Where to gather in San Rafael
What it takes to run an event in San Rafael, California: 10 mapped venues, their stated capacities, and the travel around them. San Francisco International Airport is 42 km (26 mi) out.
Cushing Memorial Amphitheatre states a capacity of 4,000. The dots show what event67 would bill at that head count, and where the price stops.
Where San Rafael holds a crowd
San Rafael has a recorded population of 59,961 (2024), inside the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA area of about 4.6 million people.
What is on the books here: 1 exhibition or convention hall, 2 theatres and concert halls and 7 independent event spaces.
That is roughly 17 venues per hundred thousand residents, which is a dense field for a city this size — you will usually have a second choice at the same capacity.
By type that is 7 event spaces, 2 concert halls and 1 exhibition centre.
Exhibition and convention halls (1)
| Venue | Type | Stated capacity | From the centre |
|---|---|---|---|
| Exhibit Hall | exhibition centre | not published | 3.3 km (2.1 mi) |
Theatres and concert halls (2)
| Venue | Type | Stated capacity | From the centre |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cushing Memorial Amphitheatre | concert hall | 4,000 | 9.6 km (6 mi) |
| Old Mill Amphitheater | concert hall | 100 | 7.8 km (4.8 mi) |
Independent event spaces (7)
| Venue | Type | Stated capacity | From the centre |
|---|---|---|---|
| Civic Center San Rafael Post Office | event space | not published | 2.7 km (1.7 mi) |
| Lark Theater | event space | not published | 4.1 km (2.5 mi) |
| Marin County Civic Center | event space | not published | 2.7 km (1.7 mi) |
| California Film Institute | event space | not published | 0.4 km (0.2 mi) |
| Deer Park Villa | event space | not published | 5.5 km (3.4 mi) |
| George's Nightclub | event space | not published | 0.6 km (0.4 mi) |
| San Rafael Improvement Club | event space | not published | 0.7 km (0.4 mi) |
Every venue mapped in San Rafael appears above. The ones with enough published detail to be worth reading have their own guide and are linked; the rest are named here, which is honest about what the record holds without giving each of them a page made of three facts.
Exhibition-scale rooms in San Rafael
One venue in San Rafael is classified as exhibition or convention space.
- Exhibit Hallsize not published
Capacities are the figure the venue or an encyclopaedia entry published. They are usually the seated maximum, and the same room in banquet or reception layout can differ by half. Confirm the layout you want before you plan around a number.
How people reach San Rafael
San Francisco International Airport (SFO) is 42 km (26 mi) away, far enough that arrival day is genuinely a travel day and a first session before noon will lose people.
Local time is Los Angeles time (America/Los_Angeles) — set every session time in the app to that zone and let attendees' phones do the conversion.
Novato, Richmond and San Francisco are close enough to draw from for a day rate, and to fall back on if San Rafael has nothing free on your dates.
- Nearest major airport
- SFO
- San Francisco International Airport, 42 km (26 mi)
- Local time
- UTC−7
- America/Los_Angeles, in September
- City population, 2024
- 59,961
- 4.6 million across the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA area
The local constraints
Arrival is a half-day
42 km (26 mi) from SFO means most attendees lose a morning to travel. Open registration the evening before and put nothing you care about in the first slot.
The city is smaller than the market
59,961 people live in San Rafael itself, but about 4.6 million live in the wider San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA. Your local audience is far bigger than the city line suggests, and so is the commute your day-rate attendees will make.
Pricing this against a real San Rafael room
A San Rafael programme at 950 activated attendees — sized to Cushing Memorial Amphitheatre, the largest stated capacity in the San Rafael dataset — prices like this. Nothing is charged for the first 50, and nothing at all is charged past 1,000.
- activated attendees
- 950activated attendees
- billable, after the first 50 are free
- 900billable, after the first 50 are free
- for the whole event, at $5 each
- $4,500for the whole event, at $5 each
You are billed for people, not for the venue, so the room you choose in San Rafael does not change this figure. Nothing is charged for an attendee who registers and never opens the app.
Matching the room to the format
The top of the range here is 4,000 seats, which comfortably covers an association annual meeting, a regional summit or a mid-sized user conference.
- trade shows and exhibitions
1 exhibition or convention hall means a booth plan is possible in San Rafael without renting a marquee.
- multi-track conferences
A 4,000-seat room carries a plenary with breakouts running alongside it.
- association annual meetings
An association meeting needs one big room, several small ones and a hotel block, which is the combination San Rafael is set up for.
- award ceremonies
2 fixed-seat houses give you a stage, lighting and sightlines without building any of it.
Where this data comes from
- GeoNames, CC BY 4.0
- US Census Bureau, Vintage 2024 estimates
- Wikidata, CC0
- Geographic data © GeoNames, licensed under CC BY 4.0.
- Venue data © OpenStreetMap contributors, available under the Open Database License.
- US population figures are US Census Bureau Vintage 2024 estimates.
- Retrieved 3 September 2026. event67 has no commercial relationship with any venue listed.
Last updated
What it costs
- Free up to 50
- activated attendees, on one live event
- $5
- per activated attendee beyond 50
- $4,750
- the most one event can ever cost, whatever happens past 1,000
Activated means the person claimed their invite and opened the app. Not when you import them, not when the invite is delivered, and not if they register and stay home.
Questions people actually ask
How much is event67 for a 950-attendee San Rafael conference?
950 activated attendees means 900 billable after the free 50, so $4,500 for the event. The price is $5 per activated attendee beyond the first 50, and the total for one event stops at $4,750 however many more attend. Activated means the person claimed their invite and opened the app. Not when you import them, not when the invite is delivered, and not if they register and stay home.
What is the largest venue in San Rafael?
Of the 10 venues mapped in San Rafael, the largest stated capacity belongs to Cushing Memorial Amphitheatre at 4,000. Capacities in open data are the figure the venue itself published, and they are the seated number rather than a standing or exhibition figure, so confirm the layout you actually want before you plan around it.
Does San Rafael have a convention centre?
Yes — 1 venue is classified as exhibition or convention space in San Rafael, including Exhibit Hall. Exhibition halls are booked by floor area rather than by seat, so ask for the hall sheet with column spacing and load-in access rather than a capacity number.
Which airport do attendees fly into for San Rafael?
San Francisco International Airport (SFO), about 42 km (26 mi) from the city. It is the highest-traffic airport within reach in this dataset. Local time is America/Los_Angeles; publish every session in that zone and let attendees' phones convert it.
What happens under 50 attendees?
One live event with up to 50 activated attendees costs nothing. Beyond that it is $5 per activated attendee beyond the first 50, and the total for one event stops at $4,750 however many more attend. Activated means the person claimed their invite and opened the app. Not when you import them, not when the invite is delivered, and not if they register and stay home.
Keep reading
Nearby cities
- Holding an event in Novato
3 venues mapped
- Holding an event in Richmond
6 venues mapped
- Holding an event in San Francisco
161 venues mapped
- Holding an event in Berkeley
33 venues mapped
- Holding an event in Vallejo
7 venues mapped
Up a level
Running something in San Rafael?
Set the schedule, invite the room and watch who actually turns up. Free for your first 50 activated attendees, on one live event.