Each month we highlight performances, poetry readings and open mics, arts and culture classes for children, teens, adults, and seniors, arts exhibitions and arts-related holiday celebrations. Our goal is to promote the essential and joyful events that our artists and arts/culture organizations provide for our community! ENJOY!
Submit events by the 20th of each month to:
https://bit.ly/SMCArtsandCultureEventsCalendar
January 1 - 11, 2026
First Fridays: Art on Main
Date: 1/2/26 • Time: 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM
Host: City of Half Moon Bay
Description: Join us for First Fridays, a vibrant celebration of local art, culture, and community spirit! This monthly event invites art enthusiasts and visitors to explore the charming historic downtown area, where galleries and unique shops showcase a diverse array of creative works.
Location: Main Street, Half Moon Bay
Cost: Free
Obscure Movie Club
Date: 1/3/26 • Time: 5:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Host: City of Belmont
Description: Join our Obscure Movie (adult-only) Club to meet new friends. The first showing will be Joe Versus the Volcano, directed by John Patrick Shanley. An open discussion will follow the showing of the movie. Bring popcorn, snacks, and drinks.
Location: 10 Twin Pines, Belmont
Cost: Free
Winter/Spring Session at Noorani Dance School
Date: 1/4 - 6/7/26 • Time: 9:00 AM
Host: Noorani Dance
Description: Join us for holistic Kathak curriculum of dance movement technique and expressive elements, musical understanding, history and theory Levels: Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced. Ages: 5 and up. For more info: email info@nooranidance.com.
Location: 3925 Bohannon Dr. Suite 200b, Menlo Park
Cost: See website for details
Pacifica Performances 50th Anniversary Golden Ribbon Cutting
Date: 1/8/26 • Time: 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM
Host: Pacifica Performances
Description: Join us to celebrate Pacifica Performance Golden Ribbon Cutting, kicking-off a year-long celebration of this major 50-year milestone. Special Performances, Refreshments and Raffle. Open To All!
Location: 1220 Linda Mar Boulevard, Pacifica
Cost: Free
Opening Reception
Date: 1/9/26 • Time: 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Host: Center for Creativity
Description: Join us to celebrate six new exhibition including murals painted at the September Arts & Culture Fest's Mural Madness. Meet the artists behind the work and mingle with fellow community members.
Location: 800 Main Street, Redwood City
Cost: Free, but registration is required
Knitting 101 with Rhonda Rungsitiyakorn
Date: 1/10/26 • Time: 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
Host: Madrone Arts
Description: Join us for this series of session on four Saturdays (1/10, 17, 24 and 31) If you've always wanted to try your hand at knitting or want to brush-up or sharpen your skills, guidance offered in this class will help you to achieve what you desire!!
Location: 216 Stage Road, Pescadero
Cost: $125 for the series
Ol’Man Brothers Band
Date: 1/10/26 • Time: 7:30 PM
Host: Pacifica Performances
Description: Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, this group of talented musicians brings years of stage and studio experience and a deep appreciation of The Allman Brothers Band‘s catalog to authentically capture their sound and style. The Ol’man Brothers Band is a tribute that resonates with fans, old and new alike.
Location: 1220 Linda Mar Boulevard, Pacifica
Cost: $25
Artists Reception Featuring Adrienne Busch, Of Water
Date: 1/11/26 • Time: 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Host: M Stark Gallery
Description: Adriene Busch’s art celebrates the Peninsula’s fog, marshlands, and daily beauty—not as metaphor, but as direct muse. Her pieces function as woven journals—mapping gratitude, intimacy, and local wonder.
Location: 727 Main Street, Half Moon Bay
Cost: Free
Website
A Creative Circle Making Workshop
Date: 1/11/26 • Time: 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Host: Center for Creativity
Description: Join artist and curator Belinda Chlouber for a creative workshop making individual art circles for the March/April 2026 exhibition "Making Waves: Currents of Change" celebrating women artists and environmental consciousness.
Location: 800 Main Street, Redwood City
Cost: Free, artist RSVP required to belindachlouber@rwccfc.org.
January 12 - 18, 2026
Social Stitch
Date: 1/12/26 • Time: 10:30 AM - 12:30 PM
Host: San Bruno Public Library
Description: Bring in your knitting, crochet, or other fiber-art project to work on and socialize with fellow makers! Get help from others, use our ball winder, and see what others are making! All skills welcome.
Location: Community Room, 701 Angus Ave W, San Bruno
Cost: Free
Virtual Visit: The National Steinbeck Center
Date: 1/14/26 • Time: 6:30 PM - 7:30 PM
Host: Menlo Park Library
Description: Zoom with us to Salinas, birthplace of John Steinbeck, and now home to the National Steinbeck Center, dedicated to the famed author’s creative legacy. We’ll take a dive into the center’s collections, where an archivist will treat us to an overview of John Steinbeck’s life.
Location: Zoom
Cost: Free, but registration required to receive Zoom link
Banned Book Club
Date: 1/15/26 • Time: 6:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Host: Peninsula Book Collaborative
Description: Third Thursday of each month. Bring yourself and we will provide coffee, snacks and conversation! First Five registrations will receive a free copy of the book! Jan. 15: Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury.
Location: 441 Westlake Center, Daly City
Cost: Free, but registration is requested
Anything Goes Reception
Date: 1/16/26 • Time: 7:00 PM
Hosts: Sanchez Art Center and Art Guild of Pacifica
Description: Holidays being busy as they are, we scheduled the theme most easy to accommodate first—literally Anything Goes! The show runs January 16 – February 8, 2026.
