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There will be fireworks in the San Francisco skies once again, as well as in other Bay Area cities, in honor of the Fourth of July. This year, the possibility of overcast weather can reclaim its spot as the No. 1 concern during the Pier 39/Fisherman's Wharf light show, sponsored by the city. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Father's Day is when your kids serve you toast and coffee in bed, said Chris Armijo, and it doesn't matter if you're gay or straight. You still get toast and coffee in bed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Bay Area celebrated the nation's newest official holiday - Juneteenth - on Saturday with barbecues, bouncy houses, martial arts demonstrations, music and the opening of a small museum featuring a pop-up exhibit on the Black Panthers. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Father's Day arrives on Sunday, June 20, which also marks the longest day of the year and the beginning of the summer season. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

On Tuesday, California and the Bay Area loosened restrictions on outdoor gatherings, mask wearing and capacity limits at live entertainment venues and bars. Juneteenth is the first holiday celebrated after the end of many COVID restrictions, a welcome relief after a mostly virtual observance of the day in 2020. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Some laid flags at headstones, others left flowers. From the deck of the Hornet aircraft carrier floating museum in Alameda, veterans tossed a wreath into the water to remember sailors and Marines lost in battle at sea. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The midpoint of spring is approaching, and that means it's time for Cinco de Mayo. Observed annually on May 5, the holiday celebrates a battle in which a vastly outnumbered, ragtag Mexican army, assembled by the young Gen. Ignacio Zaragoza, defeated invading French troops in 1862. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

As 4/20 dawned at Golden Gate Park, the scene Tuesday was mostly calm - characteristic for a weekday morning, but not for the international cannabis holiday in San Francisco. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Valentine's Day weekend during the COVID era can go a myriad of ways. Those who are coupled (or throupled) up might have already planned tranquil getaways or outdoor meals with their special someone(s). Singles might be planning a day in the outdoors or a movie night in with chocolates and a strong cocktail. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Some were naked. Most were partially clothed. Nearly all squealed as they hurled themselves into the 52-degree water at Ocean Beach on Friday for the annual - albeit unsanctioned this year - Polar Bear Plunge. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Ryan King, a software engineer in San Francisco, celebrates his daughters' birthdays in November and December, along with the year-end holidays. Toward the tail end of the festivities, he said, it feels like "months of breaking down cardboard every night." [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

It was Christmas morning, and not a creature in Alexis Gallagher's home was stirring: not his wife Ringae, not his 12-year-old son Odysseus, and not his 9-year-old daughter Kallisto. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

As Christmas morning dawned gray and overcast in San Francisco, Queen Atapka and Alquista Ryans, both 39, bustled through the lobby of Clementina Towers in the South of Market neighborhood, past garlands and other festive decor, clutching heavy cardboard boxes. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Light showers are expecting to arrive in the Bay Area Thursday afternoon, bringing the gift of perhaps an inch and a half of rainfall to parts of the Bay Area this holiday weekend. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Zara Stone's sister, Lisa, was born on Christmas Day. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

San Francisco fire crews at 17 stations decorated their firehouses with just two weeks' notice, reviving a 70-year-old holiday contest in hopes of bringing some light and joy to city neighborhoods during the pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Despite increasingly stern warnings from public officials and health experts to stay home, some shoppers were eager to have some semblance of normalcy. Indoor malls in San Francisco and San Mateo County each had dozens of last-minute shoppers midday Wednesday, though a limited daytime crowd allowed shoppers to keep the required distance from each other in stores and in lines. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Jami Smith mailed Christmas presents from Richmond to her family in Arizona on Dec. 11. She paid for priority shipping and her package was set to be delivered on the 14th. It didn't show up. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

For many, December is usually the busiest time of year, a month of parties and family gatherings. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Here's a guide to holiday excitement you can find at home or around the Bay Area. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Michael Smuin was a master at building dependable, durable, crowd-pleasing machines. Perhaps the ultimate proof of this can be seen now through Dec. 24 in the online stream of Smuin Contemporary Ballet's "The Christmas Ballet." [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The climb up Castro Hill to 3650 21st St., the place most people know as the "Tom and Jerry House," is a sharp climb, the sort that leaves a person breathless and nearly turns the city sideways. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

There has been much talk about how the holidays just won't be the same this pandemic year. "The holidays," of course, being the PC euphemism for Christmas. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

