Saturday and Sunday, June 6–7, Festa Italiana fills Washington Square Park and the blocks around the San Francisco Italian Athletic Club at 1630 Stockton Street in North Beach. Free. Organizers (the SFIAC Foundation) hadn't officially posted hours at press time; the festival has run roughly 11am–5pm both days in recent years, so plan for a midday-to-late-afternoon window and check sfiacfoundation.org before you head over.

This is billed as the city's only Italian street festival, and the program leans into it: a pizza toss led by Tony Gemignani — the 13-time World Pizza Champion who runs Tony's Pizza Napoletana a block away — plus an accordion sing-along, tarantella dancing, an Italian marionette show, a Kids' Corner with crafts and dance lessons, and an Italian marketplace. Live music runs through both afternoons. Food trucks joined the lineup a couple of years back, when the footprint also stretched onto Filbert Street, so the eating is no longer just the booths. Sunday morning brings the 105th running of the Statuto Race, a North Beach institution that loops the neighborhood before the fair gets going.

Practical notes: there's no BART here. Take the 30-Stockton or 8-Bayshore, the 39-Coit, or ride a Powell-Mason cable car to the top of the hill and walk down. Driving is the hard way — street parking around the square is hopeless on a festival weekend. Use the North Beach Garage at 735 Vallejo, a few blocks south, and walk up.

Two hours? Get there before noon, catch the pizza toss, grab a slice or something off a truck, and eat it on the lawn with Saints Peter and Paul as your backdrop. Then drift the marketplace until the accordions start.