Welcome to our new calendar feature BIG WEEK! Each week, our expert Arts & Culture writers recommend the best things for you to do in the best city on earth: Arts, Music, Food & Drink, Onstage, Nightlife, and more. Subscribe to our newsletter to get this straight to your inbox.
ARTS
See more great arts and culture coverage here.
THROUGH APRIL 6: “FOR THE TIME BEING” Peep a pop-up exhibition by first year students in the CCA Master’s of Fine Arts program. Student artists are taking over both floors of the Institute of Contemporary Art. “For The Time Being is an ambitious survey of cutting-edge practices from sculpture, painting, and photography to video, installation, and performance. These students bring provocative and sensitive approaches to contemporary art, addressing urgent subjects like mourning and displacement, the body, existential dilemmas, altered landscapes, and craft as storytelling.” ICA, SF. More info here.
FRI/4-SUN/6: SF TAP FEST Tippity tappity, it’s all happening: classes with world-renowned professional tap dancers, residencies, history lessons, a jam session, a cutting contest, an adjudicated concert and the “Shufflin’ The Fog Away” concert featuring all-stars accompanied by live music. Dance Mission Theater, SF. More info here.
SAT/5: HANDS OFF! NATIONAL DAY OF ACTION Get off the Internet and into the streets! Protest the abominable DOGE and its billionaire-serving cuts, not to mention the President’s disgusting mess. Hosted by 50501 SF and Indivisible SF with Bay Rising, with a performances from the Musicians Action Group brass band and the Extinction Rebellion theater troupe. It’s a good ol’ fashioned anti-fascist rally. 1pm-3pm, Civic Center, SF. More info here.
SAT/5: NIGHT OF IDEAS The Asian Art Museum, the San Francisco Public Library, and KQED join forces for a two-venue evening of cerebral conceptuating—and partying, of course. This beloved event features panels, performances, art, and even roller skating (why not) in pursuit of the theme “(Un)Common Ideas.” 4pm-1am, SF Public Library and Asian Art Museum, SF. More info here.
SAT/5: BAY AREA ROLLER DERBY Smash! Boom! Bam! Get in on the action of the Bay Area’s only, hyper-inclusive Roller Derby gang, as the high octane women’s sport kicks the season into high gear, with San Francisco Rolling Dead taking on the Oakland Outlaws at Richmond Memorial Auditorium. Read our exclusive interview here. 4pm, Richmond Auditorium, Richmond. More info here.
SAT/5-AUGUST 10: BACKSTAGE WITH EDWARD GOREY “The Cartoon Art Museum presents a selection of original drawings and ephemera created by this extraordinary artist-author who was also a playwright, stage designer, and director. The works on display are drawn from the collection of Gorey’s longtime friend and collaborator Carol Verburg, author of the lavish new art biography The Theatrical Adventures of Edward Gorey: Rare Drawings, Scripts and Stories (Chronicle Books, 2024). Opening party 6pm-8pm, Cartoon Art Museum, SF. More info here.
MUSIC
For more music recommendations check out John-Paul Shiver’s weekly Under the Stars music column.
THU/3: DJ YUKA YU AT THE ASIAN ART MUSEUM Fresh off her Noise Pop opening ceremonies designation (she heated things up for DāM-FunK at the Academy of Sciences), Yu will play the launch party for father of Taiwanese video art Yuan Goang-Ming’s Everyday War exhibit at the Asian Art Museum. Expect photo ops, cocktails, great musical selections, and a rare opportunity to hear the artist speak about his show. 5pm, Asian Art Museum, SF. More info here.
FRI/4: DESTROY BOYS AT UC THEATER Sacramento punk outfit Destroy Boys have a go-to when explaining their sound, and I love it because it cuts to the quick: What would happen if Blondie fell into a Misfits recording session? (Told ya.) Whip-smart penmanship, tight choruses and hooks, and powerful riffs—band members Alexia Roditis, Violet Mayugba, and drummer Narsai Malik put on one helluva show that respects every paying customer, with messages of inclusivity. 7pm, UC Theater, Berkeley. More info here.
SAT/5: SURF BORED AT KILOWATT Southern surf rock outfit Surf Bored is local to San Francisco, fronted by TJ Mimbs, and features a lineup of Bay Area music veterans: Jeremy Lyon (King Dream, Whiskerman), Avi Vinocur (Goodnight, Texas), Chris Tye (Vandella, Suzanimal), and Scott Padden (Bay Ledges). The crew is sure to light up this bar’s tiny, special stage in the Mission. Make sure to hold space for openers Andrew St. James and Rubber Tramp on this hyper-local lineup that’s sure to fire up your Saturday night. 8pm, free, Kilowatt. SF. More info here.
ONSTAGE
For more onstage recommendations, check out Charles Lewis III’s weekly Drama Masks column.
THROUGH APRIL 6: I AM MY OWN WIFE Oakland Theater Project’s immersive (you get headphones), dreamlike production of Doug Wright’s lauded piece based on the life of German trans woman Charlotte von Mahlsdorf is well worth the watch. The tech gimmick is meant to put you in the head of this fascinating woman, who lived through an abusive upbringing, embraced her trans identity during World War II, played both sides to run a queer club in the Eastern Bloc during the Cold War, and somehow lived. Renee Mannequin transcends in the title role. FLAX Art and Design, Oakland. More info here.
THROUGH APRIL 6: WILD WITH HAPPY Colman Domingo’s play is a joyful show that looks deeply and lovingly in the Black Baptist milieu of his past—and the pitfalls and advantages of Disney fandom. New Conservatory Theatre, SF. More info here.
