Pride Week, Bluegrass Cookouts & Secret Dessert Magic

🎭 Cool Events This Week

👾 Thirsty Thursday at Pixels Arcade

🗓️ Thursday, May 29, 6:00 – 10:00 pm

📍 San Rafael (Pixels Arcade & Taproom)

Ready player one… more pint? Downtown San Rafael’s new 21+ arcade-bar is offering all-night happy hour on Thirsty Thursday. Pixels Arcade is basically a nostalgia trip with alcohol: imagine a retro-cade full of vintage games (Pac-Man, Frogger, Street Fighter and beyond) plus a self-serve beer wall that lets you pour to your heart’s content. Your cover charge ($14) gets you a wristband “golden ticket” to play everything – from pinball to Mario Kart – and to tap local craft brews with no pesky bartender in the way. It’s like Chuck E. Cheese grew up, got a designer makeover, and decided to blast 80s hits while grown-ups button-mash and high-five over high scores. Game on, Marin!

Pixels Arcade Website→ More Info

🌺 Let’s Luau

🗓️ Friday, May 30, 2:30 pm

📍 San Rafael (275 Los Ranchitos Rd)

Escape to the islands at Drake Terrace with a Luau event! Enjoy a vibrant Hawaiian-themed gathering featuring delicious island cuisine, live entertainment, and tropical drinks. Channel your inner island vibes without leaving Marin at this all-ages luau bash. Expect ukulele tunes, hula dancing, and plates full of pineapple-glazed goodness. It’s the kind of afternoon where you might catch grandma doing the hula, kids learning poi (the non-coffee kind), and everyone going back for seconds. Grass skirts optional — good vibes required.

All Events Website→ More Info

🌿 Sheet Mulching at San Geronimo Park

🗓️ Saturday, May 31, 9:00 am – 1:00 pm

📍 San Geronimo Park

Join fellow community members for a hands-on environmental project at San Geronimo Park. Learn the sustainable practice of sheet mulching to help restore native habitats and improve soil health. It’s a great opportunity to get your hands dirty, meet like-minded neighbors, and contribute to the beautification of our local green spaces. All ages are welcome, and no prior experience is necessary.

One Tam Website→ More Info

🚜 Point Reyes Farmers Market

🗓️ Saturday, May 31, 9:00 am – 2:00 pm

📍 Point Reyes Station (Toby’s Feed Barn)

The freshest excuse for a West Marin day trip. This charming seasonal farmers market wraps around Toby’s Feed Barn and offers up summer veggies galore – think heirloom tomatoes, sweet melons, and local wildflowers – plus live music and a picnic area for enjoying your artisanal goodies on the spot. It’s a community hub where ranchers, artisans, and stroller-pushing locals mingle.

👉 Pro tip Snag a pastry from Brickmaiden Breads and a bundle of coastal sunflowers, then bask in the small-town vibe of Point Reyes Station. Your tote will be overflowing, and your Instagram feed will scream “Marin life.”

Agricultural Institute Website→ More Info

🌈 Pride 2025: Touching the Heart of Joy as Spiritual Medicine

🗓️ Saturday, May 31, 10:00 am–4:00 pm

📍 Woodacre (Spirit Rock Meditation Center)

Celebrate Pride Month with a daylong retreat led by Amana Brembry Johnson and JD Doyle at Spirit Rock Meditation Center. This hybrid event (available both in-person and online) offers mindfulness practices, movement, and community connection, all centered on cultivating joy and resilience within the LGBTQIA+ community. Open to all experience levels, the retreat provides a space to honor collective grief and embrace the healing power of joy.

Spirit Rock Website→ Register Here

🎸 Laurie Lewis & Crying Uncle Bluegrass

🗓️ Saturday, May 31, 6:00 pm

📍 Novato (HopMonk Tavern Beer Garden)

An outdoor bluegrass hoedown with Grammy-winning fiddler Laurie Lewis and the next-gen pickers of the Crying Uncle Bluegrass Band. Part of KC Turner’s 12th annual “Cookout Concert” series, this show mixes toe-tapping twang with actual BBQ on the side. It’s a family-friendly evening where you’ll savor hot licks and cold brews as the sun sets. Expect virtuoso fiddle and mandolin jams from these California bluegrass phenoms (fresh off an award-winning Grand Ole Opry debut), all in a beer garden setting where dancing with a pulled-pork slider in hand is totally encouraged.

KC Turner Presents Website → 🎟️ Get Tickets

🏳️‍🌈 Downtown San Rafael Pride Art Walk

🗓️ Kicks off Sunday, June 1 (all month)

📍 Downtown San Rafael

Celebrate Pride Month with a Marin twist: a self-guided Pride Art Walk scavenger hunt through downtown San Rafael’s shop windows. Dozens of businesses have decked out their storefronts with rainbow-themed displays and hidden “#PRIDE” clues in each one. Grab a free map, find every color of the Pride flag, and turn in your discoveries for a chance to win goodies like film tickets and limited-edition Pride swag. It’s part art stroll, part game, and all heart – a creative, family-friendly way to learn what each Pride flag color stands for while showing Marin’s inclusive spirit. Think of it as a whole new meaning to “window shopping.”

