of visual culture," the permanent collection comprises more than 25,000 works of modern and contemporary art, including photography, painting, sculpture, media arts, architecture, and design.

Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
YBCA presents contemporary art from the Bay Area and around the world that reflects the profound issues and ideas of our time, expands the boundaries of artistic practice, and celebrates the diversity of human experience and expression.

The Asian Art Museum of San Francisco offers free admission to all visitors on the first Sunday of every month.

One of the largest museums in the Western world devoted exclusively to Asian art, the Asian Art Museum collection spans 6,000 years of history and includes 17,000 objects, from tiny jades to monumental sculptures, paintings, porcelains and ceramics, lacquers, textiles, furniture, arms and armor, puppets, and basketry.

The collection galleries are divided into seven geographic regions: South Asia; the Persian World and West Asia; Southeast Asia; the Himalayas and the Tibetan Buddhist World; China; Korea; and Japan. Winding through all the galleries are three major themes: the development of Buddhism; trade and cultural exchange; and local beliefs and practices.

Every third Wednesday of the month, the newly-reopened California Academy of Sciences offers free admission to all guests.

Located in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, this groundbreaking institution has been a city landmark for more than 150 years, and is the only facility in the world to combine a museum, aquarium, planetarium, and world-class research and education programs under one roof.

This unique combination allows visitors to explore everything from the depths of a Philippine coral reef to the canopy of a Costa Rican rainforest to the outer reaches of the universe — all within a single visit.

The new facility — which employs sustainable materials and energy-saving technologies — unifies the Academy's original array of 12 buildings into a single, modern monument to eco-conscious architecture. Crowning the building is the Living Roof, a 2.5-acre expanse of native California plants and wildflowers, which creates a sense of transparency and connectedness between the building and the surrounding park.

Every Thursday night through October 29, the California Academy of Sciences opens its doors after hours for NightLife.

Adults now have a chance to explore the museum at night in a whole new light, as they dance to some of San Francisco's most popular DJs, enjoy food and cocktails, and mingle while perusing the Academy's world-class exhibits and getting up close and personal with aquarium critters.

Take in some knowledge with your libations -- each week features provocative science programming and a few surprises.

The Golden Gate Park Band has been playing free Sunday concerts in Golden Gate Park since 1882.

Their 2009 concert season (April 26 - October 4) runs the gamut from classical to swing, opera to Sousa marches, plus a wide range of ethnic music. The band collaborates regularly with various San Francisco ethnic and arts groups, who bring to the park their colorful costumes, dance groups, singers, and musicians.

Bring a blanket or lawn chair, pack a picnic, and enjoy one of America's oldest professional concert bands in the magnificent surroundings of Golden Gate Park.

San Francisco's Yerba Buena Gardens Festival presents more than 100 music, theater, dance, cultural, and children's events, all reflecting the rich cultures and creativity of the Bay Area. Ongoing from May to October, the festival is held in the Yerba Buena Gardens in the city's SOMA district.

The first Thursday of the month, May through October, San Francisco's Jessie Square turns into a downtown open-air dance party as the festival presents its Let's Go Dance at Jessie series.

Each month, a new live band takes to the stage, with styles ranging from klezmer to bhangra, from salsa to swing. A dance lesson precedes the performance, and the audience is encouraged to shake their stuff while the band plays on.

San Francisco City Guides offer free historical and architectural walking tours of San Francisco's most famous (or, in some cases, infamous) districts, as well as some of its more hidden neighborhoods.

Approximately 30 different walks are offered each month, year-round, rain or shine. Walkers meet at the place and time designated in the current tour schedule. No reservations are required.

San Francisco's Yerba Buena Gardens Festival presents more than 100 music, theater, dance, cultural, and children's events from May to October, all reflecting the rich cultures and creativity of the Bay Area.

The festival includes a series of one-hour Thursday lunchtime concerts, which invites music lovers to come out to the park and enjoy lunch with a side of jazz, world, or classical music.

Grab a picnic and a blanket to sit on, and groove to the sounds Mads Tolling Quartet, Tango No. 9, Tom Rigney and Flambeau, or others.

