2018 Blue Star Museums SF Bay Area – Free Admission

This post was most recently updated on June 3rd, 2018

Each summer museums participating in the Blue Star Museums program offer free admission to active duty military personnel and their families from Memorial Day through Labor Day. Active duty families include active-duty military personnel and their families, including National Guard and Reserve. For 2018 the free admission starts May 28 and runs through September 4,2018 . For 2018, the estimate is over 2,000 museums, zoos and gardens in the US will offer free admission during this time!

When in Doubt if a Museum or Attraction is Part of Blue Star Museums, Call!

Sometimes museums are offering the discounts, but their information has not been updated on the Blue Star Museum web site, so it is always best to call a museum to confirm.  Also ask what other discounts may be offered.

 

I’ve listed the names of the Blue Star Museums in the San Francisco Bay area here, you can visit the Blue Star Museum site to find museums in your local area or where you might be visiting during the summer.

 

San Francisco Bay Area Blue Star Museums
Antioch Antioch Historical Society and Museum	Berkeley The Habitot Lawrence Hall of Science UC Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA)
Hayward Hayward Area Historical Society	Monterey Monterey Museum of Art
Napa di Rosa Center for Contemporary Art	Novato Hamilton Field History Museum Marin Museum of Contemporary Art The Space Station Museum
Petaluma Petaluma Historical Library & Museum	Redwood City San Mateo County History Museum
San Francisco California Historical Society Children’s Creativity Museum Chinese Historical Society of America de Young Museum Legion of Honor Museum of Craft and Design The Walt Disney Family Museum	San Jose History San Jose Japanese American Museum of San Jose San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art San Jose Museum of Art San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles
San Mateo CuriOdyssey	Santa Cruz Santa Cruz Children’s Museum of Discovery Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History
Stanford (Palo Alto) Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University Hoover Institution Library & Archives	Vallejo Mare Island Museum Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum
Walnut Creek Lindsay Wildlife Experience	Woodside Filoli

According to the Blue Star Museum site, the free admission program is available to:

any bearer of a Geneva Convention common access card (CAC), a DD Form 1173 ID card (dependent ID), or a DD Form 1173-1 ID card, which includes active duty U.S. military-Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, as well as members of the National Guard and Reserve, U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, NOAA Commissioned Corps and up to five family members. Some special or limited-time museum exhibits may not be included in this free admission program. For questions on particular exhibits or museums, please contact the museum directly.

You can follow Blue Star Museums on Twitter @NEAarts and @BlueStarFamily, #bluestarmuseums.

Looking for other things to do? Check out the discounted activities at these pages: Free/Reduced Admissions | Local Discounts

Other Discounts for Bay Area Attractions: Go San Francisco card | San Francisco City Pass | Entertainment Book | Groupon |Discover & Go Museum Passes