Visit Marin Website → More Info

🎻 Marin Symphony: Firebird Finale

🗓️ Sunday, June 1, 3:00 pm

📍 San Rafael (James Dunn Theatre, Dominican University)

Classical music fans, rejoice – the Marin Symphony wraps up its season with a fiery flourish. Maestro Alasdair Neale (oops, Hogarth – new conductor on the block) leads Stravinsky’s Firebird, which should practically set the stage ablaze. The program also features a flashy Prokofiev violin concerto with Marin Symphony’s own concertmaster Ani Bukujian stepping up as soloist. Hearing world-class orchestral fireworks in a cozy 800-seat theater is peak Marin charm. It’s like having Davies Symphony Hall’s talent without crossing the bridge (and you might bump into your kid’s dentist in the lobby at intermission). If you need an infusion of culture (or just an excuse to wear something other than hiking clothes), this afternoon performance has you covered.

Marin Symphony Website → More Info

🍽️ Underground Eats

🍰 Avatar’s “Dream” Dessert

Avatar’s in Sausalito (and its sister spots in Mill Valley/Fairfax) doesn’t list any dessert on the menu – but don’t be fooled. Ask for Avatar’s Dream and prepare for a wild treat. The owner concocted a mystical mashup of flavors: imagine a slice of almond ice cream cake studded with pistachios on a chocolate graham crust, floating on a pool of mango puree. They won’t tell you what it is beforehand (“a dessert people dream about,” the menu teases), but locals know it’s a must-try. It’s the perfect sweet finale after one of their Punjabi burritos – a little secret slice of heaven that’s so Marin, it isn’t even on the menu. Enjoy, and mum’s the word!

View Menu → Avatar

📢 Local Buzz

🧓 Boomer Battles in Marin

A spicy Reddit thread titled “Why are the boomers here the worst?” lit up r/Marin this week — and the comments did not disappoint. What started as a light roast of entitled parking lot behavior and passive-aggressive grocery store encounters quickly spiraled into a full-blown generational showdown. Some defended the elder statesfolk of Marin (“at least they show up to city council meetings”), while others described battles over EV chargers and bocce court etiquette like they were reliving war stories. One thing’s clear: in Marin, Boomer Drama™ is alive, well, and probably driving 5mph under the speed limit on Sir Francis Drake.

Reddit Website → More Info

🚍 Teens Fix the Bus?

Two 14-year-old Marin students did what we all dream of: they actually improved public transit. Dissatisfied with lackluster bus service, these eighth graders surveyed their classmates and petitioned Marin Transit to adjust two bus routes – and it worked! The agency listened to the teen transit crusaders, proving that sometimes squeaky-wheel kids get the grease. The online chatter is equal parts impressed and amused: when Marin adults complain about traffic, we write letters; when Marin kids can’t get to the mall, they redesign the system. Next up, maybe they’ll solve world peace before homeroom.

SF Gate → More Info

🪧 The “Happys” Sign Saga

If you’ve seen those cryptic “Listen to The Happys” signs all over Marin and thought you were imagining things, you’re not alone. These guerrilla yard signs have been popping up for years, urging the world to listen to a local punk band called The Happys. A journalist’s recent Reddit thread asked what folks think, and the opinions flew faster than a power chord: some are just annoyed (“for all that signage, the music better be good… spoiler: it’s meh,” snarked one user), others find it endearingly odd. Love ’em or hate ’em, the mystery marketing campaign worked – we’re all talking about it. The consensus: The Happys might not be topping the charts, but they’re undeniably winning the Marin sign game. Keep your eyes peeled for those stark black-and-white “Listen to The Happys” signs. No logo, no context, just a mysterious directive. And maybe give the band a stream… if only to satisfy your curiosity.

Reddit.com → More Info

🥾 Hidden Hike

🌲 Roy’s Redwoods Loop

📍 San Geronimo Valley

Tired of the Muir Woods crowds? Head to this magical 293-acre redwood preserve tucked in sleepy San Geronimo. Roy’s Redwoods is home to a serene grove of old-growth giants (and even the elusive giant salamander, if you’re lucky). It just reopened with brand new boardwalk trails that let you wander among the ancient trees without getting your boots muddy. The loop is an easy 2.5 miles under a shaded canopy that feels straight out of Endor – minus the tourists. You’ll likely have the trail to yourself aside from croaking frogs and maybe a horseback rider or two.

😎 Fun fact Local lore says Janis Joplin used to chill in these woods back in the day. Whether or not that’s true, you will experience some peace of the universe out here.

👉 Pro tip Go at golden hour when sunbeams slant through the redwoods for peak zen vibes.

Parks Conservancy Website → More Info

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