It's been no sleigh ride, 2020. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Hoping to brighten an increasingly grim holiday season, San Francisco firefighters will revive a tradition last seen during the Harry S. Truman administration: a city firehouse-decorating contest with prize money going to charity. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

There are few places in the world that consistently draw artists and writers, and we're lucky enough to live in one of them. That also means you need not look far for the perfect literary gift. Here are some of the best titles by local authors that were released in 2020, and what our critics had to say about each. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

It's December, which means you're one of two things: already finished with your holiday shopping, or stressing because you have no idea what to get the special people in your life. That's OK, though. Datebook is here to help. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Ask any American what Hanukkah is about, and they will lovingly name-check latkes. The golden, crispy potato fritters have become synonymous with the Jewish holiday that starts Dec. 10 this year. But another holiday staple, filled doughnuts called sufganiyot, are now starting to take off in Bay Area bakeries. These aren't just traditional jelly donuts: Instead, they're dolled up with incredible toppings like meringue kisses, amaretti cookies and crunchy chocolate pearls, and filled with anything from chocolate ganache to pistachio cream. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Like magic in 1948, a dozen teams of reindeer flew into San Francisco. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

He sees you when you're sneezing, he knows when you've got aches, he knows if you've been bad or good so don't go near for goodness' sake. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Debra Blanchard wanted to spend Thanksgiving in bed, to ignore the upcoming holidays completely. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

It was mid-morning Thursday, and Miles Epstein wasn't even halfway through his Thanksgiving itinerary. He'd already exchanged homemade treats with neighbors, but two big family Zoom calls still beckoned. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

At Just Be's For the Culture holiday market last year, tables were stocked with handmade soaps and wide silver bracelets. Vendors sold denim jackets and original art, ceramic dishes and T-shirts emblazoned with the words: "Dope Black women, may we know them, may we be them, may we raise them." [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Here's a handy guide to virtual Turkey trots and other Thanksgiving excitement you can find at home or around the Bay Area. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Christmastime has been the backdrop for some of filmmaker Chris Columbus' career milestones: "Gremlins" (1984), one of his earliest produced screenplays, and the first two "Home Alone" films, which in the early 1990s made him the top comedy director in box office history. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

I relish my role as the holiday etiquette police. Tongue firmly in cheek, I insist that the seasons be respected and have my eyes open for violations to decorum and decor. Why rush into a new holiday before we've fully celebrated its predecessor? Conversely, I don't believe in staying too long at the party once the season is over. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

No puppies will climb over each other in the windows at Macy's in San Francisco this season, and there will be no kittens rolling around. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Most years, Joey and Jen McDaniel cook "way too much food" and open their house to friends for what they call "Orphan Thanksgiving." If somebody doesn't have a place to celebrate the holiday, they can always go to the McDaniels' Menlo Park home. The day goes in waves, as guests - sometimes as many as 15 - pop in when they can. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Here's a handy guide to some edifying Thanksgiving and holiday excitement you can find at home or around the Bay Area. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Isabel Morales was among hundreds of Contra Costa County residents who lined up at a free drive-through coronavirus testing site in Concord this week, hoping to clarify her health status ahead of Thanksgiving. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Like so many things this year, Thanksgiving will look a little different - particularly for the thousands of people expected to line up for free holiday meals at charitable kitchens all over the Bay Area. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

As coronavirus cases surge, San Francisco's Rainbow Grocery is experimenting with a new tactic to bring customers inside: reservations. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

With coronavirus cases swiftly rising, officials from the greater Bay Area are urging people to approach the holidays with extra caution. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Here's a handy guide to some edifying holiday and harvest time excitement you can find at home or around the Bay Area: [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

To help turn American Conservatory Theater's "A Christmas Carol" into a radio play this year, sound designer Jake Rodriguez went to a junk store. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Solano County could slide backward into California's most restrictive reopening tier as soon as next week - a first for any county in the Bay Area, where coronavirus restrictions in many places continued to loosen this week. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

After spending most of the year confined at home, Bay Area residents now face a holiday season where they may not get to see family and friends as coronavirus cases continue to spike around the country. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Californians should prepare for "a different type of Halloween" this year, the state's health secretary told reporters on Tuesday. Dr. Mark Ghaly advised residents to avoid the usual Halloween activities that may put them at higher risk for exposure to the coronavirus. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]