Arts & Culture in San Francisco

May in San Francisco is packed with celebrations, including festivals focused on young San Francisco artists of all genres and on Mexican, Asian, Pacific Islander, Latin American and Caribbean heritages and cultures.

During May, Asian Heritage Month, a street fair, concerts, awards ceremonies and other events in San Francisco and the Bay Area showcase Asian- and Pacific-American peoples and cultures.

Films, cultural celebrations and art talks, sales and studio visits are all happening during April 2011 in San Francisco.

A guide to the second half of the 2012 San Francisco International Film Festival, particularly films that have roots in the San Francisco Bay Area.

San Francisco International Film Festival shows 175 films in two weeks.

SF Ballet's 2013 season features collaboration with European dance companies, story ballets about Cinderella and dancer Nijinsky and world premieres.

The San Francisco Bay Area has many communal Passover Seders open to the public. You don't have know anything about Passover and don't have to be Jewish to attend. The Seder includes re-telling the story about the Jews' journey to freedom, songs, and symbolic foods.

San Francisco Ballet offers two programs simultaneously in late March 2012 which mix classical and contemporary choreography, showcase the company’s breadth, include world premieres and transport audiences to medieval Hungary, an American metropolis, an abstract world, imperial Japan and strange places.

"The Real Americans" ventures outside our San Francisco bubble to meet the real Americans in the the rest of the country. Dan Hoyle's solo performance relives his encounters with Southern and Midwestern folks who're feisty, sympathetic, angry, generous and resilient.

Nearly all of the San Francisco Bay Area's major museums host special museum nights of added programs, activities, and entertainment, which is included with museum admission.

The San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival brings more than 100 films and videos from around the globe to the SF Bay Area, including documentaries, dramas, shorts and an interactive web series portraying dancing prisoners in the Philippines. The festival in San Francisco, Berkeley and San Jose is March 8-18, 2012.

A guide to St. Patrick's Day and Irish-themed activities in San Francisco, including the San Francisco's St. Patrick's Day Parade and Festival and Irish music and cultural presentations.

Burning Man 2012 has essentially sold out as of late February. If you can't live without the pilgrimage to the Nevada desert, here are ways you might score a ticket.

San Francisco Ballet's 2012 season showcases the company's verve and mastery of a full spectrum of dance styles. Included are the heart-wrenching Onegin, an all-Balanchine program, and four world premieres.

February 2012 is a culture fan's dream, with indie and other film festivals, music from French baroque to bluegrass, and art galore.

The annual Edwardian Ball is unlike any other parties in San Francisco, a cabaret/circus/burlesque-revue/costume-party with an edge of black humor.

A baroque violin concert, youth orchestra performances, a film noir festival and an innovation conference are on the January 2012 calendar for the San Francisco Bay Area.

Chinese New Year , the biggest holiday of the year for most Chinese throughout the world, is traditionally family-oriented—the time for family members to reunite at home and over-eat symbolic foods , much like Thanksgiving in the US. In San Francisco, celebrating Chinese New Year is also stretched over a few weeks, with fairs, beauty queens,...

December 2011 in San Francisco offers edgy art (with pancakes), Pixar-India connections, museum deals, movie poster and pottery sales and fun fundraisers for good causes, among other events--so you can get a break from Santa and Christmas.

‘Tis the season of Nutcracker, Messiah, Christmas music and other holiday arts and culture in San Francisco and the Bay Area. For dance companies, choirs, music ensembles, theater troupes and performing arts groups of all sizes, it’s time to dust off the Tchaikovsky score, Handel’s sheet music, or Dickens’ Christmas Carol and present what's...

San Francisco Ballet, which has a unique historical connection to The Nutcracker, has made a cool interactive magazine that's a guide to San Francisco with tie-ins to the ballet.

During the winter holidays, San Francisco and the Bay Area are bursting with events, performances and programs for all ages-–Thanksgiving races, parades, Christmas caroling, street fairs, Hanukkah ceremonies, several versions of Nutcracker, Kwanzaa concerts, ice skating, New Year’s Eve parties. Find seasonal festivities and activities in this...

Concerts of all sorts, dance and drama productions and South Asian films are some of the offerings on the November 2011 arts and culture calendar in San Francisco.

