Celebrate the Bay at Berkeley waterfront festival

All ages can come learn about and celebrate the Bay and its wildlife at with a day of free activities, exhibits, and live music at the Berkeley waterfront.

Take a free boat ride on a sailboat or dragon boat. Hold a pigeon. Take a tour with a guide who will help identify wildlife sounds often unnoticed in daily life. Learn at exhibits hosted by environmental nonprofits, wildlife groups, and the City of Berkeley.

Stay for the live music, food, and activities throughout the day. Kids can build, paint, and explore at Adventure Playground.

You can also gather a team of up to six and head out across the waterfront for a scavenger hunt. Follow riddles to different locations to find hidden stuff animal squirrels for a chance to win prizes.

Bring your kids to explore nature at Berkeley Bay Festival

Walk around the Shorebird Nature Center Lawn, try hands-on activities, and see what lives in the San Francisco Bay and California.

Visit more than 30 booths. Meet with local groups like East Bay Regional Parks, Shark Stewards, River Otter Ecology, Climate Change Education, and the California Native Plant Society. 

Kids can hold a pigeon from Palomacy Pigeon. Nature Sounds Society will have a special microphone to help you listen to specific sounds of insects, birds, waves, and the wind at the waterfront. Look at tiny marine life under microscopes. Explore how marine animals live, where river otters are found, and how people study and care for the Bay.

Adults can talk with staff and learn how wildlife and habitats are protected. Hear from groups such as the American Cetacean Society and Wild Oysters Project about their work studying marine life and protecting local species. 

To ride a boat for free, visit one of the sign-up spots:

• Cal Sailing offers small sailboat rides for 4–5 people. Sign up in person at their office next to Adventure Playground. 
• DragonMax offers dragon boat rides for up to 30 people. Visit their booth at the festival to sign up. 

All rides are first-come, first-served.

Spend time at the festival throughout the day with live music, food, and activities:

• 11:00 am – 11:40 am      DJ Earth Tone 
• 11:45 am – 12:45 pm      Taylor Mountain Band — old-time string band
• 1:10 pm – 2:10 pm          West Grand Brass Band — modern covers in marching brass band style
• 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm          Waterfront Scavenger Hunt begins (check-in 11:00 am – 1:45 pm at festival booth)
• 2:30 pm – 3:30 pm          Bateria Batuki — Brazilian drum and dance ensemble

Grab food or drinks from local vendors, including Curbside Kitchen, Humphry Slocombe Ice Cream, Tacos El Rey, Tita Ammy’s Lumpia, Roaming Bean Coffee, and Royal Egyptian.

Families can stop by our Adventure Playground, where children can build with hammers, nails, saws, and paint under parental supervision.

For more information or to request an accessibility accommodation, contact the Shorebird Park Nature Center at (510) 981-6720 or naturecenter@berkeleyca.gov. To volunteer for this event, please complete the special events interest form.

Team scavenger hunt at the Waterfront

Form a team and follow clues across the waterfront during the afternoon scavenger hunt, with a chance to win a local prize.

Teams of up to six people can sign up and will have 90 minutes to solve as many riddles as possible leading them to stuffed animal squirrels, hidden throughout the Waterfront. At each correct location, the team will be given an acorn to mark their completion of the clue.

The top three teams with the most who solved the most riddles will receive gift cards to local Berkeley Waterfront restaurants.

Ages 16 and older are recommended, but all ages are welcome.

The Scavenger Hunt schedule is as follows:

• 11:00 am – 1:45 pm: Event check-in and registration at Bay Festival booth in the Shorebird Nature Center lawn
• 2:00 pm: Teams gather at the Marina Mall, located opposite the Marina Office
• 3:30 pm: All teams return to the Marina Mall
• 4:00 pm: Winners announced on the Bay Festival Stage
• For questions or to request an accessibility accommodation, please contact marina@berkeleyca.gov or call 510-981-6740.

Spend a day at the Berkeley waterfront

Consider taking a car-free route to the waterfront. Ride your bike along the Bay Trail and use free bike valet parking located behind Adventure Playground. Alternatively, use a shared bike or scooter, AC Transit, or carpool with friends.

If you drive, please park in the dirt lot behind Adventure Playground, the South Cove lot east of Cal Adventures Sailing, or the lot at the former HS Lordships Restaurant. Please do not park in the nearby L & M lots, which require permits on weekends.

Visiting boaters can get free 4-hour day slips to park at the marina. Spaces are available on a first-come, first-served basis. To check availability, contact the Berkeley Marina Office at (510) 981-6740 or marina@berkeleyca.gov.

These events are organized by the City's Parks, Recreation, and Waterfront Department, which offers a variety of camps, classes, and activities catering to diverse age groups and socioeconomic backgrounds. Learn more and sign up via our online recreation portal. See more opportunities on our events calendar. 

Explore, learn about, and celebrate the Bay on May 2 at the Berkeley waterfront.

Links

• Berkeley Bay Festival
• Waterfront Scavenger Hunt event, registration
• Shorebird Nature Center
• Adventure Playground
• Waterfront Amenities