Welcome to Big Week, our weekly guide to cool things to do, put together by our expert critics and writers.
GENERAL ARTS
Marke B. keeps an eye and ear and everything else out.
THROUGH JULY 30: ANDY GOLDSWORTHY: RED FLAGS The natural artist continues to astound with deviously simple works that hold multitudinous meaning. This huge installation at Fort Mason features 50 5×8-foot flags, each stained red with earth collected from one of the fifty US states. “Timed to coincide with the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the work reflects on geographic and political boundaries and on the ties between people, land, and nation.” Is there a more on-the-nose metaphor for our current state than 50 huge red flags? Swipe left, girl! Opening reception Fri/10, 5:30pm-7:30pm, Fort Mason, SF. More info here.
FRI/10-SUN/12: PETE ESCOVEDO ORCHESTRA: 91ST BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION Wow! Local percussion wizard Pete is still going strong, “breaking down barriers between smooth jazz, salsa, Latin jazz, and contemporary music.” Will his daughter Sheila be there? Maybe! But catching this legend at this tremendous run of six shows will definitely be magical. Yoshi’s, Oakland. More info here.
FRI/10 + SAT/11: SINISTER SOUNDS FEST Feel the doom! Heavy metal, hardcore, and all things cranking and guitarous hit Neck of the Woods for a “heavy, earth shaking, mountain moving, ear splitting, face melting, apocalyptic 2 NIGHTS of thunderous riffs and crushing tones!” With bands Bongzilla, Cattlemass, Vessele, Barren Alter, Rotterdam, and many more. Neck of the Woods, SF. More info here.
SAT/11: DISCOTECH The sprawling and rather esoteric Future of Us Festival continues this week, and includes this event—”a hands-on evening where Mission residents use craft to explore technology’s impact on their neighborhood. People will weave tapestries using real neighborhood data, make clay tokens with NFC chips that connect to their ideas about technology and safety in the Mission, and experience local artist demos. There’s also a live coding DJ collective that will be performing. The event is part art show, part civic design session, and part dance party.” Go nuts! 6pm-10pm, Mission Yoga, SF. More info here.
SAT/11-NOVEMBER 26: GRACIELA ITURBIDE: BETWEEN TWO WORLDS SFMOMA mounts a major and rare retrospective of this tremendous mid-20th Century photographer, “exploring her poetic commitment to finding the extraordinary in the everyday. Iturbide’s lyrical photographs reflect a vast spectrum of life in her home country of Mexico, including markets and festivals, cultural traditions, symbols and experiences of birth and death, botanical gardens, self-portraits, and more.” SFMOMA, more info here.
SAT/11: TAMALE LADY DAY Although she passed in 2018, Virginia Ramos, aka the Tamale Lady, still burns bright in SF iconography. Feeding thousands of hungry bar-goers, she ranged everywhere from the Eagle to the End Up to Zeitgeist, where she will be celebrated with an evening-long festival of bands, a special screening of rockumentary about her called Our Lady of Tamale, and, yes, lots of tamales! 4:20pm-10pm, Zeitgeist, SF. More info here.
SAT/11: 50TH ANNUAL SAN FRANCISCO FREE FOLK FESTIVAL Garther round the Golden Gate Bandshell, y’all, for the 50th celebration/bonanza of global roots music, including klezmer, Cajun-Creole, sea shanties, and, of course, protest songs. The theme this year is “Voices of the People: Folk Music for Justice, Freedom, and Belonging.” 11am-6pm, Golden Gate Park Bandshell, SF. More info here.
MUSIC
Hit up John-Paul Shiver’s Under the Stars column for great tunes and shows every week.
FRI/10: BURNING DOWN THE HOUSE The Bay Area’s own Talking Heads tribute band seems to have made great use of the critically acclaimed, loose, weird, hypnotic, and rhythmic palooza of a discography. It’s loaded with ample hits and deep cuts aplenty. No, David Byrne and his culture-breaking big white suit will not be in attendance at The Mystic Theater in Petaluma, just a committed band, a venue full of T-Heads singing every damn song, and the experience of community. Come early for a fusion of bluegrass, Americana, and blues from the opening band, Jason Beard’s Bring Joy. Mystic Theater, Petaluma. More info here.
