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 out.
THU/28: FOU FOU HA! This colorful clutch of erotic clowns has been pitching titillated tents for decades, and in their 25th season presents a new show, The Nectar. “Rooted in the shadowed glamour of Weimar-era cabaret and pulsing with the surreal mischief of clown, The Nectar brings together impeccable dance, seductive burlesque, and a femme-powered narrative threaded with absurdity and ritual. A wink to Fosse. A torn Erotica page. A brush with ABBA. A whisper of Dark Garden indulgence.” 8pm and 10pm, Palace Theater, SF. More info here.
FRI/29: MARGARET CHO: CHOLIGARCHY For decades, local comedy legend Cho’s irreverent jokes and hilarious dips into queer and Asian American culture have scalded the ears of her rabid fans. It’s so nice to have her back on the boards! 7pm and 9:30pm, Palace of Fine Arts, SF. More info here.
FRI/29 + SAT/30: LEA DELARIA A perfect pairing with Cho, Delaria is another huge queer comic who made it big with deep local ties—and who continues to rivet audiences today. She’s turned toward jazz of late, delivering powerhouse, storytelling renditions of standards with the big, bold swagger. Feinstein’s at the Nikko, SF. More info here.
FRI/29-SUN/31: BAY AREA BOOK FESTIVAL A mind-boggling blast of bibliophilic, with dozens of author appearances, workshops, panels, parties, and everything else you can shake a spine at. From “Building Worlds, Building Power” to “I Am the Moment: Voices of a New Generation,” your reading list will runneth over. Various locations, Berkeley. More info here.
SAT/30: PORCHFEST 2026 San Francisco does not have many proper stoops, the New York kind from which rappers, poets, comedians, and indie-jazz bands fill the warm city air with spontaneous entertainment. But we do have a few porches! Porchfest welcomes more than 100 acts, mostly music, onto 18 porches across the Mission for a daylong affair that harkens back to when the pre-gentrified city offered electrifying moments around almost every corner. Best part is many of these are right outside delicious restaurants, so you can fill up, too. Noon-6pm, SF. More info here.
SAT/30: BREWFEST 2026 Who can resist downing a few brewskis on a (hopefully sunny?) weekend day at the Presidio Civil War Parade Ground? The Golden Gate Parks Conservancy puts on this annual thirst quencher, which includes unlimited tastings from more than a dozen local breweries, plus lawn games, live music, food trucks, and much more. Noon-4pm, Presidio, SF. More info here.
SAT/30: ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT SEAFOOD BOIL The awesome Gumbo Social is leaving Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, and they are going out with this all-you-can-eat bang. “Come enjoy our signature seafood boil loaded with: Shrimp, smoked sausage, baby potatoes, corn, tossed in butter, Old Bay, and Cajun seasoning.” Instead of crying I am diving in! Noon-2pm, Ferry Plaza, SF. More info here.
MUSIC
Hit up John-Paul Shiver’s Under the Stars column for great tunes and shows every week.
SAT/30: AMELIA RAY Worth a trip to Sacramento! As I’ve said previously, but hear me now on this: Amelia Ray, the San Francisco writer and composer nicknamed the Beatles’ long-lost soul sister, will make you feel something in performance—whether a chuckle (she’s a character) or a heartstring tug that comes out of the blue. According to her site, “Ray’s 31-year career has spanned the fields of music, literature, performance art, film, and humanitarianism,” but hey, that’s what storytellers of the highest regard do. Relate experiences that connect us all. More importantly, she’s a singer-songwriter who’s going to tell the truth. 7pm, The Bootleg, Sacramento. More info here.
MON/1: AJA MONET She’s known for posting lines from her spoken word poems on the streets before listening parties: “Sometimes in my dreams the women are free” got plastered on a barrier before her recent NYC engagement. Her new release, The Color of Rain, co-produced with Meshell Ndegeocello and Justin Brown, uses rain as an analogy for combining jazz, soul, hip-hop, Afropunk, and rhythm and blues as a salve, a means of fighting and healing all at once against this totalitarian moment in the world. The Color of Rain adopts surrealism as a weapon against fascism. 7pm, The Chapel, SF. More info here.
FOOD & DRINK
Tamara Palmer’s weekly Good Taste column tells you where to stick your fork.
ROLL OVER TO THE REOPENED SAM WO RESTAURANT I finally returned to the OG, which opened in 1908, and got the chance to learn how it tastes since it has been under new ownership for the past eight months. After one bite of the duck rice noodle rolls dunked in mustard, a dish ordered to go, it was a relief to know that it’s still wonderful! I don’t even normally like mustard of any kind—probably because they aren’t Sam Wo mustard. Had I eaten in the restaurant, I would have definitely added a hot bowl of fish jook, a porridge served with a crispy Chinese donut, and enjoyed the full experience. 713 Clay Street, SF. More info here.