San Francisco's Yerba Buena Gardens Festival presents more than 100 music, theater, dance, cultural, and children's events from May to October, all reflecting the rich cultures and creativity of the Bay Area.

The festival includes a popular Children's Garden Series of fun, interactive performances designed to delight and entertain children under 10 and their adults.

Most Friday and Saturday afternoons throughout the summer, you can stop by for a different outdoor show. Hear stories from the Caterpillar Puppets, participate in an afternoon sing-a-long with Charlie Chin, or laugh at the high-tech clowning of the Unique Derique. Or, hear the sounds of Chelle! and Friends, the Venezuelan Music Project, or Balamcoatl: Mesoamerican Music and Dance.

So, pack a lunch, and bring the little ones down for a special afternoon in the garden.

A beloved San Francisco tradition since 1938, the Stern Grove Festival presents free outdoor concerts every Sunday throughout the summer.

The festival's 72nd season runs from June 21 through August 23, at the Sigmund Stern Grove, a beautiful meadow surrounded by towering eucalyptus and redwood trees.

On June 28, the festival presents performances by Les Nubians and Asa.

Sisters Helene and Celia Faussart are responsible for the rich harmonies of French duo, Les Nubians. Their smooth rhythm-and-blues influenced jazz has gained them recognition as Best New Artist, Group, or Duo at the 1999 Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards and two NAACP Image Award nominations.

Paris-born, Nigeria-raised Asa spent most of her childhood searching for her voice, and has found it in a blend of Yuruba, Lagos urban beats, and classic soul. Asa's deep pitches and melodies have hooked fans all over the world, spreading her messages of tolerance and hope.

Every year at the beginning of June, 500 rainbow flags are hoisted the length of Market Street and San Francisco explodes with queer pride. For a city known as the gay mecca for the other 11 months of the year, June is Queer Heaven. The energy reaches a crescendo the last weekend in June with the official San Francisco LGBT Pride Celebration and Parade.

Marking its 39th anniversary this year, San Francisco Pride has been said to be "one of the last remaining pride events that can truly be called a rite of passage." This year's theme is "To Form a More Perfect Union," inspired by the preamble to the U.S. Constitution and in response to the 2008 California Supreme Court decision to uphold the ban on gay marriage.

With over 200 parade contingents, 300 exhibitors, and 19 stages and venues, San Francisco Pride is the largest LGBT gathering in the nation. The two-day event is packed with a wide variety of vendors, artists, music in a range of genres, performers, dance stages and venues, and fun for all ages. In previous years, world famous acts such as Cyndi Lauper, En Vogue, the B-52's, Chaka Khan, and Third Eye Blind have graced the festival's Civic Center main stage.

On Sunday, the always outrageous Pride Parade marches down Market Street from Beale Street to 8th Street, starting at 10:30 a.m. During Sunday's celebration, a "Family Garden" area is provided, which is a less crowded area for children and their parents to party in, so bring the whole family down to celebrate Pride!

The National Queer Arts Festival (NQAF) is a month-long festival of music, dance, visual art, spoken word, poetry, comedy, theater, and film celebrating San Francisco's gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender communities.

Now in its 12th year, NQAF features more than 400 artists in 70 events, and over 100 performances in 18 venues throughout the city. This year's theme is "Threads," and festival artists will explore the threads that bind, mend, and sometimes unravel the fabric of various queer communites.

Festival highlights include the free opening reception for the festival's visual/media art show "Threads" on June 6; "San Francisco is Burning," a benefit runway competition for fashion designers on June 7; Rebel Girl: a Riot Grrrl Nostalgia Show on June 11; and Barely Legal Comedy performed by Marga and the Boys on June 26.

Frameline 33 — the San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival — unspools from June 18-28 at the historic Castro Theatre movie palace and other venues in San Francisco and Berkeley. Screening more than 200 feature and short films — from narratives and documentaries to experimental and animated works — the festival represents the most artistically innovative, thematically rich, and socially relevant LGBT images and ideas from both local and global communities.

