“Excelsior Buzz” is a recurring column on changes, tidbits and other news from the Excelsior. Got news? Send us tips at xueer@missionlocal.com .
Jerry Day is returning to the Excelsior this Saturday on Aug 1.
This year marks the 24th year for the festival, the biggest celebration in the Excelsior. Get ready to meet your fellow Deadheads and enjoy free concerts at the Jerry Garcia Amphitheater in McLaren Park starting 11:30 a.m.
The festival is an annual celebration of Jerry Garcia, an Excelsior native who grew up on Harrington Street, which was renamed Jerry Garcia Street last year on Aug 1. Garcia later co-founded the Grateful Dead. He died in 1995.
As the festival wraps up at around 5:45 p.m., the fun continues at afterparties nearby along Mission Street, Ocean Avenue and Geneva Avenue, featuring food, booze and live music.
The new ice cream shop on Mission Street is on its home stretch to open in the Excelsior.
Located at 4452 Mission St. near Francis Street, the shop called “Namit” has already put up a small black-and-white sign outside. And inside its half-opened door, two workers are laying white and orange checker tiles on the floor surrounded by freshly painted soft yellow walls.
“Every detail matters,” read the shop’s first-ever Instagram post from July 29. “From the floors beneath your feet to the ice cream we’ll soon serve, we’re taking the time to build it right.”
La Guatemalteca Express, a specialty store in the Mission District at 2863 24th St. near Bryant Street, has opened a second shop in the Excelsior, also selling snacks, personal care products, and offering international shipping services.
Victor Capriel, who came to San Francisco from Guatemala about five years ago, is running his Excelsior outpost by himself. The store, located at 4490 Mission St. near Santa Rosa Avenue, opened its door to customers on July 6, said Capriel.
“It’s quieter here,” Capriel said of the new store, compared to the Mission shop.
XLCR Excellence Community Days, a free family-friendly event, is coming to the Excelsior on Aug. 8 at Norton Street Parking Lot at 20 Norton Street near Mission Street.
The event, from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m., will feature music and art, offering family storytime in collaboration with the San Francisco public library, a free raffle and craft vendors.
You can also experience kalimba, a traditional African instrument, with Carl Winters, a musician and elementary school teacher. The event also features a letterpress printing workshop with Arion Press, a local arts organization.
