It’s a busy weekend out there, with a variety of performances from festivals to music concerts featuring kids, a ballet, and more, like, um, fireworks. Read on to see what you may want to do.
Thursday, July 1
The Yerba Buena Gardens Festival, in its 26th year, is chock-full of all kinds of admission-free entertainment from music and dance to theater, family programs, and cultural events throughout each week and most weekends through November. So grab a picnic lunch and go hear jazz harp player and soul-powered vocalist Destiny Muhammad ,who takes the instrument to a new level with her “soaring vocals” of jazz standards and original tunes. 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. on the Great Lawn at Yerba Buena Gardens. Free admission.
Friday, July 3
The San Francisco Mime Troupe opens their 67th season today with Wreckage: A Musical Tragicomedy, which asks the political questions: Is it just us, or does it feel like everything is falling apart? How are we going to survive and rebuild in the rubble left from the economic, social, and psychological devastation of the idiotic kleptocrats? When it’s all over will there be enough left to build something new out of this … wreckage? 1:30 (music), 2 p.m. (show) at Delores Park through Saturday; Sunday at Yerba Buena Gardens. Shows throughout Northern California through Sept. 7. $20 suggested donation.
Anyone who loves watching talented kids perform won’t want to miss the Grammy Award-winning Los Angeles Children’s Chorus featuring the San Francisco Boys Chorus. 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. at Calvary Presbyterian Church. Free admission; reserve here.
Saturday, July 4
Kim Nalley will perform on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. on the California Stage.
If jazz is your jam, don’t miss the annual Fillmore Jazz Festival. Spanning 12 blocks, this iconic festival honors and celebrates the roots of the Fillmore district. Don’t miss the southern blocks, where you’ll find a treat of unscheduled musicians and vendors, typically centered around Marcus Books (the nation’s oldest Black-owned independent bookstore — and don’t miss it either). 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Fillmore Street (Jackson to Eddy streets), through Sunday. Free.
The Golden Gate Park Band will perform Happy 250th America!, a Fourth of July concert featuring “patriotic favorites, rousing marches, and musical fireworks,” from a program of Gershwin, Mancini, Joplin, and others. (Basset hounds always make me smile, especially one keeping warm under a blanket.) 1 p.m. to 2:30 at the Spreckles Temple of Music. Free.
Enjoy an elegant afternoon tea with live music to celebrate the country’s birthday at Stars, Stripes & Scones. The Red, White, and Tea Menu includes scones and biscuits, delicious-sounding tea sandwiches from egg salad, chicken salad, to duck liver mousse and others, and sweets like a plum rose tartlet, lemon tart strawberry cake, and more. Five time slots available from 1 to 2 p.m. through Sunday at the Laurel Court Restaurant and Bar in the Fairmont San Francisco. Tickets from $65; reserve here.
In addition to the two usual waterfront barges (Aquatic Park and Pier 39), in celebration of the nation’s 250th, fireworks will also be launched from each tower and the east side of the Golden Gate Bridge. Visit the links above for the best viewing areas and other helpful info (like bridge closure times and transportation options). And to find out if Karl is planning to crash the party, check out Fog Today, or the cool-looking app Foggy. 9:30 p.m. Free.
Sunday, July 5
It’s the first Sunday of the month, so head to the Head West Marketplace, which features emerging and established local brands and small businesses offering goods like handmade ceramics, locally sourced vintage, and more. 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the back plaza of the Ferry Building.
Notable next week
Wednesday, July 8
Apparently it’s Dracula season. Following the San Francisco Playhouse’s production of Dracula: A Feminist Revenge Fantasy, Really, there’s now another: Dracula: Ballet at its Darkest making its U.S. debut after a sold-out season in London and a record-breaking tour across Australia and New Zealand and featuring music from Bach, Rachmaninov, Mozart, Liszt, Mussorgsky, Mendelssohn, Saint-Saëns and Debussy to retell the haunting tale we all know. 7 p.m. at the Orpheum Theatre with additional matinees on select days through July 12. Tickets tonight from $50.
Enjoy whatever you do in the next several days, and be safe and be kind while you do it. It truly will be a jungle out there.