The festival kicks off with An Englishman in New York (starring John Hurt), chronicling the life of legendary "out" performer Quentin Crisp from where the award-winning 1975 film The Naked Civil Servant left off. Also featured is Film: It Came From Kuchar, a documentary about the prolific underground filmmaking duo George and Mike Kuchar, who are being honored with this year’s Frameline Award.

Other highlights include closing night film Hannah Free (starring Sharon Gless) the story of a decades-long love affair between an adventurous, butch lesbian and a pristine, married homemaker with a religious upbringing; centerpiece film Patrik, Age 1.5, the heartwarming story of a married gay couple who intend to adopt an 18-month old, but instead wind up with a homophobic 15-year-old; and Forever’s Gonna Start Tonight, a documentary that shines the spotlight on the life and times of America’s oldest working transgender drag performer.

Join your tour guide Henry for an extensive walk through the streets (and over the hills) of San Francisco.

Enjoy the sights of the city as you wander through neighborhoods such as Russian Hill, Nob Hill, Chinatown, North Beach, and Telegraph Hill. See Lombard Street, Coit Tower, and some of the oldest homes and hidden gardens in the city. You won't want to forget your camera on this walk!

To join in, please sign up in advance at your hostel's front desk. This outing held weekly, and is organized by Hostelling International -- everyone staying at one of our three San Francisco hostels is welcome!

Meet your guide David at the San Francisco Downtown Hostel for a free historical tour of downtown San Francisco.

Learn about Union Square, Chinatown, Nob Hill, and other downtown landmarks. Don't forget your camera!

To join in, please sign up in advance at your hostel's front desk. This outing is held weekly, and is organized by Hostelling International -- everyone staying at one of our three San Francisco hostels is welcome!

Walk across the world-famous Golden Gate Bridge with Jesse, the Activities and Volunteer Coordinator for Hostelling International's San Francisco hostels.

Learn fun facts, new trivia, and the history of one of California's most beloved icons while taking in the awe-inspiring views of the bay and the city beyond.

Once on the other side, the tour continues by bus into Marin's picturesque Sausalito, and finishes with a scenic ferry ride back to San Francisco.

To join in, please sign up in advance at your hostel's front desk. This outing is held weekly, and is organized by Hostelling International -- everyone staying at one of our three San Francisco hostels is welcome!

Feel like a hearty, homey meal after so many nights on the road? Then head over to the San Francisco City Center Hostel for a pasta dinner!

Meet Jesse -- the Activities and Volunteer Coordinator for Hostelling International's San Francisco hostels -- in the kitchen for some good times and some good eats. Chat with other travelers while diving into a big plate of hot pasta, made with love by your fellow hostellers.

Dinner includes pasta with meat sauce (vegetarian options available), salad, and garlic bread. You’re not going to find a cheaper meal in the City than this!

The meal is free for volunteers (limited to three), so ask at the front desk of your hostel if you want to help out. 

This event is held weekly and is organized by Hostelling International -- everyone staying at one of our three San Francisco hostels is welcome!

Wipe the sleep out of your eyes and head over to the San Francisco City Center Hostel for an all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast, held every Wednesday and Saturday.
 
Munch on fresh-from-the-griddle pancakes while planning your day's itinerary, and linger over your plate while meeting new friends.

Pancakes cost $1, and are served in addition to the hostel's usual free continental breakfast, which includes coffee, juice, and bagels or toast.

This event is is organized by Hostelling International -- everyone staying at one of our three San Francisco hostels is welcome!

Organized by the San Francisco Neighborhood Theater Foundation, Film Night in the Park is the city's premiere outdoor film series. From May to October, films are presented on a giant outdoor screen in beautiful park settings throughout the Bay Area, including three locations in San Francisco.

On July 11, come see Woody Allen's classic comedy Manhattan in San Francisco's Union Square. Bring your blankets, lawn chairs, and picnic dinners for a truly Bay Area experience!

A beloved San Francisco tradition since 1938, the Stern Grove Festival presents free outdoor concerts every Sunday throughout the summer.

