Welcome to our calendar feature BIG WEEK, wherein our expert Arts & Culture team recommends the best things to do.
GENERAL ARTS
Marke B. is on it.
THROUGH MAY 31: ‘BEAUTY PLUS’ The Museum of the African Diaspora’s Emerging Artist Program brings us this gem from photographer Jasmine Ross, which opened this week. “Beauty Plus commemorates the closure of the 31 year-old, second Black-owned beauty supply in New Haven, Connecticut. Over three months, Ross documented the store’s final days with her 4 x 5 film camera, honoring owner Mel, while revealing a layered narrative of small business ownership, communal care, and Black survival.” MoAD, SF. More info here.
THU/19-APRIL 17: ‘8 HOURS OF WHAT YOU WILL‘ This new show at CCA Wattis Institute, combining archival materials from the San Francisco Labor Archives, seems incredibly apt: “In an era defined by algorithms, doom scrolling, automation, and artificial intelligence, the promise of ‘free time’ feels increasingly illusory. Now, leisure is not an absence of work, but another site for extracting value from our attention and data. 8 Hours of What You Will considers what’s left of our unstructured time once it becomes part of economies driven by consumption and surveillance.” CCA Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, SF. More info here.
FRI/20-SAT/21: FRIENDSHIP THROUGH FLOWERS—2026 IKEBANA FLOWER SHOW Celebrating cultural exchange and creative expression that bridges East and West through beauty and artistry, this annual showcase truly announces spring, with gorgeous displays from different ikebana schools, workshops, and a boutique from which to bring home your own fabulous arrangements. 10am-4pm, San Francisco County Fair Building. More info here.
SAT/20: STORIES WITH STORMY Why the fabulously scandalous adult entertainer and free speech heroine has chosen local leather bar the Eagle for a night of comedy and storytelling is beyond us, but we are seated, sweetie. Ms Daniels will regale us with tales of public scandal and private family life, plus there’s a live Q&A so get ready for some bold truths. 7pm-9:30pm, The Eagle, SF. More info here.
SAT/21: BURNAL EQUINOX 2026: THE COSMIC TREEHOUSE Burning Man is now old enough to be a grandfather, but it keeps regenerating, no matter how many burnt-out ravers say it’s dying. This gargantuan party marks “midpoint between Burns” with like 1000 DJs, artists, performers, mutant art cars, fire-twirlers, cosmic visionaries etc etc. Besides keeping Burner spirits up, it’s a benefit for Salud y Bienestar Indígena (Indígena Health & Wellness), which fosters emotional and spiritual healing for Indigenous families through language, culture, and traditional practices. 7pm-3am, Public Works, SF. More info here.
SAT/21: BAY BEATS PUNK ROCK CONCERT We adore the SF Public Library’s Bay Beats program, which fills the stacks with local live music—and archives what the Bay sounds like now. This event takes a punk turn and tests the limit of Koret Auditorium, with sets from Middle-Aged Queers, Warp, and George Crustanza, along with sets from DJ brainwaver. Oi! Oi! Books! 1pm-4pm, SF Main Public Library Koret Auditorium. More info here.
MUSIC
Hit up John-Paul Shiver’s Under the Stars column for great tunes and shows every week.
FRI/20: SPIRITUAL CRAMP When San Francisco/West Coast self-proclaimed punks Spiritual Cramp start schlep-rocking their life-affirming, hook-centered joints down alleys, through iconic SF neighborhoods, or on stages, vocalist Michael Bingham is full of, dare I say, joy? So Rude, their banger of an album from last year, is for sure cast through rose-colored shades. As much as its progenitors claim to be punk rock, So Rude spreads praise, not anarchy. With nods to their influencers, including the Ramones, Interpol, The Killers, Devo, and Viagra Boys… Spiritual Cramp has love for the past and the future that they seem to be pretty upbeat about; just give a look at those weeble-wobble disco moves by Bingham. Punk’s been elevated. 7pm, GAMH, SF. More info here.
FRI/20: BOOGIE NIGHTS ON 35MM One Battle After Another‘s renowned director Paul Thomas Anderson struck gold at Hollywood’s Oscars this past Sunday. But it was dance music, long schlongs, and a vivid portrayal of how trends and decadent lifestyles can change drastically in a violent New Year’s Eve moment that broke him through. Boogie Nights, a 152-minute cultural phenomenon, made America pay attention to this director who chose disco, cocaine, and the porn industry to have a conversation about the 1970s and the ramifications that followed in the Reagan era. Besides snagging Burt Reynolds a Golden Globe award and solidifying Mark Wahlberg as a bona fide star, it introduced the unique perspective Anderson had about capitalism in the old USA. 7:30pm, Balboa Theater, SF. 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.