Location: 1220-B Linda Mar Blvd, Pacifica
Cost: Free
Harvey Wainapel’s “Alegritude"
Date: 1/17/26 • Time: 7:30 PM
Host: Pacifica Performances
Description: Saxophonist/clarinetist Harvey Wainapel and his quartet ALEGRITUDE present a panorama of modern instrumental music from Brazil.
Location: 1220 Linda Mar Boulevard, Pacifica
Cost: $25
Instrument Petting Zoo
Date: 1/18/26 • Time: 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Host: Belle Haven Library
Description: No animals here-- it’s an interactive concert and instrument petting zoo, especially for curious minds under 10! The award-winning musicians and teaching artists of Chamber Music by the Bay are joining us for a fun and imagination-sparking musical adventure.
Location: 100 Terminal Avenue, Menlo Park
Cost: Free
A Creative Circle Making Workshop
Date: 1/18/26 • Time: 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Host: Center for Creativity
Description: Join artist and curator Belinda Chlouber for a creative workshop making individual art circles for the March/April 2026 exhibition "Making Waves: Currents of Change" celebrating women artists and environmental consciousness.
Location: 800 Main Street, Redwood City
Cost: Free, artist RSVP required to belindachlouber@rwccfc.org.
January 19 - 25, 2026
Winter Painting and Poem
Date: 1/20/25 • Time: 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Hosts: South San Francisco Library and Parks and Recreation Center
Description: Join us for a fun afternoon designing a winter white painting with your own winter words poem!
Location: Maker Space, Parks and Recreation Center, 901 Civic Campus Way, South San Francisco
Cost: Free
Website
Poetry of the Coast / Poesía de la Costa
Date: 1/22/25 • Time: 5:00 PM - 7:30 PM
Hosts: San Mateo County Libraries and the Office of Arts and Culture
Description: This bilingual workshop facilitated by San Mateo County Poet Laureate, Antonio López, invites participants to write from those everyday experiences: the smell of salt on clothes, hands stained from harvest, fog settling over small-town dreams. Through simple prompts and shared conversation, we will explore how work, place, and memory become poetry. No experience needed. All languages welcome.
Location: Half Moon Bay Library, 620 Correas St, Half Moon Bay
Cost: Free
Life Drawing Session
Date: 1/22/26 • Time: 6:30 PM - 9:30 PM
Host: Art Bias
Description: Join us on the fourth Thursday of each month for ongoing Figure Drawing sessions organized by Matthew Lipson.
Location: 1700 Industrial Road, San Carlos
Cost: $20
Pop Fiction
Date: 1/23/26 • Time: 9:00 PM - 11:00 PM
Host: Club Fox
Description: From Michael Jackson to Frank Sinatra, Katy Perry, Bruno Mars, and everything in between, Pop Fiction delivers non-stop dance hits and packs dance floors wherever they go. Are you ready to pop?
Location: 2209 Broadway Street, Redwood City
Cost: $18.78
Robert Dehlinger’s Alpha Rhythm Kings
Date: 1/24/26 • Time: 7:30 PM
Host: Pacifica Performances
Description: This swaggering ensemble, led by Rob Dehlinger’s exhilarating trumpet and magnetic vocals, has become a favorite with audiences all over the globe, from Idaho to Indiana, and Beverly Hills to Budapest.
Location: 1220A Linda Mar Blvd., Pacifica
Cost: $25
January 26 - 31, 2026
Thrive’s New Year Mix & Mingle
Dates: 1/29/26 • Time: 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Hosts: Thrive Alliance of Nonprofits and San Mateo County Office of Arts and Culture
Description: Art is Life, is dedicated to honoring the power of the arts to inspire, heal, and bring people together. In partnership with the San Mateo County Office of Arts and Culture, we welcome a new year and gather community leaders, nonprofits, artists, advocates, philanthropists, government partners, and corporate champions for a joyful celebration of creativity, nonprofit resilience, and cross-sector collaboration.
Location: Bloomhouse, East Palo Alto
Cost: Free but registration is required
Hold Out for Joy
Date: 1/31/26 • Time: 3:00 PM
Host: African American Composer Initiative
Description: Now in our 15th year of welcoming the community to concerts celebrating the music of African American composers. You won't want to miss performances music of hope, resilience, and joy - spirituals, instrumental, jazz, and popular music to uplift and inspire.
Location: Eastside College Preparatory School Performing Arts Center, 1041 Myrtle St., East Palo Alto
Cost: Tickets: Adults $22.37; Seniors $11.82; and students $6.54
Artists' Evening of Sharing
Dates: 1/31/26 • Time: 7:30 PM
Host: City of Brisbane
Description: Each year, the City of Brisbane invites local artists to share their work with the Brisbane public at the Artists' Evening of Sharing.
Location: Mission Blue Center, 475 Mission Blue Drive, Brisbane
Cost: Free
Letter Writing
Dates: 1/31/26 • Time: 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Hosts: South San Francisco Library and Parks and Recreation Center
Description: Join other community members in writing warm letters of support and well wishes to those undergoing cancer treatment at UCSF Benioff Children's hospital. Writing materials and suggestions will be provided. Guest speakers TBA. Recommended for ages 8+.
Location: 1st Floor, Banquet Hall, Library | Parks and Recreation Center, 901 Civic Campus Way, South San Francisco
Cost: Free
Dirty Cello
Dates: 1/31/26 • Time: 7:30 PM
Host: Pacifica Performances
Description: Cello like you’ve never heard before! Combine the virtuosic wail of Jimi Hendrix, the soul of BB King, and the fire of Bill Monroe, and add a whole lot of cello, and you get the Dirty Cello band. Major festivals including Newport, Montreal, and Monterey.
Location: 1220A Linda Mar Blvd., Pacifica
Cost: Tickets $25