The festival's 72nd season runs from June 21 through August 23, at Sigmund Stern Grove, a beautiful meadow surrounded by towering eucalyptus and redwood trees.

This month's schedule includes:

July 5: San Francisco Symphony and Inouye Jazz

July 12: Joan Baez and Blame Sally

July 19: Sergent Garcia and Curumin

July 26: The Lyrics Born Revue, The Mighty Underdogs, and more

For the full festival schedule, visit sterngrove.org/2009season.html.

Join San Francisco Historical Society Docent Lesley Walsh on a 90-minute tour of the famous Mission Dolores, which has stood in the city since 1791.

Learn how 19th century settlers built the Mission District surrounding Mission Dolores, about Indian and missionary life in the area, and why the old mission survived the 1906 earthquake and fire.
 
Visit the mission museum, the 20th century parish church next door, and the oldest remaining cemetery in San Francisco, with graves of Indians, Spaniards, Mexicans, and Gold Rush immigrants.

Take a free walking tour with the San Francisco Historical Society. From devastation to dynamic rebirth, this tour showcases San Francisco's "rising" after the 1906 Earthquake and Fire.

From the Old Mint, a national historic landmark, walk to Union Square, site of Civil War-era rallies; then stroll down Maiden Lane, a sunny street with a shady past. Visit the oldest Asian temple in the United States and the Clarion Music Center on Sacramento Street.

Join a San Francisco Historical Society tour guide to hear an overview history of beautiful Golden Gate Park.

Learn about statues, memorial groves, monuments, water features, buildings, and the individuals who influenced the shape of the park as we experience it today. Areas covered include Strybing Arboretum, Stow Lake, and the areas directly north and east of the de Young Museum.

Please note that this walk includes some steep inclines, but is mostly on flat ground.

Join a San Francisco Historical Society tour guide for a walk through the downtown area, and learn about the city before, during, and after the famous 1906 earthquake.

As you stroll to Union Square, hear about Chief Sullivan, General Funston, Mayor Schmitz, Enrico Caruso, Lotta Crabtree, and other people who influenced the city at the end of an era.

Blending art and soul in one of the country's most unique neighborhoods, the Fillmore Jazz Festival is the largest free jazz festival on the West Coast, drawing 90,000 visitors over the Independence Day weekend.

From sun-up to sundown, visitors can groove to the sounds of live music from multiple stages, browse eight blocks of fine art and crafts, and enjoy gourmet food and beverages. From Asian to Cajun, paintings to pottery, old favorites and new directions, the Fillmore Jazz Festival is not to be missed.

Celebrate the USA's Independence Day on San Francisco's waterfront.

Enjoy an afternoon line-up of live entertainment at Pier 39 featuring local bands, leading up to a performance by Tainted Love from 6-9:30 p.m.

The celebration culminates with fireworks over the San Francisco Bay, beginning at 9:30 p.m. and visible from any spot along the northern waterfront.

The San Francisco Silent Film Festival returns to the historic Castro Theatre for its 14th year, presenting beautiful 35mm prints projected onto the Castro's enormous screen. Each screening features live musical accompaniment and often includes talks by film preservation experts, archivists, and historians who shine a light on the silent era.

Douglas Fairbanks, John Gilbert, Lillian Gish -- all superstars of the silent era -- are just a few of the legendary talents returning to the big screen for 2009. The festival also welcomes back some of the finest musicians to match music to image, including Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra, Philip Carli, Stephen Horne, Dennis James, and Donald Sosin.

The festival kicks off with The Gaucho, a 1927 film starring Fairbanks as a rakish bandit leader, which is accompanied by an original score written and performed just for the Silent Film Festival. Other highlights include King Vidor's lost swashbuckling romance Bardelys the Magnificent; So's Your Old Man, a comedy starring W.C. Fields and introduced at the festival by filmmaker Terry Zwigoff; Czechoslovakian scorcher Erotikon; and a matinee featuring one of Walt Disney's earliest characters, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.

Step back in time as the Castro relives its early days, screening these silent gems as it did when it opened in 1922.

