Chris McCarthy has spent 43 years tending bar in Marin. He's worked at the original Corner Bar in Fairfax, at Deer Park Villa, at Mandarin Garden, at the Sausalito Cruising Club and at the original 19 Broadway. In the summer of 2025 the Marin Independent Journal said the bar now carrying his nickname wasn't "under new management." It was back "under old management."
That bar is Mac's at 19 Broadway. For the next six weeks it holds a larger share of downtown Fairfax's evening calendar than at any other point this year, because the Wednesday gathering that filled Bolinas Park all summer has packed up.
The Wednesday Slot Moved Indoors
The Fairfax Farmers Market ran every Wednesday from 4 to 8 p.m. at Bolinas Park, 142 Bolinas Road. Its 2026 season started May 6 and ended October 28. That was 26 straight weeks with a fixed midweek evening on the town's calendar, outdoors and free to wander.
Now Wednesday belongs to a bar. Mac's lists a free karaoke night every Wednesday at 8 p.m., hosted by The Maad Hatter and billed on Eventbrite as "Karaoke Fun & Kontest." Tuesday has its own free fixture, too. The 90 Seconds Comedy Time Bomb is listed weekly, with sign-up and seating at 7 p.m. and the show at 7:30. Recurring listings like these do change, so check the Mac's events page before heading over on a given week.
From now until the Chamber's first holiday night, a free weeknight out in downtown Fairfax mostly means 19 Broadway. The way that room got to be what it is today explains much of the calendar that follows.
Under Old Management
For decades, 19 Broadway was a loud rock club. In July 2021 the Marin IJ reported that it had quietly reopened as a cocktail lounge. McCarthy, who had co-owned the location before it sold in 2018, bought it back during the pandemic with restaurateur Mike Ghiringhelli and Ghiringhelli's son, Mike Jr. The relaunch had a Roaring '20s look, a stage built around a baby grand piano, a separate Bootleggers Lounge and a private-party area. The music changed too, from nightly high-volume rock to piano players, jazz combos and singers.
By July 2025 McCarthy was back as managing partner after three years of different ownership, and he and Ghiringhelli were still partners. "19th Broadway had kind of run its course," he told the Marin IJ. "It was time to change it up." The same article said the 2025 version upgraded the cocktails and the menu, redid the outdoor patio and put big lounge chairs and couches in the Bootleggers Lounge. The bar also booked "Prohibition Talks" by the Marin History Museum and a Frank Sinatra impersonator, and added a Martini Mondays promotion sponsored by King Floyd's, a local bitters maker.
McCarthy put the goal simply. He wanted to keep the live music and add to it. You can see that in the November calendar, where storytelling, punk and album-release shows all share one stage.
Two Addresses on Broadway, This Week and Next
Ten street numbers down from Mac's, Peri's Tavern at 29 Broadway runs its own live music calendar. Between them, the two venues cover most of downtown's live evening programming in early November.
- Thursday, Nov. 5, 6 p.m. Tangled and Free plays Peri's.
- Thursday, Nov. 5 Redwood Nights: Seedlings, an open-mic storytelling night, comes to Mac's.
- Friday, Nov. 6, 9 p.m. Midlife on Mars shares the bill with Okie Weiss & the Zydeco Playboys at Peri's.
- Friday, Nov. 6 Alvie & The Breakfast Pigs and Skip The Needle bring punk and rock to Mac's.
- Friday, Nov. 13 Lindsay Everly & The Evergreens hold the album release for Fool's Gold at Mac's.
- Saturday, Nov. 14 The New Suburbans release an album at Mac's, with The Sleepers AD.
Mac's also advertises live music, DJs and cocktails Friday through Sunday, with tickets sold through Eventbrite. Both rooms post their listings close to the date, and the published November schedules thin out after mid-month. That leaves a gap in the calendar, and the next date is a Friday when the town tries to get people back outside.
November 20 Puts Two Events on the Same Evening
Friday, November 20, is the first night since the market closed with organized events outside the bars. Two of them overlap.
| Event | Time | Where | Who it's for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shop Local, Shop Late | 5 to 8 p.m. | Downtown Fairfax | Holiday shopping and dinner, with local businesses invited to stay open late |
| House By the Park | 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. | Fairfax Woman's Club, 46 Park Road | All ages, with a house music DJ, light art, tarot, games and a scavenger hunt |
The Fairfax Chamber of Commerce bills Shop Local, Shop Late as the kickoff to the holiday shopping season. Businesses are invited to offer specials and activities, and the listing says participating businesses and specials "will be announced soon." House By the Park is part of a fall series the Town of Fairfax lists, and it starts half an hour before the shops do. The listing says to "come for a little while or stay all evening," with friends, kids or on your own.
These two Friday events cover what the Wednesday market used to. One is an all-ages evening at the Woman's Club on Park Road, and the other is an evening for walking downtown and shopping. On November 20 their start times are half an hour apart.
Then Four Days in December
After November 20, Fairfax's public calendar picks up again in the second week of December, with three events in four days. Each is a different kind of gathering.
- Thursday, Dec. 10, 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. The Fairfax Chanukah Festival is at Bolinas Park, where the farmers market set up all season. It has live music, soup and latkes, children's crafts, a grand menorah lighting and a collaborative art mural. If it rains, it moves to the Pavilion.
- Saturday, Dec. 12, 5 to 9 p.m. The Chamber's 4th annual Fairfax Winter Market closes Bolinas Road between Broadway and Bank Street for a nighttime block party. The Chamber says it draws 300 to 500 locals and families for music, performances and kids' activities, and that all of the town's schools take part, from preschool through high school.
- Sunday, Dec. 13, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Fairfax Craft Faire is on the Chamber's calendar. The listing doesn't give a venue yet, so check it again closer to the date.
The Winter Market is still taking shape. The Chamber is looking for sponsors through November 24 and hopes to add a luge and a bigger music lineup this year. Volunteers are welcome. Those additions are a wish list for now, so check the listing in early December to see what was confirmed.
The block party runs along Bolinas Road between Broadway and Bank Street. For one Saturday night the street itself becomes downtown's evening venue, the first time since the market's last Wednesday that the town's biggest gathering happens outdoors.
The Calendar From Here, in One View
| Date | Event | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Tuesdays, 7:30 p.m. | 90 Seconds Comedy Time Bomb, free | Mac's at 19 Broadway |
| Wednesdays, 8 p.m. | Karaoke Fun & Kontest, free | Mac's at 19 Broadway |
| Nov. 5 | Redwood Nights storytelling; Tangled and Free | Mac's; Peri's Tavern |
| Nov. 6 | Alvie & The Breakfast Pigs; Midlife on Mars | Mac's; Peri's Tavern |
| Nov. 13 and 14 | Album releases from Lindsay Everly & The Evergreens and The New Suburbans | Mac's |
| Nov. 20 | Shop Local, Shop Late; House By the Park | Downtown; Fairfax Woman's Club |
| Dec. 10 | Fairfax Chanukah Festival | Bolinas Park |
| Dec. 12 | Fairfax Winter Market | Bolinas Road, Broadway to Bank Street |
| Dec. 13 | Fairfax Craft Faire | Venue to be announced |
Mac's sells tickets for its shows through Eventbrite, and both venues post new dates as the month goes on.
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