SUN/12: FERRY FEST 2026 converts music, classic San Francisco architecture, signature cocktails, vintage vendors, and outdoor family fun into a six-hour celebration marking the birthday of the city by the Bay’s most beloved landmark. Psst…. It’s the San Francisco Ferry Building. With giveaways, several in-demand, local, and national press-worthy bands—Grooblen and Combo Tezeta—and other treats from Noise Pop Industries. Make this your Sunday adventure. Come down, Hermano. Take part in this pregame warm-up. That oncoming music festival season, gurgling up with numerous August options, is almost at hand. Get your reps in; more info here.
MON/13: BOOTS RILEY I LOVE BOOSTERS Q&A Already a critical darling, the absurdist crime-comedy I Love Boosters, from local director Boots Riley, seems perfect for that communal watch. So buckle up. This viewing comes with a dialogue. Boots Riley will be in attendance for your insightful questions afterward. Now this is a cool Monday hang, for sure. New Parkway Theater, Oakland. More info here.
FOOD & DRINK
Tamara Palmer’s weekly Good Taste column tells you where to stick your fork.
SAT/WORLD CUP WITH DOLLAR OYSTERS Sweet Kumamotos for a buck sounds like an early Aughts dream, but Aliment is actually doing it in 2026! Reservations are always recommended for this special, which is served from noon to 3:30 p.m. every Saturday. But this Saturday is extra special because it comes with a World Cup Game. 786 Bush Street, San Francisco. www.alimentsf.com
STAGE
Charles Lewis III checks out theaters and performance spaces every week in the Drama Masks column.
THU/4 : PURGATORY READING No, this isn’t the story of my endless job-hunt as I live with the world’s worst housemates. This is Telos Ensemble’s staged reading series making its SF debut. Few details have been released about the four featured scripts from British writer Dan Blick, but the series has already picked up an Off-Broadway buzz in NY. Now, SF theatre-lovers can get in on the fun (or once again shake their heads at the NY theatre scene). 7:30pm at the Little Boxes Theatre, SF. More info here.
FRI/10 THROUGH SUN/12: “SHAKESPEARE IN THE TRASH” The Bard wrote for the broke and downtrodden, so why not see a version of his work that literally reflects that? If you’ve ever wondered what Elizabethan theatre looks like when staged by half-drunk reprobates in a lot in the middle of SoMa, now’s your chance to find out—for free, no less! 129 14th St., SF. More info here.
FILM
Dennis Harvey’s long-running Screen Grabs has tons more flicks to recommend.
THROUGH JULY 18: FRAENKEL FILM FEST There’s an inevitable fascination to hearing from artists what predecessors they were influenced by, or what contemporaries they find inspiring. But it’s unusual for that kind of programming to happen between different media, which is one thing that makes the Fraenkel Film Festival so intriguing. Now in its third year, again at SF’s Roxie Theater, the annual event lets visual artists not normally associated with cinema—most of them tied to the Fraenkel Gallery, founded in 1979 with a then-primary emphasis on the art of photography—select a movie that particularly impacted them and their work. Features include everything from Princess Mononoke to Her. Roxie, SF. More info here.
OPENING FRI/10: MARY OLIVER: SAVED BY THE BEAUTY OF THE WORLD Poetry fans will rejoice at this tribute to the late Pulitzer and National Book Award winner. Inspired from an early age by nature and Walt Whitman, she used her medium to convey a “sense of rapture” whose lack of overt politics or personal disclosure wasn’t always in critical fashion. But for some time it made her the art form’s most popular practitioner in the US. Sasha Waters’ documentary finds the subject called “very famous yet completely elusive,” with many devoted readers long unaware she was a lesbian—let alone one in a 40-year domestic partnership, with photographer Molly Malone. When the latter passed away in 2005, Oliver surprised her audience by eschewing something “very close to a hermit’s life” for a much more public role, largely lured out by her journalist friend Maria Schriver. More info here.
NIGHTLIFE
Marke B. usually knows what’s up.
SAT/11: LIL LOUIE VEGA House music will never die, and neither will the tremendous influence of the literal Master at Work. The NYC genius has gifted us so many classic productions that he could fill a six-hour set with them alone, but he also rides the edges of the new as well as dips into Nuyorican classic for his floor-trembling appearances. 9:30pm-2:30am, Public Works, SF. More info here.
SUN/12: STAMINA 15TH ANNIVERSARY MONTH WITH JFB How insanely fortunate are we to have this long-running Sunday night drum and bass weekly, a Best of the Bay winner, that packs them in and brings on such talent. Celebrate all month, but especially this week with 3x DMC champion (!!!) JFB who promises to tear up the decks. 10pm-2am, F8, SF. More info here.
