TreasureFest - Treasure Island Flea Market

Since its opening back in 2011, the Treasure Island Flea market (renamed TreasureFest in 2016) is one of the two major flea market events in the San Francisco Bay Area. Treasure Island flea market indeed knows how to attract visitors: TreasureFest San Francisco is a full-fledged festival, including live music, food truck and kids games. The fest is the largest monthly fair in the Bay area and a great destination for a fun-packed weekend trip for the entire family with scenic views of San Francisco.

The 400+ vendors on Treasure Island San Francisco are now organized into five distinct shopping districts: the vintage and antique district, artisanal food district, indie and art district, bazaar district and the TreasureFeast food district. This new organization adds a layer of discovery for the attendees and gives the vendors a unique sense of community to their district.

Vintage and antiques are therefore no longer the focus of Treasure Fest flea market's offering but this does not make the flea market fair a less enjoyable experience. Many vendors on TreasureFest SF focus on reasonably priced hand-made items. However, longtime customers miss the times when the vetting process for vendors was a little more strict and handmade items had not yet taken the upper hand at Treasure Island flea market. Nowadays, TreasureFest, with its dog sweater stalls and margaritas, has begun to resemble an artisan fair rather than an antiques market.

That being said, in terms of vintage and antiques, there is still a decent selection of items, ranging from vintage comics to antique vases, collectibles, furniture, re-purposed items and other rare finds, generally reasonably priced for the SF Bay area if you are looking to buy.

What makes the Treasure Island Flea market truly unique, is its breathtaking view over the city skylines of Berkeley and San Francisco. You can ask anyone who has been there already, and they will tell you that this place has one of the most spectacular views of San Francisco. So if you’re looking for a fun day out and want to take some nice pictures of San Francisco, Treasure Island fair is the place to go. As an added bonus you can see some of the last surviving buildings and sculptures from the 1930 World’s Fair.

Last but not least, The Treasure Island Flea market hosts the largest monthly food event in Northern California, with a carefully curated lineup of 30 high quality and culturally diverse food trucks and stands as well as outdoor bars. Food trucks are located in the Artisanal District and the TreasureFeast Food Park, and provide a broad range of offerings from Asian food to burgers.

Depending on the season there is sometimes live music as well. Each monthly edition focuses on a seasonal theme, such as Valentine's day, Mardi Gras, Oktoberfest or Halloween. TreasureFest knows how to attract visitors by offering much more than just vintage and antiques, but this makes the fairgrounds sometimes a little crowded, despite the small admission fee of $7. Around 15.000+ visitors flock to TreasureFest every month.

To sum it up, the Treasure Island Flea Market (or Treasure Fest) is a place where you may spend an enjoyable day out with your family, thrifting, eating, soaking up some sun and enjoying the food and people there. If your mind is set on buying vintage and antiques, you might want to check out Alameda Point Antiques Faire across the San Francisco Bay.