I love living in Marin and taking advantage of the warm Ross Valley sun and enjoying all the festivals that summer brings to our beautiful county.

I enjoy each and every festival, as each offers a different special venue and flavor to the county, but my favorite remains Labor Day weekend’s Sausalito Art Festival, as it combines the best and widest art offerings with live music, marking the near end of the summer.

Photo taken by Lloyd Doppler

The Sausalito Art Festival runs Labor Day weekend, Saturday, September 4, through Monday, September 6, from10am – 6:00pm (5:00pm on Monday). General admission is $20.00 a day, or $30.00 for all three days of the venue. There are discounted tickets for Seniors and Juniors available as well, and children under 6 are free. Music plays almost all day on three different stages and the seats at the “main stage” fill up early for the big name artists. If you want to see the most popular bands, you may want to do the art walk early in the day and then claim your favorite spot for the balance of the day.

Last year there were over 1,200 artists from around the country competing in 270 exibition spots, in all types of categories. You will see booths for watercolors, oil, sculptures, jewelry, metalwork, stained glass, oils and just about anything else you can dream of. Prices of the art range from just a few dollars to thousands of dollars for paintings from top artists. The variety and the talent are amazing!

The Music Venue on the Stella Artois Main Stage:

Saturday

12:15 – 1:45 pm Modern English kicks off the lineup. You may remember one of their top singles I Melt With You “(Let’s stop the world) I’ll stop the world and melt with you.”

2:30 – 3:45 pm The Fixx. A couple of my favorites are One Thing Leads to Another and Saved by Zero.

4:30 – 6:00 pm The Bangles wind up the afternoon with two of my favorites, Manic Monday and Walk like an Egyptian.

Sunday

Noon – 1:30 pm Pablo Cruise. A favorite San Francisco based band with the hit Whatcha Gonna Do – “Whatcha gonna do when she says goodbye?”

2:15 – 3:45 pm The Tubes. Playing their hits including, Talk to You Later.

4:40 – 6:00 pm Dave Mason. The legendary guitarist and vocalist who has appeared with such greats such as Traffic, Jimi Hendrix, and the Rolling Stones.

Monday

Noon – 1:00pm Sons of Champlin

1:45 – 3:15 pm Mavis Staples

3:45 – 5:00pm The Jefferson Starship

Who else to wind up such a terrific festival than the legendary Jefferson Starship, whose roots go back with Paul Kanter and Grace Slick of the Jefferson Airplane.

If that’s not enough, there is also the “Artist Stage,” which will be offering non stop live local bands and entertainment as well.

What’s great is if you are visiting from San Francisco, you can use the Blue and Gold ferry from Fisherman’s wharf directly to the Art Festival.

The food pavilion, although County Fair style food, has a menu for everyone. And if you want fine dining, you can always walk through Sausalito to find a multitude of awesome restaurants and wine. Bikes get free valet parking at the Festival, but parking for cars ranges from $20 on site to $10 if you want to take one of the air-conditioned shuttle buses from downtown Sausalito. Of course you can always enjoy one of the great hotels in Sausalito and enjoy all three days!

So why go out of town and hassle with all the heavy holiday traffic when the best place to be is in your own back yard – Marin County!

Posted by:  Rick Smith