San Francisco has busy weekends all the time. This one is a little different.
From Friday through Sunday, the Pokémon World Championships will draw visitors to Moscone Center and the waterfront, the Giants will play Friday before squeezing two games into Saturday at Oracle Park, comedian Josh Johnson has six performances at The Masonic, and some of the city’s regular transit patterns will change underneath all of it.
BART is adding capacity for Pokémon crowds while simultaneously carrying out weekend rail work south of San Francisco. Muni, meanwhile, puts service changes on 12 routes into effect Saturday morning.
None of those things alone would make the weekend especially complicated. Taken together, they mean someone heading downtown, to Oracle Park, over Nob Hill or into San Francisco from the South Bay could encounter a very different trip depending on the day and hour.
Friday: Pokémon, a Giants game and two late crowds at The Masonic
The Pokémon World Championships begin Friday, Aug. 28, at Moscone Center and continue through Sunday.
BART says it expects enough additional ridership to run longer evening trains on several lines during the championships. Powell Street is the closest BART station to Moscone Center.
The event also has a waterfront component. BART says a Pokémon drone show is expected near the Ferry Building at about 9:35 p.m. Friday, with additional shows expected Saturday and Sunday evenings.
That means the Pokémon crowd will not necessarily disperse when activity at Moscone winds down. Some visitors are likely to move toward the Embarcadero later in the evening.
Oracle Park has a Giants-Diamondbacks game Friday as well, adding another event crowd to the eastern side of the city.
And up on Nob Hill, Josh Johnson begins a six-show San Francisco run at The Masonic with performances at 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. Friday. Live Nation lists four more performances over the weekend. Our Comedy Band Camp guide has all six times and explains the format.
Saturday is where almost everything overlaps
Saturday brings the second day of Pokémon Worlds, two Giants games, two Josh Johnson performances, the first day of BART’s weekend rail replacement work and a new Muni service plan.
The Giants will play the Arizona Diamondbacks twice at Oracle Park, at 1:05 p.m. and 7:05 p.m.
The afternoon game is the game that had originally been scheduled for Sunday. Major League Baseball says it was moved to Saturday. The Jung Hoo Lee bobblehead giveaway moved with that game and is scheduled for the first 15,000 fans at the 1:05 p.m. game. The night game includes the Giants’ Jeff Kent Hall of Fame celebration.
Anyone attending both games should know this is a split doubleheader, not one continuous admission. MLB says everyone will be asked to leave Oracle Park after Game 1. Fans holding tickets for the night game will re-enter once the gates open again.
That creates two distinct arrival and departure waves around the ballpark.
Meanwhile, Josh Johnson has shows at 5 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Saturday at The Masonic. Pokémon continues at Moscone, with a drone show expected near the Ferry Building at about 9:20 p.m.
Twelve Muni routes change Saturday
SFMTA’s latest service package takes effect Saturday, Aug. 29.
The affected routes are the K Ingleside, N Judah, 1 California, 5R Fulton Rapid, 8AX Bayshore A Express, 22 Fillmore, 28R 19th Avenue Rapid, 29 Sunset, 37 Corbett, 38R Geary Rapid, 49 Van Ness/Mission and 66 Quintara.
The changes are not all reductions or reroutes. SFMTA says the package includes frequency, capacity, stop and schedule adjustments intended to address crowding and improve reliability.
For riders who use one of those lines routinely, Saturday is a bad day to rely entirely on muscle memory. SF News Today has a separate route-by-route guide.
Coming from the South Bay? BART is the bigger problem
The most consequential transit disruption for some visitors is outside San Francisco.
BART says regular train service will be replaced by free buses between Union City and Warm Springs/South Fremont throughout Saturday and Sunday while crews perform rail replacement work.
BART specifically advises riders coming north from San Jose and southern Alameda County to consider beginning their BART trip at Union City to avoid some of the delay.
That matters this particular weekend because Pokémon Worlds is likely to attract visitors from across the Bay Area, not just San Francisco residents.
Someone traveling from the South Bay to Moscone Center could therefore face the BART work at the same time San Francisco itself is experiencing event crowds. Our BART weekend guide has the bus-bridge pattern and the late-night cutoff.
Sunday loses the Giants, but not the crowds
One useful piece of information for anyone working from an older calendar: the Giants do not play at Oracle Park on Sunday.
The game that had been scheduled for Aug. 30 is now Saturday’s 1:05 p.m. game. Sunday is an off-day for the team.
Pokémon Worlds, however, continues through Sunday, and BART’s bus replacement between Union City and Warm Springs/South Fremont remains in place.
Josh Johnson closes his San Francisco run with shows at 5 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Sunday. Another Pokémon drone show is expected near the Ferry Building at about 9:20 p.m.
So Sunday should be easier around Oracle Park than Saturday, but it is not a quiet downtown weekend.
The simplest way to plan it
If you are attending Pokémon Worlds, check our detailed Pokémon Worlds transportation and street-closure guide.
If you are going to Oracle Park Saturday, our Giants doubleheader guide explains the two game times, promotions and the need to exit between games.
Regular Muni riders should check the Aug. 29 service-change guide before leaving home. Anyone traveling through southern Alameda County or from the South Bay should check our Green Line weekend guide.
San Francisco will still be navigable this weekend. It just rewards checking the schedule before walking out the door.