Thursday
24 Years of Foreign Cinema
Time: 5:30 to 10:30 p.m.
Location: Foreign Cinema, 2534 Mission St.
The Mission mainstay celebrates 24 years with a “Moroccan Experience Gala” marking its (almost) silver jubilee and benefitting several neighborhood organizations: Eat REAL, a local nonprofit working with local public schools to teach children the value of real food through education, and hands-on lessons in growing, cooking, and tasting food together; 826 Valencia, dedicated to supporting under-resourced students ages 6 to 18; and The Skatepark Project (formerly the Tony Hawk Foundation), a skateboarding organization that helps communities build public skate parks for underserved youth.
Tickets available here.
Music inspiration talk
Time: 7 to 8 p.m.
Location: Online
Join a free music talk from Community Music Center to hear from its faculty Becca Burrington on her “musical life.” With demonstrations, musical examples and creative tips, the sessions will provide participants with inspiration on their musical journeys. Register here to access the Zoom link.
Friday
Postcard exhibition
Time: 6 to 9 p.m.
Location: Voss Gallery
A “Postcards from Paradise” group exhibit will showcase letter-sized paintings celebrating the beauty of nature, city and how we connect with one another. Meet fellow art lovers while immersing yourself with over 100 works by more than 60 artists.
Guest juror Haylee Barsky will select a Juror’s Choice Award and two honorable mentions.
The exhibition is on view through June 24, 2023. Gallery opens noon to 6 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. More information can be found here.
Benefit concert for earthquake survivors
Time: 7 to 8:30 p.m.
Location: Red Poppy Art House
The Ariya Rengin music group will be performing authentic Kurdish music to raise funds for earthquake survivors in Turkey and Syria. Turkish and Armenian songs will also be performed. It accepts donations from $30 to $100, and all proceeds will go to people who were affected by the earthquakes in Turkey and Syria through the nonprofit California Kurdish Community Center. Here is more on the event and the artists.
Spanish meetup and dance in Baila
Time: 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. every Friday
Location: Bissap Baobab
Bissap Baobab, which finally received its license to sell beer and wine, hosts a Spanish meet-up followed by a Baila night every Friday. Meet new friends, practice Spanish and dance together!
Saturday
Carnaval San Francisco
Time: Saturday and Sunday
Location: between 16th and 24th streets around the neighborhood
The annual Carnaval San Francisco to celebrate the colorful Mission District is right here! Check out the schedule for the full line-up of music, food, performances and frenzy celebration on the festive weekend just before the Memorial Day.
Thrift pop-up sale
Time: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., May 27 and 28.
Location: 455A Valencia (Upstairs) and BART station at Mission and 16th streets
Double Vision Thrift will hold a pop-up thrift sale of curated, affordable clothes, shoes, accessories and artwork. Anything curated out of their collection will be given back to the community: Clothes, blankets, pillows and toiletries will be handed out for free at 16th and Mission streets.
Super Dog costume contest!
Time: after noon to 2 p.m.
Location: Mission Comics & Art
Is your dog a super-pet? Dress up your dog in their superhero costume to be entered to win a prize of treats for dogs and humans! Photos will be taken and posted for people to vote on.
Cats are not left out; they might be too busy to attend, but just send photos of your superhero-costumed cats to MissionComicsAndArt@gmail.com as well.
Sunday
SF Carnaval‘s Grand Parade
Time: 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Location: Check the route for the parade
This year, 66 groups line up for the parade starting from Bryant and 24th streets, with more than 3,000 artists representing cultural heritages across Latin America. The Grand Parade covers 20 blocks in San Francisco’s historic Latino Cultural District in the Mission.
Tuesday
Speed friending and dating
Time: 7 to 9 p.m.
Location: Manny’s
Manny’s is hosting a speed friending/dating event in partnership with the Bloom Community App and Authentic Bay Area. This is a monthly series that focuses on building connections between folks in local communities. As always, all genders and sexualities are encouraged to attend. Tickets for general admission are at $20.
Live music dance party
Time: 9 to 11:30 p.m.
Location: Woodchopper’s Ball at Verdi Club
Relax on a Tuesday night by swinging and dancing with the live jazz ensemble lead by Don Neely. Tickets are $15 ($5 after 11 p.m.). Also, the jam session from 11:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m., right after the regular event, is now a regular monthly feature! More information can be found here.
Wednesday
Life and death of Banko Brown
Time: 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Location: Manny’s
Our managing editor Joe Eskenazi is hosting a panel discussion on the life and death of Banko Brown and the larger issues at play in San Francisco. Panelists include Julia Arroyo from the Young Women’s Freedom Center, where Brown worked as a community organizing intern, and Lateefah Simon, who is now a candidate for U.S. Congress. Get tickets here starting at $5.