Sunday 11 October 2026 puts a free parade and a free morning Mass in the same North Beach district, and it puts the paid half of the weekend on the night before. The organiser’s calendar names one hotel, and it names it for the Saturday. That night is the anchor for the stay.
The stay is Saturday night
Il Gran Ballo La Dolce Vita After Dark runs Saturday 10 October 2026 from 5:30 p.m. at the Westin St. Francis Hotel on Union Square. The organiser lists it first on its events calendar and names it the only property on the weekend’s schedule. The parade steps off the next day at 12:30 p.m. A Saturday-night stay covers both. Our directory lists The Westin St. Francis at 335 Powell Street in the 94102 ZIP, four stars.
What the ball costs
The parade board sells the evening directly. Its own store lists the 2026 Grand Ball at $325.00, and the listing states that the ticket includes dinner and live entertainment from the Lucky Devils Band. The event page adds black tie, No Host Cocktails and the Union Square address, and names the Lucky Devils Band again. Seating requests go in a “Please Seat Me With” field at checkout, and event questions route to Molly Leveroni at (415) 680-0309.
That is the one priced element of the weekend. Everything on the hotel side of the stay is unpublished.
The 10 a.m. Mass is the free Sunday opener
High Mass runs Sunday 11 October 2026 at 10:00 a.m. at Ss. Peter & Paul Church, 666 Filbert Street. The organiser describes the church as a Roman Catholic parish operated by the Salesians of St. John Bosco, in the heart of the North Beach district.
The Mass sits two and a half hours ahead of the parade start, in the district the parade ends in. A guest who takes the 10:00 a.m. service stands in North Beach before the route closes its streets.
The route runs 12:30 to Washington Square
The parade begins at 12:30 p.m. at the foot of Jefferson and Powell Streets in Fisherman’s Wharf. It proceeds south through North Beach on Columbus Avenue and ends in Washington Square, in front of Saints Peter and Paul Church. Viewing is available throughout the route.
Admission to the parade is free, and that admission includes the Bank of America Concorso Italiano Auto Show. The 2026 Grand Marshal is the actor Joe Mantegna, and the Civic Grand Marshal is Bernie Orsi.
The Bazaar fills Saturday and Sunday
The 109th annual Saints Peter and Paul Bazaar runs Saturday 10 October and Sunday 11 October, 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., at the same church that hosts the Mass. It is the second free item on the calendar and it overlaps the parade window on the Sunday. The organiser links its own bazaar page for details.
Where the route lets you eat
The organiser lists nine restaurants that seat guests on the street along the route. They are Original Joe’s, Piazza Pellegrini, Tony’s Pizza Napoletana, Italian Homemade Company, Palermo II Delicatessen, Firenze by Night, North Beach Restaurant, Mona Lisa Mare e Monti Restaurant & Bar and Steps of Rome Trattoria. Each listing carries a telephone number, and the page calls the street seating a prime spot to watch the parade.
How to hold the Saturday night
Group rates start at ten rooms a night at most hotels, and some properties discount from five rooms. One request for proposal through hotelhuddle reaches more than fifty hotels in the destination city, responses arrive in 24 to 72 hours, submission is free, and the group pays the hotel directly with no markup. Send the Saturday 10 October night as the anchor and hold the Sunday night as an option, because a guest who takes the Mass and the whole route will not want to drive home in the parade traffic.
What the organiser does not publish
The organiser publishes no discount, no group code, no room block and no cancellation deadline. The Union Square property that hosts the ball publishes no rate through this organiser at all. Ask the hotel to state any event rate, the nights it covers and the cancellation deadline in writing, and treat the ball ticket as a separate purchase from the room.