Nine days and three free events
The San Francisco Fleet Week Association dates its 2026 edition 4 to 12 October, and its dated calendar runs Tuesday 6 October to Monday 12 October. Three of the published events carry no gate charge.
Pair a morning tour with an afternoon show
Ship tours publish five windows across Piers 27 and 35. Thursday 8, Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 October run 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at both piers. A group on any of those three days pairs the morning with the air show at Marina Green, which runs 12:00 noon to 4:00 p.m. on Friday 9, Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 October.
Wednesday 7 October runs 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Pier 27, and Monday 12 October runs 9 a.m. to noon at Pier 35. Neither Wednesday nor Monday carries an air show.
Lines are first-come, first-served. The association names five hulls: USS Ashland (LSD 48), USS Cape St. George (CG 71), USCGC Munro (WMSL-755), USCGC Benjamin Bottoms (WPC-1132) and USCGC George Cobb (WLM 564).
The week calendar carries one extra row on the Wednesday, a Pier 35 window running 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. beside the schedule page's Pier 27 window to 1 p.m.
The air show at Marina Green
The show is staged between the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz. General admission is free. United Airlines presents it, and the U.S. Navy Blue Angels headline it.
The 2026 lineup names 14 acts. The association bills the United 777 as the only commercial airliner flying a fully choreographed demonstration in a United States air show. The list carries the F-22 Raptor Demo Team, the F-35B Demo Team, the Patriots Jet Team and the Coast Guard's C-27 and HH-65.
The Air Show Network produces the show for the association and sells the Air Show Network VIP Experience. Sponsorship and chalet enquiries go to info@airshownetwork.com. The association publishes no VIP price.
The Friday parade
The Parade of Ships runs Friday 9 October from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon along the waterfront and is free. The association states the procession can be seen from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Bay Bridge, with the reviewing stand at Marina Green, and that Fleet Week hosts the largest Parade of Ships on the West Coast. The San Francisco Fire Department leads it with a fire boat.
A group on the Friday holds the waterfront before 11 a.m. and moves to Marina Green for the noon start.
Band slots and the weekend
Free band slots run on every dated day. Wednesday 7 October offers Ghirardelli Square at 2 p.m., Grace Cathedral at 3 p.m., and Huntington Park, Osaka Way in Japantown and Pier 39 at 5 p.m.
Thursday 8 October offers the Ferry Building at noon, Crab Wheel Plaza at 1 p.m., Pier 39 and Castro's Jane Warner Plaza at 5 p.m., the Honor Our Fallen concert at the Marines Memorial at 6 p.m. and the Navy Band at the Heroes Block Party at 7 p.m.
Friday 9 October offers noon slots at Patricia's Green, the Golden Gate Park Band Shell, Crab Wheel Plaza and Presidio Tunnel Tops; 4 p.m. slots at Union Square and Glen Park Library; 5 p.m. slots at Pier 39, Ghirardelli Square and the Powell Street cable car turnaround; and the Chinatown Night Market at 6 p.m.
Fleet Fest at Fisherman's Wharf runs at the SkyStar Wheel on Saturday 10 October from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Sunday 11 October from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with live music, food, a beer garden and a car show. The Service and Safety Expo presented by PG&E runs the same hours on both days at Pier 27. K9 Heroes runs 10 to 11 a.m. Saturday at Duboce Park.
Sunday adds two bands at the Italian Heritage Parade at 12:30 p.m. and a concert at the San Francisco Zoo's Leaping Lemur Cafe at 3 p.m., free with paid zoo admission. Monday closes the week with the first High School Band Challenge from 9 a.m. to noon at the Golden Gate Park Bandshell, in the same window as the last ship-tour slot at Pier 35.
Transport and where the group sleeps
The association asks visitors to ride public transportation and states that parking and traffic congest during the week. Its parking page routes drivers to SpotHero, a reservation app, with no lot, street or event rate published.
The only large-group route the host names is a charter bus through CharterUP, which offers Bay Area service from cities such as San Jose or Santa Rosa. The host publishes no Fleet Week shuttle, stop list or departure window.
The Where to Stay page names two properties. Axiom Hotel sits in Union Square, within steps of the SoMa District, and publishes a special discount for Fleet Week attendees through a booking link carrying promo code GOV and hotel ID 66053. Hotel Caza sits among Fisherman's Wharf, North Beach and the Embarcadero. Neither property publishes a rate, a room count, a minimum stay or a cut-off date.
Engine puts the citywide average at $165 a night across 3.1 million par-rate observations from May 2024 to April 2026, with October at $176 and September at $192.