OakTown Thursdays

A new event series bringing music, food, art, and community back to Uptown Oakland.

Oaktown Thursdays is a fiscally sponsored project of The Oakland Fund.

OakTown THursdays

Founded by FLUID510 owner Sean Sullivan and a coalition of Uptown business owners and community leaders, Oaktown Thursdays is a monthly night market that transforms Uptown Oakland every third Thursday from June through October, 5:00–10:00 p.m. Produced by local businesses and community organizers, the event celebrates Oakland’s creativity, diversity, and entrepreneurial spirit with live music, a vendor marketplace, and activations throughout the neighborhood.

Safety was a priority from day one. Organizers worked closely with the City of Oakland and public safety partners to implement enhanced security measures, including metal detectors at entry points, helping ensure families, vendors, and visitors could enjoy the evening with confidence. That coordinated approach will continue throughout the season, keeping the focus on community, culture, and local businesses.

Created to bring new energy to Downtown and Uptown Oakland, the series supports small businesses, increases foot traffic, and creates welcoming public spaces where the community can gather.

Why This Matters?

  • Every third Thursday, June through October, 5–10 PM, Downtown Oakland comes alive with live music, main stage performances, art, local vendors and food makers and lounge spaces built for connection — the kind of strong, cared-for neighborhood The Oakland Fund exists to support.

  • Oaktown Thursdays was built by local businesses and community organizers themselves, with a vendor marketplace along 16th Street putting real dollars and visibility back into local hands — exactly the kind of locally-led solution we push to amplify.

  • The series brings together a wide vibrancy of Downtown Stakeholders such as FLUID510, Oakland School for the Arts, Fox Theater, Lucy Blue, the Black Panther Party Museum  The Town Experience, in collaboration with other great event producers such as Black Joy Parade, Hella Juneteenth, Oakland Ballers, Good VBZ, and Oaklash — with funding from PG&E,  the City of Oakland, Alameda County Supervisors Nikki Fortunato-Bas, Lena Tam and the Uptown/Downtown BID.

  • The June 18 launch served as Oakland's free Juneteenth Week event under the theme "Bay Area's Juneteenth Epicenter for Music, Food, Art, & Community," coordinating with the Hennessy Black Joy Cocktail Crawl, Hella Juneteenth, and Lakefest Weekend so the city's celebrations built on each other instead of splitting attention.

    This spirit of collaboration and mutual uplift will continue as we celebrate Pride in Oakland, Latine Heritage Month and finally the 60th anniversary of of the Black Panther Party.

Your donation helps keep Oaktown Thursdays free and growing for Uptown Oakland.

Oaktown Thursdays is a fiscally sponsored project of The Oakland Fund. All donations made to this initiative are tax deductible. You can show your support by selecting Oaktown Thursdays on the donation page linked above.

For media inquiries, sponsorship opportunities, or vendor participation, contact Sean Sullivan at seanmichaelsullivan@gmail.com or (510) 282-2209.

GET INVOLVED

Donate / Volunteer / Apply for a booth / Apply to Perform