For five decades, the award-winning San Francisco Mime Troupe has presented socially relevant theater that enlightens, entertains, and provokes, with free outdoor performances of original productions that incorporate song, dance, music, and comedy.

This year, this Tony Award-winning company celebrates its 50th anniversary season with a musical satire of monumental proportions, Too Big to Fail.

Told in the tradition of the West African griots, this modern day epic follows Filije, a man in love with his family, his village, and most of all, his beloved goat, Bamusa, on an odyssey through the twists and turns of banking bureaucracy and international finance to find out how all the greed got started, and more importantly, how the hell we turn it off.

For five decades, the award-winning San Francisco Mime Troupe has presented socially relevant theater that enlightens, entertains, and provokes, with free outdoor performances of original productions that incorporate song, dance, music, and comedy.

This year, this Tony Award-winning company celebrates its 50th anniversary season with a musical satire of monumental proportions, Too Big to Fail.

Told in the tradition of the West African griots, this modern day epic follows Filije, a man in love with his family, his village, and most of all, his beloved goat, Bamusa, on an odyssey through the twists and turns of banking bureaucracy and international finance to find out how all the greed got started, and more importantly, how the hell we turn it off.

For five decades, the award-winning San Francisco Mime Troupe has presented socially relevant theater that enlightens, entertains, and provokes, with free outdoor performances of original productions that incorporate song, dance, music, and comedy.

This year, this Tony Award-winning company celebrates its 50th anniversary season with a musical satire of monumental proportions, Too Big to Fail.

Told in the tradition of the West African griots, this modern day epic follows Filije, a man in love with his family, his village, and most of all, his beloved goat, Bamusa, on an odyssey through the twists and turns of banking bureaucracy and international finance to find out how all the greed got started, and more importantly, how the hell we turn it off.

Join the San Francisco Symphony for a free outdoor concert in the Mission District's beautiful Dolores Park.

This San Francisco summertime tradition features a concert in the open air, food and beverage vendors, and an opportunity to meet orchestra members and hear them demonstrate their instruments before the concert.

James Gaffigan leads the symphony in a program that includes excerpts from Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake, Romeo and Juliet Fantasy-Overture, and Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 in C minor.

Shakespeare, hip hop, improv, folk tales, solo performers, musical, magic, comedy, drama, and a full children's program -- it's all part of the diverse San Francisco Theater Festival.

This free celebration of Bay Area theater offers 130 short shows on 17 stages, all on one day and within a two-block radius in downtown San Francisco. Bay Area theater companies will perform one-acts, scenes and excerpts, and solo performances, including 30 shows especially for children.

This year, audiences can catch an excerpt of Wicked (performed by the current San Francisco cast) and a performance from the long-running Beach Blanket Babylon, both presented by comedian David Alan Grier.

The San Francisco Fisherman's Wharf Hostel is inviting all guests staying at the Fisherman's Wharf, City Center, and Downtown hostels to a free BBQ on July 4 to celebrate the U.S.A.'s Independence Day!

Whether you're far away from your hometown's fireworks, or have never experienced this distinctly American holiday, the Fisherman's Wharf hostel will have you feeling festive with free food and music in the bayside beauty of a National Park.

Meet and mingle with other hostel guests from around the world as you munch on grilled hot dogs, hamburgers, veggie burgers, and other tasty BBQ treats. Sunbathe on the hostel's grassy front lawn, enjoy some groovy tunes, and make new friends over the indoor pool table while waiting for the next round of franks. The party keeps going until the food runs out, so be sure to get their early!

After you've eaten your fill, meander down the wooded path behind the hostel to take in the stunning sights of the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, and the shining bay. Or, grab a sweatshirt and stake out a spot to watch the waterfront fireworks.

At 9:30 p.m. the fireworks launch from barges floating in front of Pier 39, and from the Municipal Pier which is a short walk along the Golden Gate Promenade from the hostel. The fireworks are visible from any spot along the northern waterfront -- try the Marina Green or the Presidio's Crissy Field. But be sure to dress in layers! Even if the day is hot, the summer nights in San Francisco can get downright chilly.