BIG WEEK: Juneteenth, $5 Book Fair, Dolly Parton Pride, Golden Gate Park Band Fest…

Welcome to Big Week, our weekly guide to cool things to do, put together by our expert critics and writers. 

GENERAL ARTS
Marke B. keeps an eye and ear out.

THU/11-JUNE 27: BIOMETRICKS The latest awesome sound installation-performance at the inimitable, immersive Audium. “How does it feel when we tune into our internal rhythms? When we synchronize our heartbeats and our breaths? And what are we giving up when this data is fed to corporations and police departments? BIOMETRICKS transforms Audium into a pulsating, magical, vibratory body, featuring sounds collected using a stethoscope microphone created by Barbara Nerness, BIOMETRICKS showcases breath, heartbeats, stomach gurgles, and the resonances within our heads.” Audium, SF. More info here.

FRI/12: SF STORY FEST 2026 Tale as old as time, but stories as fresh as this week: Join award-winning journalists, writers, locals, and comedians for wizardly words, peep short film and dance, nod to live music and performance—it’s all in thrall to the fantastical human narrative, baby. Also I love that it’s sponsored by Americans United for Separation of Church and State. 8pm, Herbst Theater, SF. More info here.

FRI/12-JULY 3: “WE ARE WHO WE HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR” “A new exhibition by San Francisco-based artist Rebeka Rodriguez Mondragón arrives as both declaration and question: What if salvation was never coming from outside us? What if we are it? Embodying the divine is not metaphor but a survival strategy. Through new photography and hand-fabricated jewelry, Rodriguez Mondragón approaches the body as a charged site of ancestral memory, divine encounter, and radical self-making.” Opening reception Fri/12, 6pm-9pm, 465 Collective, SF. More info here.

SAT/13: JUNETEENTH FESTIVAL IN THE FILLMORE While the official Juneteenth Parade isn’t until next Saturday, commemorating when word got to Texas about the (official) end of slavery, this free annual festival brings the entire Fillmore Corridor to life “with vibrant culture, incredible energy, voices of resilience and triumphant celebration.” Also, CAMEO is playing??? Get some BBQ and settle into community. 11am-6pm, Fillmore District, SF. More info here.

SAT/13 + SUN/14: $5 BOOK FAIR A terrific excuse to visit the amazingly minuscule and perfect 34 Trinity Arts + News Bookstore off Trinity Plaza downtown. “20+ tables of book vendors (and one or two record ones) comprised of local bookstores Green Apple, Bird & Beckett, and other independent booksellers. 1000s of books, all $5, with even better deals throughout the day. Discounts for educators. Knowledge is power, celebrate the return of the real (old books).” 10am-5pm, outside 34 Trinity Arts + News, more info here.

SAT/13 + SUN/14: 2026 GOLDEN GATE PARK BAND FESTIVAL How much do we love this 144-year-old local institution? Enough to let them share their gorgeous Music Concourse amphitheater with other great regional bands, of a celebration of outdoor melody. Eleven bands from as near as Daly City and exotically far as Watsonville take the stage to show us what they got. (The GGP Band itself will also perform, of course.) 11am-5pm, Golden Gate Park Bandshell, SF. More info here.

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MUSIC
Hit up John-Paul Shiver’s Under the Stars column for great tunes and shows every week.

THURS/11: BRIJEAN W/ MILD UNIVERSE Listen up, chickenbutt. This whole Total Accord Fest celebration of Bay Area DIY musicians, running city-wide until June 20, is precisely what longtime El Rio booker Tyla Jones has promoted it as: Bay faves dealing that good-good vibe wisely through music. Case in point, this show right here? It is what they professionally call a two-fer. The double punch of local East Bay faves gone LA, the duo Brijean, whose lush, hypnotic fusion of ’60s pop, Brazilian tropicália, and deep house takes you to that special Wi-Fi Beach. While SF’s own Mild Universe, a 6-piece ensemble, remains steadfast in its lush disco-soul synths and horn arrangements. 7pm, Rickshaw Stop, SF. More info here.

SUN/14: THE MESSTHETICS AND JAMES BRANDON LEWIS Adorned with hybrid freakouts and searing jazz-rock arrangements, the Messthetics encompass drummer Brendan Canty and bassist Joe Lally, former rhythm section of Fugazi, the all-time DC-based hardcore legends. With James Brandon Lewis, a generational imposing force on tenor sax, steeped in jazz tradition and free jazz garage punk energy. Add to it Anthony Pirog, a crunch-it-out guitarist, completing the four-top, and you have an adventurous exercise that pushes the limits of where-out punk can go in the 21st century. 7pm, Rickshaw Stop, SF. More info here.

FOOD & DRINK
Tamara Palmer’s weekly Good Taste column tells you where to stick your fork. 

