5/4 Saturday
“Music”: US Air Guitar Regional Championships
Part rock show. Part comedy act. Part spectacle. 9 p.m. $18; $25 competitor. Bottom of the Hill, 1233 17th Street. For more information: https://bit.ly/44dnLug
5/4 Saturday
Dance: Intertribal Dance Gathering at Presidio
Dance in many Indigenous communities is a prayer, an offering, a balancing of the physical, mental, spiritual and emotional, which heals and strengthens communities. Spend the day viewing dances from the Costanoan Rumsen Tribe (Ohlone), Point Arena Pomo, Cahuilla Bird Singers and Paiute Hand Games (Team Lent). Also on offer will bes screen printing, an arts and crafts marketplace, and more. 11 a.m. to 4 pm. Free. Presidio Transit Center, 215 Lincoln Boulevard. For more information: https://bit.ly/3wa2AfX
5/7 Tuesday
Politics: The Mayoral Election
Join San Francisco Chronicle and Mission Local journalists for a deep dive into the 2024 mayor’s race. 6 to 7 p.m. Tickets: $15 to $30. Manny’s, 3092 16th Street. For more information: https://bit.ly/49UyUBt
5/7 Tuesday through 5/26 Sunday
Theater: PlayGround’s 28th Annual Festival of New Works
The Festival of New Words gives theatre-makers and goers with varied and robust opportunities to discover leading new voices of the American Theatre while providing up-and-coming writers with the exposure, production experience, and networks needed to succeed on the national stage. All works performed live at Potrero Stage and simulcast. 7 p.m. Free; donations welcomed. Potrero Stage, 1695 18th Street. For more information and this year’s full line up: https://playground-sf.org/festival/
5/9 Thursday
Design: Dogpatch Design Studio Crawl
A four-hour guided walk through up to five Dogpatch design studios. Meet the designers, see their work and design process up close. 4 to 8 p.m. Tickets: $20. For more information: https://bit.ly/3UnLYts
5/9 Thursday through 5/11 Saturday
Theater: Wetside of the Lake
Performed by members of Bay Area based Kismet Art Tangent, Wetside of the Lake is a multidisciplinary, immersive theatre experience that explores surrender, trust, and the power of dreams through rituals inspired by meditation, butoh, and somatic practices. Characters with mysterious intentions invite the audience into a state of awe and transformation, challenging societal norms and fostering deeper connections. Thursday and Friday, 7:30 p.m.; Saturday 3 p.m. Tickets: $20 to $28. Studio 210, 3435 Cesar Chavez Street. For more information: https://bit.ly/3xNStOh
5/9 Thursday through 5/19 Sunday
Film: CAAMFest
Presented by the Center for Asian American Media, CAAMFest offerss more than 100 Asian American and Asian films, food, and music programs in San Francisco and Oakland. Tickets: $20 to $135. For more information: https://caamfest.com/2024/
5/10 Friday through 5/12 Sunday
Theater: After the War Blues
The City College of San Francisco Theatre Arts Department presents Philip Kan Gotanda’s After the War Blues. It’s 1948 in San Francisco’s Fillmore District. To some, “Harlem of the West,” others “Japanese Town.” Racial tensions simmer, love triangulates, and the wrecking ball looms as each community feels the weight of the past and the pressure of an uncertain future. The story takes viewers on a journey to the intersection of post war African American and post internment Japanese American communities as they jostle shoulder to shoulder in the boarding houses and on the employment lines. Friday and Saturday: 7:30 p.m. Sunday: 2 p.m. Tickets: $10 to $15. For more information: https://www.zspace.org/ccsf
5/11 Saturday
Music: Kitka in Concert
Over nearly four decades the nine-women Oakland ensemble has developed a vast repertoire of traditional songs from the Balkans, Caucasus and Slavic lands, as well as new material drawing on those traditional vocal practices. Traveling to rural communities in Armenia, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Georgia, Poland, Macedonia, and Turkey Kitka gathered songs and communed with elders who are often the last links to centuries-old traditions. The ravishing textures of the women’s voices, unearthly cadences, angular rhythms and unfamiliar languages make Kitka’s performances an enthralling experience. 1 to 2:30 p.m. Free. Yerba Buena Gardens Festival. Great Lawn, Yerba Buena Gardens, Mission Street between Third and Fourth streets. For more information: https://bit.ly/3Ql0SiS
5/12 Sunday
Mothers’ Day: Pay What You Wish at Exploratorium
Community Day returns to honor Mother’s Day / Día de las Madres. Mothers — and especially mamás Latinas — are invited to celebrate with their families at the Exploratorium, with bilingual programming for moms y toda la familia. Enjoy fabulous performances of folklórico dances and a mariachi concert serenading mothers. Make paper flowers as a gift and learn about the “mother food” of the Americas, maize. Pay what you wish for a day of fun! Exploratorium, Pier 15, Embarcadero at Green Street. For more information: https://bit.ly/3Ueu7ov
5/16 Thursday
Film: Songs of Slavery and Emancipation
More than 50 musicians are featured in the film. Live performances by Mat Callahan and Yvonne Moore. 6 to 9 p.m. Free. Potrero Hill Neighborhood House, 953 De Haro Street.
5/18 Saturday
Festival: The Ube Festival
Celebrate the enchanting purple yam that’s taken the food world by storm, with more than 20 vendors dishing out ube-infused creations alongside regular hits. Live entertainment, DJ, crafts and treats. 12 to 5 p.m. Tickets $5 to $7. District Six, 428 11th Street. For more information: https://bit.ly/4bcrGtI
5/19 Sunday
Nature: Butterflies and Native Plants
Susan Karasoff leads this seminar on how San Francisco native plant leaves co-evolved to feed local butterfly caterpillar species. 2 to 4 p.m. Free. Vermont Greenway & Eco-patch (Vermont Street between 17th and Mariposa streets). For more information: https://bit.ly/3JAzAkD
5/25 Saturday and 5/26 Sunday
Printing: Reduction Woodblock Class
Learn the reduction woodblock printmaking approach. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuition: $250, plus $25. materials fee. Graphic Arts Workshop, 2565 Third Street, Number 305. For more information: Toru Sugita at toppi@torusugita.net or call 415.505.1564. Visit the Graphic Arts Workshop website at graphicartsworkshop.org/
5/25 Saturday and 5/26 Sunday
Festival: Carnaval
Five main stages, local performing artists, international food, dancing, sampling sites and entertainment for families, couples and friends of all ethnic, social and economic backgrounds covering 17 blocks in the Mission District. Welcoming more than 400,000 people annually, Carnaval San Francisco is California’s largest multicultural celebration. The Grand Parade boasts a 60-contingent lineup, with more than 3,000 artists representing the cultural heritages of Brazil, Mexico, Panama, Bolivia, Cuba, Peru, Puerto Rico, Nicaragua, Colombia, Trinidad & Tobago, Guatemala, and El Salvador. Festival: Saturday and Sunday, May 25-26; Grand Parade: Sunday, May 26, 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Parade begins at 24th and Bryant streets. Free. For more information: https://carnavalsanfrancisco.org/