Downtown Mill Valley

Corner of Throckmorton and Miller Aves., at Depot Cafe, with Seager Gray and Desta Galleries. Photo: Dan Krimm.

We spend all day, every day shouting into the hills about the wonders of Mill Valley.

But we’re incredibly grateful when other organizations do the same, and that is certainly the case with a recent post by Pamela Coddington, Editor at MarinArts’ UPTAKE Culture Feed.

Coddington numbly sets the stage, laying out the 94941’s sense of place at the ase of the glorious Mt. Tam and the endless inspiration it has provided to artists, from photographers and painters to rock legends.

Coddington’s piece comes on the eve of two of the most consequential and cutlurally impactful event of the year, with the Mill Valley Fall Arts Festival this weekend (Sept. 18-19) in Old Mill Park and the 44th Mill Valley Film Festival Oct. 7-17. As Coddington writes:

There are many noteworthy annual events in the arts that might bring you to Mill Valley. In the summer, the outdoor amphitheater set on beautiful Mount Tamalpais at the Cushing Memorial Theater hosts the Mountain Play  and a fundraising concert by the non-profit Roots & Branches to support the Mount Tamalpais State Park called Sound Summit. Each fall, the Mill Valley Film Festival turns this suburban town into a Hollywood outpost with film screenings, premieres, parties and red carpet photo opportunities. In the fall (Mill Valley Fall Arts Festivaland in the spring (Marin Open Studios), fairs and tours make it easy to connect with local creators directly. The Mill Valley Arts Commission hosts seasonal concerts and comedy on the Downtown Plaza. The ancestral land of the Coastal Miwok, Mill Valley is a creative destination every weekend.

Coddington proceeds to outline a 48-hour, culturally rish itinerary that spans the aforementioned arts organizations and events, as well as local institutions like the Depot Cafe and Bookstore and the Outdoor Art Club, an an incredible array of great restaurants, places to stay, art galleries and much, much more.