Welcome to our calendar feature BIG WEEK, wherein our expert Arts & Culture writers recommend the best things in Arts, Music, Food & Drink, Stage, Film, Nightlife, and more. Don’t forget our last-minute gift guide!
GENERAL ARTS
Marke B. is in the arts hot seat.
THROUGH DECEMBER 21: “CINDERELLA” The African-American Shakespeare Company’s annual holiday offering always finds new ways to change up the fairy tale, adding in hip-hop, ballet, modern dance, and standard ballroom, as well as additional musical numbers that pay homage to the ’80s, ’90s, and beyond.
FRI/19: SISTER NANCY Come one, come all, and heed the call of this Jamaican dancehall legends, the first female DJ on that scene and the incredible voice behind absolute 1982 classic “Bam Bam.” That’s is the kind of holiday jam we can smoke up and get behind. Incredibly diverse support from post-punk powerhouse locals Fake Fruit and a DJ set from Discodelica, with visuals by Zachary Rodell. Doors 8pm, The Chapel, SF. More info here.
FRI/19: BLACK CELEBRATION ‘Tis the season… for Depeche Mode. Shake the schmaltz and dance your cute little goth butt off to the Dancing Ghosts crew, as their all-Depeche Mode party (“five hours no repeats!”) puts us back into the correct holiday spirit. Everything counts, love. 9:30pm-2:30am, Cat Club, SF. More info here.
SAT/20: FRINGE HOLIDAZE PARTY Need a break from chanting those Christmas carols? How about singing along to some 2000s indie dance classics at the top of your lungs instead? LCD Soundsytem, Robyn, Yeah Yeah Yeahs… this festive party plays ’em all (plus videos) for an adoring crowd, and we love it. 9pm-2am, Madrone Art Bar, SF. More info here.
SUN/21: KITKA: “WINTERSONGS” A truly mystical, even spiritual experience is to be had when the fabulous Kitka Women’s Vocal Ensemble’s annual Wintersongs comes to lovely Old First Church. I’ve attended this enchanting evening of seasonal Eastern European folk songs and resilient storytelling multiple times, and it always summons the warmth of communal joy—and shivers of the beyond. 4pm-6pm, Old First Church, SF. More info here.
SUN/21 + MON/22: A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS—LIVE! You simply cannot beat Vince Guaraldi’s soundtrack for the Charlie Brown holiday special, perfect for stringing popcorn to decorate that scrawny tree. SF Symphony brings the television classic to life, with live actors, an animated backdrop, and Vince Guaraldi’s timeless music performed live. The first half of the concert features selections from Vince Guaraldi’s full Peanuts catalogue, celebrating 60 years of his music for Charlie Brown and the 75th anniversary of Snoopy, Lucy, and the gang. 2pm and 7pm, Davies Symphony Hall, SF. More info here.
MUSIC
Hit up John-Paul Shiver’s Under the Stars column for great tunes and shows every week.
THURS/18: ORGŌNE, the 8-piece soul machine driven by Dan Hastie and Sergio Rios, based out of Los Angeles, is a funky outfit. They land at the intersection of Afro-funk and stoney psych-rock. If that’s not a Thursday night vibe that speaks foggy beautiful, c’mon. Spiritually fed off the grit and grease of Funkadelic, Santana, Muscle Shoals, and all things Stax. You’ve probably heard them before, knowing exactly who they be. They hit the stage at The Independent this Thursday after an extensive world tour as the backing band for the sensational Say She She. That retro-spanning vocal trio is a fave here in SF. Trust, we’ve run the numbers. So before that triplet plays August Hall in January, get a little taste of Orgōne 7:30pm, The Independent, SF. More info here.
SUN/21: SOLSTICE SOIREE is an early evening of deep-feeling, literary-minded songwriters and their bands celebrating new music and the winter solstice at Thee Stork Club. It features singer-songwriter Deborah Crooks’ warm blend of emotionally intelligent and cinematic Americana music joined by Kwame Copleand (Bay Station) on guitar and Andrew Griffon (Felson) on drums. Zoe FitzGerald Carter follows with her acerbic take on the Americana songwriting tradition, while incorporating aspects of jazz, the blues, and rock and roll. Fresh off her showcase performance at the 2025 Far-West Festival and backed by her ace band, she’s expected to play tunes from her recent release Before the Machine. If you’re looking for grounding amid the holiday hype, this is your escape hatch. 6:30pm, Thee Stork Club, Oakland. More info here.
FOOD & DRINK
Tamara Palmer’s weekly Good Taste column tells you where to stick your fork. Sign up for the new Good Taste newsletter here.
SUN/21: COOKBOOK SWAP I launched a Food Book Club earlier this year with a 4/20 cookbook swap at Studio Aurora/Fault Radio (302 Valencia Street, San Francisco). We hosted a second one in June, and now we’re planning a holiday edition from on Dec. 21 that I hope you can attend! I’ll have a table set up with free vintage food magazines (including my California Eating zine) and cookbooks for trade. If you want to participate, please swing through with a book or a few books to swap. I will be there from 1pm-6pm—it’s kinda like office hours. Come through for a few or stay and have a glass of wine and lunch or snacks from Studio Aurora.You could easily find fun books here to give as gifts for the holidays. The table will already be seeded with some new and almost-new cookbooks.