YOU DESERVE A LIL SWEET TREAT San Francisco finally has its own location of Lil Sweet Treat, the glorious self-serve pick and mix gummy candy shop from New York City that also recently debuted in Southern California. We deserve it! International selections change frequently and there are always several gluten-free options in rotation. Despite a lifetime of eating gummy candies from around the world, Lil Sweet Treat stocks candies I’ve never seen before. Based on personal experience filling up bags in NYC, keep an eye out for the sour baby pineapples and rainbow bricks from Spain, sour cola buddies and strawberry oval Bubs from Sweden, and fruity pyramids from Belgium. 2209 Chestnut Street, SF. lilsweettreat.com

FRI/12 SUNSET NIGHT MARKET: DRAGON BOAT FESTIVAL The all-ages festival is back to highlight the wonderful Chinese, Japanese, and Vietnamese mom and pop food businesses on Irving Street in the Sunset District. There will also be a global lineup of food trucks and booths, with plenty of sweet and savory dishes to contemplate. If you go, you’ll want to arrive early, but pace yourself—take a lap around the entire five block span to see what’s on offer before making too many decisions. It’s a trip to see live music, DJs, and dance performances on these typically quiet blocks, but it’s also a welcome introduction to the neighborhood for thousands of people. Event producers Sunset Mercantile, Wah Mei, Into the Streets, and ASIAN Inc. will host two additional Sunset Night Markets in 2026: the Autumn Moon Festival on Sept. 25 and the Dong Zhi/Holiday Market on Dec. 11. 5pm-10pm, Irving Street between 20th and 25th Avenues. More info here.

STAGE
Charles Lewis III checks out theaters and performance spaces every week in the Drama Masks column.

SAT/13 + SUN/14: ALCINA IN CONCERT For more than 30 years, Festival Opera has been the East Bay’s go-to company for independent productions of overlooked classic and brand-new librettos. Their first 2026 show promises to cast a spell over its audience with Alcina, Handel’s rarely-produced epic of swords, sorcery, lust, and betrayal. This concert version precedes the fully-staged production in Walnut Creek. UC Berkeley. More info here.  

SAT/13: DOLLY: A PRIDE SHOW An SF institution takes on queer-friendly country music for the most fabulous month of the year. SF Gay Men’s Chorus ring in Pride with a loving tribute to Dolly Parton, the campy country gal known for her big hits and even bigger… hair. Show up and make the “Jolene” in your life green with envy. 1pm and 7:30pm, Curran Theatre, SF. More info here. 

FILM
Dennis Harvey’s long-running Screen Grabs has tons more flicks to recommend.

FRI/12-SUN/: CAFILM PRIDE A relative local newbie at just four years’ age, CAFILM Pride offers Marin County an advance taste of Frameline LGBTQ Film Fest, which is the short series’ co-presenter. The Smith Rafael Film Center will host showings of three new features over three three days’ course, all with directors in attendance. Fri/12 brings Fire Within, about diverse unhoused persons in SF’s Tenderloin. Sat/13 it’s the Brazilian Gugu’s World, a coming-of-age drama set in a remote area whose town was submerged by a now-drying-up reservoir. On Sun/14 there’s The Dads, a nonfiction study of fathers battling increasingly hostile legislation in seeking gender-affirming care for trans offspring. Smith Rafael Film Center, Marin. Full info is here.

THU/11-AUGUST 13: SUMMER WITH MONICA VITTI Born Maria Luisa Ceciarelli in Rome in 1931, Monica Vitti graduated from the National Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1953, and over the course of the next four decades, she acted in over 50 films. Her roles in four of Michelangelo Antonioni’s groundbreaking films of the 1960s contributed to the couple’s acclaim and made her one of world cinema’s most recognizable faces. After working with Antonioni, Vitti also became beloved for her work in scores of popular comedies. Thanks to recent restorations supported by Cinecittà in Rome, this series offers the opportunity to experience a selection of Vitti’s best work on the big screen. BAMPFA, Berkeley. More info here.

NIGHTLIFE
Marke B. usually knows what’s up.

FRI/12: TOWNSHIP REBELLION No, not quite the incendiary Rage Against the Machine song, although this Berlin duo land on the slightly harder side of melodic tech house, with a bit of a rebellious streak. Support from local DJ Emanate should wrap the whole evening up quite nicely. 9:30pm-2am, Audio, SF. More info here.

SAT/13: TAKUYA NAKAMURA A very cool cat originally from Japan (now in NYC) who has been embedded in the jazz, electro, and jungle scenes for decades, blending them together with intellectual yet crowd-pleasing aplomb. When he pulls out his trumpet over the mix, it’s pure musical heaven. 9pm-3am, Great Northern, SF. More info here.

TUE/16: THE DISH Oh hey! I’m teaming up with The Lookout in the Castro to launch a new “fireside talk” + food + drag + DJ series called The Dish. The first one features GLBT Historical Society Executive Director Robert Ordeñana chatting with me about queer history and preservation, because it’s Pride time, duh. Plus: DJ Chuck Gunn, who we love, drag queen Sushi Rollita bringing you the hot plate, and tasty food to order from the Lookout’s revamped kitchen. Cheers! 7pm-10pm, The Lookout, SF. More info here.

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