EMERYVILLE’S LONE FARMERS MARKET IS BACK The farmers market in Emeryville is seasonal, and it returned earlier this month to the parking lot of Public Market Emeryville, a sleeper hit of a food hall in the East Bay. This year’s edition finds the Public Market’s food tenants utilizing the farmers market produce even more, and brings a Stamp Card promotion with a “special reward” from Super Duper Burgers after five farmers market visits. It all takes place on Thursdays from 4pm-8pm in the parking lot at Public Market Emeryville, 5959 Shellmound Street, Emeryville. More info here.
STAGE
Charles Lewis III checks out theaters and performance spaces every week in the Drama Masks column.
THU/28—JUNE 21: THE BARBER OF SEVILLE SF Opera stages a fabulously flamenco-inspired production of Rossini’s classic: “A jack-of-all trades, the wily barber Figaro has a scheme for anything. Moved by the distress of two young lovers separated by the curmudgeonly Doctor Bartolo, Figaro pulls out his bag of tricks. But will Figaro’s scheming allow Rosina to escape the clutches of her guardian into true love’s embrace with Count Almaviva?” War Memorial Opera House, SF. More info here.
FRI/29-SUN/31: DOUBT Opera Parallèle’s version of the hit Broadway play (and movie), Doubt takes place during the earliest days of Vatican II, with traditionalists like Sister Aloysius—unabashed hater of the song “Frosty the Snowman”—at risk of becoming obsolete as The Church seeks to maintain relevance in an ever-changing world. Her resolve is solid as the mortar of the cathedrals. Yet, the one “tradition” she won’t tolerate is the one that’s haunted the Church since its earliest days: priests abusing children. Presidio Theatre, SF. More info here.
FILM
Dennis Harvey’s long-running Screen Grabs has tons more flicks to recommend.
SAT/30 + SUN 31: “SPOTLIGHT ON AGNES VARDA” Commemorating what would have been the Brussels-born “Godmother of French New Wave”‘s 98th birthday—she passed away in 2019 at 90—the 4 Star is showing three of her classics: the “real time” narrative of 1962’s Cleo from 5 to 7; The Gleaners and I (2000), in which she explores the world of collecting leftover crops post-harvest; and Jane B. Par Agnes V., about her longterm friendship with English-French actress Jane Birkin. 4 Star Theater, SF. More info here.
THU/28-JUNE 4: DOCFEST The 25th installment is celebrated with a program this Wed/27 through Thurs/4—its online component runs till Sun/7—that as usual finds a lot of fun in new nonfiction filmmaking. But there are also some honorary looks backward, notably a “2001 Flashback” sidebar (complete with 2001 ticket prices) bringing back a few favorite titles from the festival’s inaugural edition. Among this year’s eye-openers: high-heeled anarchy, Amazing Sea Monkeys, rock star wangs, Oakland tent evictions, queer rights in Cuba, a Palestinian comedy club, NOFX and Grateful Dead jams. Read our full preview here. More info about the full fest here.
NIGHTLIFE
Marke B. usually knows what’s up.
FRI/29: DIRECT TO EARTH WITH DVS1 AND MAX GARDNER I didn’t make it to Detroit for last weekend’s big Movement techno fest, and I am craving some hard-driving yet intelligent beats that keep me engaged holistically. Killer Minneapolis producer and DJ DVS-1 knows how to make the roof shake as if a spaceship’s landing, and Direct to Earth party crew honcho Max Gardner will help it all lift off. 11pm-6am, more info here.
SAT/30: EW! Big queer daytime patio dance parties are back, baby. And while we sadly await the final Hard French extravaganza happening Pride weekend, insanely cute little party EW (formerly packing Underground SF) is blowing up to fill its stilettos at El Rio. DC’s excellent Baronhawk Poitier and Tommy C, both sweethearts who know how to throw down, hop behind the decks. EW! 3pm-8pm, El Rio, SF. More info here.
SAT/30: THE NIGHT BELONGS TO THE UNDERGROUND WITH SHIGETO Detroit polymath Shigeto brings an expansive jazz sensibility to his electronic productions and DJ moments—last time I saw him he was performing live at the newly refurbished Michigan Central Train station, using African drums and a rush of ambient tones to summon the ghosts of trains long since passed through the cavernous Beaux Arts monument. After a day of playing experimental music with some wonderful friends in Golden Gate Park’s Elk Glen Meadow, he’s taking over the intimate Underground SF, sure to provide some spine-tinglingly danceable moments. 9pm-2am, Underground SF. More info here.