SPIN THE WHEEL AT POLLY ANN My childhood favorite ice cream shop in San Francisco, Polly Ann Ice Cream, has remarkably opened a new pop-up location downtown with the city’s Vacant to Vibrant program, and it has a wheel you can spin to win a freebie. The catch is that you must take the flavor you get. The first time I got up the nerve to spin the wheel at the original 71-year-old location of Polly Ann, it landed on vanilla, which was less than exciting. But the next time, I got durian, which is now a flavor I quite like—which I might have been too scared to try otherwise. The current menu includes Polly Ann classics like Star Wars (blue vanilla cake ice cream with marshmallows and sprinkles) and Bumpy Freeway (chocolate ice cream with marshmallows and walnuts) alongside newer flavors such as Brigadeiro (chocolate ice cream with condensed milk and chocolate flakes) and Persian Princess (pistachio and almond ice cream with apricots and oranges). Go on, live a little and take a chance. 120 Pine Street, SF. https://www.pollyann.com/
A SELF-GUIDED ‘SAM SERVED’ TOUR While Sam Smith was here for their wondrous 20-date residency at the Castro, they visited many wonderful San Francisco neighborhood restaurants, which was a personal relief to see because they talked about getting sick from fried chicken at Mel’s Diner on the opening night. Thankfully, after that debacle, “they ate” at a ton of good places and documented it all on Instagram on an account called @samserved. It’ll be great fun to take a look at it, see what appeals, and go on a self-guided, Sam-informed tour of tried and true outings like wings at San Tung (which has been on a celebrity tear lately), local seafood at Hook Fish Co., or fresh tofu from Eiji. Sam Francisco Forever!
STAGE
Charles Lewis III checks out theaters and performance spaces every week in the Drama Masks column.
SAT/21: KILLING MY LOBSTER’S ‘SKETCH ON SPEED‘ No amphetamines were harmed in this production—but you might have to watch for whiplash as the beloved improv troupe presents its March edition of this breakneck show. “Over the course of twelve hours, we force our writers and actors to produce an entire show, potentially blending sketch comedy, improv, crowd work, or maybe even pranks on our performers.” Always intriguing, never dull, many times uproarious. 9pm, Z Below, SF. More info here.
THROUGH MARCH 29: LOOKING FOR JUSTICE The Marsh often seems like a place for Bay Area elders to purge their issues about the hippie era. Amy Oppenheimer’s latest is one such show, wherein a New Yorker follows a spouse to Berkeley in ’71, only to eventually discover her lesbianism and passion for the law. What results is a mostly-fascinating reminiscence about the old Bay Area and a tangled criminal justice system. The Marsh, Berkeley. More info here.
FILM
Dennis Harvey’s long-running Screen Grabs has tons more flicks to recommend.
SUN/22: CLARA BOW IN IT Returning to the Castro Theater, albeit just for a single show in advance of its full annual event in May, is the San Francisco Silent Film Festival. The occasion is a new restoration of the most famous vehicle for the screen’s greatest Roaring Twenties flapper: Clara Bow, whose screen persona crystallized that “new woman” archetype as loyal, impulsive, hot-tempered, forgiving, unpretentious, fun-loving, good-hearted, and of course, sexy. It has her as a department store clerk who determines to catch the attention of dashing new boss Antonio Moreno. Beyond its stars’ chemistry, the movie endures in part because of its cheerfully subversive class consciousness: Shopgirl Bow’s working-class Manhattan milieu is depicted as full of life, the boss’ high society circles as stuffy and dull. (When she takes him on a date, it’s to eat hot dogs and ride the rides at Coney Island.) 7pm, Castro Theater, SF. More info here.
STREAMING STARTING FRI/20: 1000 WOMEN IN HORROR based on the book of the same name by Alexandra Heller-Nichols’, is a very entertaining survey of female participation and viewpoints in a celluloid field that’s traditionally been considered not just primarily a “man’s world,” but a frequently misogynist one. Particularly since the turn of the millennium, however, women have been making themselves known as horror enthusiasts, both on- and offscreen. There’s little room here for discussion of old-school violent sexism, the “male gaze,” et al.—of course those factors still exist, but Davies & co. are more interested in the ways that women have claimed the genre for their own. We hear from directors, actors, screenwriters, scholars and others. They’re not a particularly starry assembly (bigger names are discussed but not interviewed), yet all offer some fresh insights. Streaming on Shudder starting Fri/20.
NIGHTLIFE
Marke B. usually knows what’s up.
FRI/20: NIGHT MOVES After you catch Stormy Daniels at the Eagle (see above) stay for dancing from DJ StormyRoxx and Stefan Ways at this sexy queer party with some of the cutest decor and vibes I’ve seen in a minute. The grooves are deep and the storms are brewing. 9pm-2am, The Eagle, SF. More info here.
SAT/21: MARK FARINA & HOMERO ESPINOSA BDAY BASH Two masters of house come together for a patio party of classic Cali soul sounds to make another year ’round the sun, with a very special bonus: Rarely seen and truly gifted local DJ’s DJ James Glass opens up with Dani Siciliano. 2pm, The Midway, SF. More info here.
SAT/21: ADAM KRAFT One of the true movers and shakers behind the scene (and an understated style icon to boot), Kraft gets a night to himself at Bar Part Time to show us where his head’s at lately, musically. If your looking for the sounds of the future on an intimate dance floor with a glass of pet-nat, this is be perfect. 9pm-1:30am, Bar Part Time, SF. More info here.
