Founded by Jon Reed Sims in 1978 in response to Anita Bryant‘s anti-gay campaign in the late 1970s, the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Marching Band and Twirling Corps was the first openly-gay musical group in the world. Sims went on to create the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus, the Lesbian/Gay Chorus of San Francisco, […]
Hailing from the colorful and gritty La Boca neighborhood of Buenos Aires, the Blue Tango Project is a groundbreaking investigation into the treacherous emotional and musical crossroads where tango and the blues embrace. A collaboration between Argentine-born Latin Grammy-nominee María Volonté and California harmonica player Kevin Carrel Footer, the duo celebrates the deep emotional kinship […]
Updated 8/2/17 This day's performance location has been changed to the Esplanade at Yerba Buena Gardens, near the MLK, Jr. waterfall. This children’s program repeats at 12:15–12:45pm. Joe Leon’s Caterpillar Puppets don’t just entertain kids and parents. His eccentric menagerie draws audiences of all ages into seemingly familiar stories that take unexpected turns. Like […]
In collaboration with Yerba Buena Gardens Festival, AfroSolo Arts Festival presents its 17th annual free concert in Yerba Buena Gardens: Lovin’ the Horns Charles Hamilton is an internationally known jazz trombonist, composer, and innovator of jazz education, one of only two jazz educators ever to receive the National Foundation for the Advancement of the Arts’ […]
Lines and lyrics from Litquake Nation! Enjoy line breaks during your lunch break, as some of the Bay Area’s best poets and musicians share their work in the great outdoors. Oakland-based writer, MK CHAVEZ is the author of several chapbooks including Mothermorphosis. Dear Animal, her first full collection, was released in October 2016 by Nomadic Press. Chavez […]
LINES Dance Center presents a program of contemporary and global dance featuring students from the Adult Choreography and Performance Workshops – contemporary taught by Victor Talledos, Afro-Cuban taught by Natalia Aceves and hip-hop taught by Kyle Limin. See talented dancers display a love of the art-form and a need to fulfill their creative impulses and […]
Updated 8/10/17 This day's performance location has been changed to the Children's Garden at Yerba Buena Gardens, near the playground and carousel. This children’s program repeats at 12:15–12:45pm. A beloved Bay Area institution, the Unique Derique is a prince among clowns, an internationally esteemed performer who has honed a singular blend of physical comedy […]
Celebrating Filipino and Filipino-American arts and culture, the 23rd annual Pistahan features 2 days of art pavilions and stages highlighting contemporary and traditional music, dance, art, crafts, cuisine and artifacts. A trade expo offers products unique to the Philippines, including foods, books, jewelry, clothes and products for the home created from mother of pearl, bamboo, coconut, mahogany, […]
Celebrating Filipino and Filipino-American arts and culture, the 23rd annual Pistahan features 2 days of art pavilions and stages highlighting contemporary and traditional music, dance, art, crafts, cuisine and artifacts. A trade expo offers products unique to the Philippines, including foods, books, jewelry, clothes and products for the home created from mother of pearl, bamboo, coconut, mahogany, […]
The Bay Area has a long and deep history of extraordinary women playing jazz, funk, rock and soul, and the Jazz Herstory Collective is a project that celebrates that legacy. Featuring some of the most prodigious young musicians on the Bay Area scene, the JHC has honed an infectiously grooving repertoire of jazz classics, original […]
Since settling in the Bay Area in 1969, Cuban-born vocalist Bobi Céspedes has been an essential cultural conduit, providing authentic Afro-Cuban roots music to a region with a passionate hunger for clave. She made an enduring impression in the 1980s with the celebrated band Conjunto Céspedes, and gained a larger following as part of Grateful […]
Updated 8/15/17 This day's performance location has been changed to the Esplanade at Yerba Buena Gardens, near the MLK, Jr. waterfall. This children’s program repeats at 12:15–12:45pm. A passport to Bollywood for kiddies. Non Stop Bhangra celebrates the beautiful and vibrant spirit of Bhangra, a traditional Punjabi folk music and dance. https://youtu.be/y4zwtfdFRk8?list=PL_C6KeCoAO6PG1vIKN0l7qppM-5QUX3Xo
The sensational young Cuban vocalist Daymé Arocena introduces her gorgeous new album Cubafonía to Yerba Buena Gardens. A former member of the extraordinary Jane Bunnett & Maqueque sextet, Arocena is rapidly gaining international attention as a solo artist. Still in her mid-20s, she’s been recording for influential British producer Gilles Peterson’s Brownswood Recordings, honing a […]
For 20 years California Brazil Camp has brought eager musicians together with some of Brazil’s greatest musicians and composers under the redwoods of Cazadero. In celebrating this milestone year, Brazil in the Gardens brings together an all-star faculty cast, including Spok, a saxophonist, arranger and orchestra leader from Recife who’s an innovator in the exciting […]
Raised in the Bay Area and now based in Boston, Palestinian-American vocalist Dalia Marina made a lasting impression with her 2012 Yerba Buena Gardens Festival debut as a special guest with Middle Eastern ensemble Zamanna and her 2014 program presenting an eclectic set of jazz, Latin jazz and soul-infused classical Arabic songs. She returns to […]
Updated 8/15/17 This day's performance location has been changed to the Esplanade at Yerba Buena Gardens, near the MLK, Jr. waterfall. This children’s program repeats at 12:15–12:45pm. Even in South America, Venezuela’s musical riches tend to be overshadowed by the styles of neighboring Colombia, Brazil and Argentina. But in the Bay Area, the nation’s […]
San Francisco jazz singer Paula West possesses a strikingly beautiful voice, a full, velvety, caressing contralto. But it’s the expansive body of music she explores with her exquisite instrument that makes her one of the most consistently enthralling singers on the scene. Whether West interprets Bob Dylan, David Bowie or Irving Berlin, Kurt Weill, Papa […]
Grounded in Appalachian old-time repertoire, seasoned in African-diaspora roots, and composing original music inspired by life in Oakland and globe-spanning tours, the kinetic Evie Ladin Band erases the lines between music and movement. A trio of tenaciously innovative string musicians and dancers, the combo features Ladin’s clawhammer banjo, resonant voice and rhythmic dance, Keith Terry’s […]
Bringing rock ‘n’ roll energy to the party music of Eastern European Jewry, Kugelplex plays wild, virtuosic dance tunes at concerts, festivals and weddings. They’ve performed with Joan Baez, the Oakland Symphony, the Klezmatics’ Frank London and Kitka, among other illustrious ensembles. And for this unique program they’re joining forces with Bay Area vocal legend […]