FOOD & DRINK
Tamara Palmer’s Good Taste Good Taste food & drink column tells you every week what eats to seek out.
FRI/4-SUN/13: SPRING SAN FRANCISCO RESTAURANT WEEK Spring’s edition of The Golden Gate Restaurant Association’s San Francisco Restaurant Week features brunch, lunch and dinner deals from more than 200 restaurants, with 31 newcomers signing on for the season. Two-plus course brunch and lunch offers are $10, $15, $25, $30, and $40, respectively, while three-plus course dinners generally run $30, $45, $60, $75, and $90, with some exceptions. Some of the meals that catch my eye for lunch include a $25 lunch of pickles and rice bowls with Taiwanese tea at Piglet & Co. in the Mission, a $35 French lunch at Bon Délire on the Embarcadero, and $25 salad and pizza specials at Flour + Water Pizzeria. For dinner, a $45 three-course pasta dinner with optional cheese wheel addition at Acquolina, three-courses plus snacks for $65 at the new Bombay Brasserie in Union Square, and a huge family-style tasting menu for $85 at the worldly Dalida in the Presidio are looking particularly tempting, but there’s a lot to explore.
SUN/6: DRAG BINGO BRUNCH Elsa Touche will host and BeBe Sweetbriar will perform at a Drag Bingo Brunch from noon to 1:30 p.m. at Saluhall (945 Market Street). Tickets are free, and all of the hall’s dining partners will be open for optional purchasing of foodand drinks (including cocktails). My suggestion: take down a Smish Smash smashburger and a Momo Noodle raindrop dessert.
JAGALCHI FINALLY OPENS IN DALY CITY After attending a pre-opening preview on Thursday, I’m here to report that Jagalchi, the new Korean food complex at Serramonte Center in Daly City, is worth all the hype you’ve been seeing about it (and that I helped generate over the past eight months or so). Prices are more than reasonable—I got a huge few bags of Korean snacks for $1 each—and the meat, 17-grain blend, and banchan I bought made for some incredibly satisfying home cooked meals. The Basquia Bakery inside is all gluten-free thanks to the use of rice flour that’s been milled to taste glutinous. There’s also a delicious in-store restaurant called POGU that I’m going to be exploring for a long time. Opening hours had to be temporarily adjusted to accommodate all the necessary restocking after people keep cleaning the store out. Lines are going to be long for a hot minute, but I have a full tour of the store for you in my latest California Eating newsletter.
FILM
Dennis Harvey’s long-running Screen Grabs movie column has tons more flicks to recommend.
THROUGH JUNE 12: THIS IS AMERICA: FREDERICK WISEMAN—7 DISPATCHES At a time of unprecedented effort to dismantle U.S. institutions and erase whole swaths of our history, you could make a case for the idea that no single artist has created a more valuable record of those things than the still-active (at 95!) veteran documentarian, whose seven decades of work get a retrospective at the Roxie starting this week. Roxie Theater, SF. More info here.
STARTING FRI/4: THE ENCAMPMENTS Unabashedly partisan in taking the side of students protesting Columbia University’s ties to pro-Israel interests amid the post-Oct. 7 Gaza war, this documentary makes for infuriating viewing—even though there’s a flicker of triumph as the crackdown at Columbia has a domino effect in spurring similar protests around the country and world. Roxie Theater, SF. More info here.
STARTNG FRI/4: PARVULOS: CHILDREN OF THE APOCALYPSE Mexican genre specialist Isaac Ezban’s latest revivifies the tired zombie genre, with a mix of black comedy, gore, action, and poignancy. Shot in desaturated colors, Ezban’s episodic narrative about three young brothers surviving the apocalypse can feel self-consciously arbitrary. Yet in the end, it has real substance as well as idiosyncratic style, and will stick with you in ways horror-adjacent movies seldom do. AMC Metreon, SF. More info here.
NIGHTLIFE
Marke B. often knows what’s up—this time with an assist from party queen Caitlin Donohue.
FRI/4: MARIE DAVIDSON The French Canadian dynamo has explored every type of sound from deep techno to experimental disco—her 2019 “Work It” is a left-field classic—even tossing everything aside to delve into pop and rock with her own band. Josh Cheon, Femmelectric, and Nonsuit open for her live set. 9:30pm-2am, Great Northern, SF. More info here.
FRI/4: horsegiirl Look, techno got a bit weird and gimmicky around the lockdown, with beats hitting crazy bpms, pop anthems taking over dance floors, and lots of DJs dressing up in wacky costumes. Yes, horsegiirl literally appears in a horse costume, her long face accoutered with false eyelashes and her tail swishing an unnervingly sexy vibe. But she’s got the real goods—a unique crossover sound and skills on the (s)tables. 10pm-2am, The Midway, SF. More info here.
SAT/5: DIGI-DIVAS Bring on the fab queer-trans femme grooves! Philadelphia born, NYC raised, and Berlin infused talent LSDXOXO ‘brings cunty electronic sound that mixes with fierce pop references.’ jasmine Infiniti is a techno force unto herself, slaying with whiplash beats. Come bask in their everything. 10pm-3am, Great Northern, SF. More info here.
SUN/6: SUNGAY BRUNCH The preeminent Mexico City daytime drag moment, which roams from lakeside twirls in Bosque Chapultepec to the rooftop of the adorable Revuelta Queer House when on its own turf, has arrived to points north. Sungay Brunch is the ideal spot for making eyes over a michelada at gender-indeterminate sweetie in those tiny round Matrix sunglasses, and the crew is topping off with the local talents of DJs Brown Angel and De Alma for this weekend’s SF edition on the Teeth Bar patio. 2pm-8pm, Teeth Bar, SF. More info here.
