It’s music, music, music this week from Hardly Strictly Bluegrass to Ledisi and swing, outdoor festivals, a heart-warming and funny theater production, what’s likely to be a pretty curtailed Fleet Week, and more. Read on for my picks for the week.
Thursday, Oct. 2
Fog City Swing, a relatively new jazz and swing band, is a small band with a big band sound. It has been playing to sold-out crowds with a song list that ranges from Sinatra to Count Basie to Michael Jackson. See them tonight at the Keys Jazz Bistro. Tickets: $30.
ACT’s heartwarming, award-winning comedy-drama Kim’s Convenience, which inspired the Netflix series hit about a Korean family-run bodega in Toronto, is a “feel-good ode to generations of immigrants who have made Canada the country that it is today.” Kim struggles with the gap between his values and those of his Canadian-born children while also facing neighborhood gentrification. Tickets from $29.
Friday, Oct. 3
Hardly Strictly Bluegrass kicks off today and will feature over 70 artists on six stages, including Emmylou Harris, Roseanne Cash, Lucinda Williams, and many more, like the Hellman family bands Marco and the Polos and Purple Glaze. Through Sunday. Free admission.
Stop by the Shipyard Silent Art Auction and Reception, featuring over 130 original works donated by the Shipyard artists. Meet the artists, preview the collection, and make note of your favorites so you can be among the first to bid. Free admission.
Saturday, Oct. 4
Today is the 9th Annual Richmond Autumn Moon Festival, where community, culture, and good food come together. You’ll find nearly 80 vendors offering food, beverages, and of course, moon cakes; arts and crafts; live performances including lion dancing and kung fu demonstrations, guzheng music; and more like a giant Labubu appearance. Free admission.
There’s a Star Party in the Presidio tonight, organized by the San Francisco Amateur Astronomers, featuring stargazing, moongazing, planet-gazing, and globular cluster-gazing through telescopes. Visit the SFAA site to confirm the party’s on because heavy fog/overcast skies cancel. Karl’s been on vacay for a few days and not scheduled to return tonight after a sunny day, but that was at press time. Free admission.
Sunday, Oct. 5
Courtesy Museo Italo Americano
Coffee aficionados will enjoy Un caffé con Luciano at Museo Italo Americano, which will feature a presentation by master roaster and original owner Luciano Repetto of the city’s oldest (and some say finest) coffee roastery, the iconic Graffeo. Includes a tasting. Tickets: $15.
How’s this for a Sunday fun day: Ride the ferry over to Treasure Island’s new Cityside Park (with beautiful views of the city skyline) for the Harvest Festival and Pumpkin Patch. Enjoy live music, pick out your pumpkin (a small one if you’re ferrying), watch the kiddos in the bounce house and playing on the hay bale pyramid, love on the adorable fuzzies in the petting zoo, indulge in sweet treats and savory food, and more. Free, RSVP here.
Canadian Forces Snowbirds | Instagram
Today marks the start of a scaled-back Fleet Week, pending the resolution of the government shutdown. If that doesn’t happen, the airshow will feature our friends from the north, the Canadian Snowbirds (making their first appearance since 2017), as well as other aerial performances, and there will still be visiting ships from Canada and Colombia. Officials stress that the week is not canceled, so stay tuned for updates from local media and the Fleet Week site, which had not been updated at press time. Free admission.
Monday, Oct. 6
Cover art from Ledisi’s tribute album, For Dinah, released Oct. 3, 2025
Grammy-winning R&B and jazz singer-songwriter, music producer, author, and actor Ledisi will perform a tribute to the iconic Dinah Washington, “Queen of the Blues,” tonight at Davies Symphony Hall. Tickets from $66.
Brian Stauffer | San Francisco Opera
The San Francisco Opera’s world premiere of the The Monkey King (猴王悟空) opens in November, and there are a few lead-up events, like this one at the Commonwealth Club, which features a conversation between composer Huang Ruo and the opera’s general director, Matthew Shilvock. The Monkey King follows the story of a monkey born from a stone, who becomes the ruler of the monkeys, and challenges the gods of the seas and heavens in a bid for immortality. The opera’s production will include dance and puppetry and will be performed in English and Chinese. Tickets from $5.
Tuesday, Oct. 7
Caption: Del Sol Quartet
Does everyone know about the Internet Archive, the digital library of the Internet, books, recordings, and more, which allows free access? They’ve just reached a milestone of archiving one trillion web pages and want to celebrate human collaboration with you and the Del Sol Quartet in The Vast Blue We, an interactive evening of music. Concertgoers are encouraged to wear blue “to celebrate how we collectively form the fabric of this ‘pale blue dot’ we live on.” Tickets: $10.
Wednesday, Oct. 8
A huge drone light show over the bay, paired with a projection on the Ferry Building for the opening of Tech Week, is scheduled for tonight, so if you’re in the area, that may be a fun thing to see. Organizers say only RSVP’d guests (with a phone number) can view “event activity,” but does looking at the sky or the Ferry Building require an RSVP?
Enjoy your week and stay safe while you’re out and about.
