Frida Kahlo loved San Francisco, and Fiestas Fridas show how much we have come to love her in return, in our own unique style, of course. In the 10th year celebrating the inimitable painter (1907-1954), Fiestas Fridas features music, activities and numerous opportunities to demonstrate devotion. The goal isn’t to replace Mexico City’s iconic Casa Azul as a pilgrimage site. Rather, it is to highlight the fact that Frida came into her own as an artist in Depression-era San Francisco, where she lived, created, explored, celebrated and loved. Years later, after a traumatizing stint in Mexican jail following the assassination of Leon Trotsky (her former lover), she returned to the City, where she and Diego Rivera reconciled and remarried at San Francisco City Hall. Fiestas Fridas culminates with the Coronation Walk, a promenade to evoke her spirit by donning a unibrow and flower crown. Everyone is Frida be who you are.

This celebration of everything Frida also features lively music from San Francisco’s own Banda Sin Nombre, an ensemble combining folk music from around the world with performance art, drag and dance. With creative roots in San Francisco’s Mission District, the band features rich vocal harmonies with acoustic instruments including guitar, fiddle, charango, jarana, cajon, upright bass and saxophone. The band’s musical influences range from Peruvian chicha to Catalan rumba and Appalachian old time to cumbia.