DELICIOUS TREAT: THAI TEA TOFU PUDDING AT TEAWOOD CAFE Fuel your weekend with a protein-rich, caffeinated treat from TeaWood Cafe. The Hong Kong chain’s Richmond District outpost, which opened earlier this year, serves several varieties of not-too-sweet tofu pudding with toppings like boba, water chestnut pearls, taro and sweet potato balls, and grass jelly. There’s an option to add Thai iced tea to the base to perk everything up. Dooooo it! 3944 Geary Blvd., SF
STAGE
Charles Lewis III checks out theaters and performance spaces every week for his Drama Masks column.
THROUGH DECEMBER 21: GOLDEN GIRLS LIVE! THE CHRISTMAS EPISODES This drag tribute is just as hilarious as it’s ever been. Sure, a portion of that has to do with the enduring quality of the writing on the namesake sitcom, but it’s equally attributable to D’Arcy Drollinger’s direction and the spot-on cast he’s assembled. When Matthew Martin milks every on-stage entry as sexpot Blanche Devereaux, it’s earned and goaded on by the audience. It the sort of moment that combines drag’s irreverence for gender norms with the show’s embrace of sex-positivity well into one’s twilight years. It’s the perfect combination of pop-culture staple and greater cultural enlightenment that works so well, when this production would have been a tough sell during the sitcom’s original run. Curran Theatre, SF. More info here.
THROUGH DECEMBER 21: MOTHER OF EXILES Jessica Huang’s world premiere consists of two exhilarating acts sandwiched around a baffling sitcom-like middle one, but that’s no reason to skip this time-traveling, timely work. The first act finds us on Angel Island circa 1898. Pregnant Chinese immigrant “Eddie” travelled across the world in male drag in order to find work in this supposed “land of plenty.” She’s being quarantined before she’s shipped back to mainland China, so she leaves her new child in the land that she hopes will offer better opportunities. By 1999, her half-Latine descendant Braulio makes his living as, of all things, a border agent on the Miami Coast. When the story jumps ahead to 2063, Braulio’s own descendants are forced to flee what’s left of Florida due to climate devastation. Berkeley Rep. More info here.
FILM
Dennis Harvey’s long-running Screen Grabs has tons more flicks to recommend.
OPENS THU/18: WE SHALL NOT BE MOVED Pierre Saint-Martin Castellanos’ first feature has veteran actress Luisa Huertas playing Socorro, a vinegary, semi-retired lawyer whose life has been shadowed for over half a century by a sibling’s death. He was one among many students and miscellaneous civilians shot by military forces while protesting governmental oppression in late 1968, during what’s known as the Tlatelolco Massacre. One day the surprise arrival of a package from a recently-deceased former associate brings what our heroine always wanted: Evidence of the apparent killer’s identity. While basically housebound, she pulls every string within reach to exact belated revenge on her brother’s probable murderer, whom she’s now seen in an old photo holding up his battered body with a trophy hunter’s grin. Nothing less than “eye for an eye” retribution will do.
OPENS FRI/19: RESURRECTION Bi Gan’s dazzlingly hubristic film utilizes a sci-fi premise as an excuse to trip through what feels like the entire history of cinema, moving through different genres, techniques, and periods. In the future, we are informed, humanity has discovered the secret to eternal life, albeit at the cost of losing the ability to dream. Those who still possess it are called “deliriants,” and are variously envied and hunted. One such is the being known as Qiu (among other names), portrayed in all his guises by sometime boy-band star Jackson Yee. His dreaming life is coveted by a Miss Shu aka Mother (Shu Qi), who literally installs a film projector inside his body to watch the scenarios he experiences unfold. And that’s just the start. Roxie Theater, SF. More info here.
NIGHTLIFE
Marke B. usually knows what’s up. Check out his club The Stud for more great parties.
FRI/19: POLYGLAMOROUS: THE LAST DANCE Say it isn’t so! The wild gay party calls it quits after a decade, and also helps us bid adieu to beloved Club Oasis, which is closing this year. Dance yourself into a sparkly blackout one more with awesome DJs Vicki Powell, Carrie On Disco, and the poly boys themselves, Beya and Mark O’Brien. 9:30pm-2:30am, Oasis, SF. More info here.
FRI/19: CARLOS SOUFFRONT This wiggy stalwart deserves all the underground love, bringing a classic Detroit ear for leftfield jams, experimental post-punk, acid classics, and truly out-there contemporary jams to choice dance floors you need to get your ass on, truly. With Tyrel Williams, Louiv, Meerrou, and Chuck Gunn. 9pm-3am, F8, SF. More info here.
SAT/20: WICKED 34: WINTER SOLSTICE JAM The legendary crew that championed rave here in SF with their Full Moon parties is still chugging delightfully away, bringing a psychedelic shine to everything their expert fingers touch. That includes their 13th vinyl release, which is sold out everywhere but will be available at this party, with DJs Tom of England, Jenö, Markie, and Tranquil Elephantizer. 9pm-4am, The Foundry, SF. More info here.