November is film festival harvest month in the SF Bay Area, with so many film festivals that you could spend practically the entire month sitting in San Francisco movie theaters. There is a movie (or entire festival) for everyone, including, in 2011, the new BowWow Film Festival and the Napa Valley Film Festival.

SF Open Studios offers the rare opportunity for the public to meet San Francisco artists in their studios, talk to them, and buy art directly from them. Each weekend of October focuses on the studios in different parts of San Francisco.

A guide to Hispanic Heritage Month celebrations in San Francisco, including special exhibits, film festivals, performances and lectures.

On the October events calendar in San Francisco are such annual favorites as Litquake, Trolley Dances, the Treasure Island Music Festival and the Half Moon Bay Art & Pumpkin Festival.

San Francisco has a strong and flourishing original theater scene. One venue with monthly comedy and independent shows is Stage Werx, which stages productions literally underground.

Get your fill of all of the free things to do in San Francisco during the summer. Free dance lessons, concert series, Shakespeare in the Park and other theater productions, kids' entertainment and everything from ballet to circus shows are held outdoors in parks and public squares.

Stunning photographs of Burning Man, the annual festival in the Nevada desert that celebrates self-expression, community, art and giving.

Find out how to visit nearly all San Francisco museums for free. This comprehensive guide covers the free admission offers at Bay Area museums--including museums that are always free, that are free on designated days, and that have other deals for free admission.

In the run up to Burning Man 2011, events in San Francisco offer last-minute tips to burners and examine the huge phenomenon and culture of Burning Man.

A guide to September street fairs, music and cultural festivals, fundraising walks and cool sales in San Francisco and the Bay Area.

The last weekend in August 2011 is crammed with free concerts, festivals, entertainment and other free things to do.

For some of the best Japanese food in San Francisco and the Bay Area, go to Japanese Buddhist temples during the summer. That's Obon season, when temple members honor their ancestors and host celebrations that include traditional dancing, bazaars and lots of home-made, reasonably priced Japanese dishes.

Get your arts-and-culture fix in July with film festivals, a crafts fair, art shows, Indonesia Day and a jazz festival in San Francisco.

"Balenciaga and Spain," the de Young's exhibit about the legendary Spanish couturier, shows that he was always inventing and drawing inspiration from his native country.

The first in-depth exhibit in the U.S. of Bali art is at the SF Asian Art Museum. The Bali exhibit shows how a blend of art, ceremony, performance and ritual is integrated into everyday life in Bali.

With just toothpicks and glue--and 3,000 spare hours over 34 years--Scott Weaver has created a ping-pong-ball labyrinth that's also a sculpture of San Francisco's skyline and icons. See how it works at the Exploratorium.

The breadth and depth of the San Francisco Public Library's programs is impressive--and more so during the summer, when our brains tend to go on vacation.

Don Reed's "East 14th" is a hilarious autobiographical retelling of Reed's adolescent years, living with his pimp father.

San Francisco Ballet's "The Little Mermaid" is a visual and psychological tour de force. Ballerina Yuan Yuan Tan is a fluid mermaid whose heart-wrenching journey has audience members on the edge of their seats.

Contemporary Jewish Museum offers reduced admission temporarily, with three very distinct and interest exhibits.

The SF International Film Festival screens more than 190 films from nearly 50 countries and offers talks, workshops and classes by leading filmmakers, awards ceremonies and lots of parties--all in two weeks.

Conceptual artist Song Dong’s "Waste Not" piece at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts takes mundane objects and turns them into a sprawling art installation.

San Francisco Asian Film Festival - 2011 Asian Film Festival Comes to San Francisco

Yerba Buena Center for the Arts is offering nine months of art and arts education for free, including free admission to its exhibits, films and performances.

The unusual Presidio Habitats exhibit consists of art installations--habitats made by designers, artists and architects for gray foxes, bats, robins and other wildlife in the Presidio.

Your guide to special events and annual festivals in March in San Francisco and the Bay Area.

San Francisco’s successful Art in Storefronts program is seeking artists to beautify Market Street, which gives the artists one-of-a-kind visibility and aims to boost neighborhood morale and safety.

SF MOMA's retrospective of Henri Cartier-Bresson's long career is a stunning, not-to-be missed exhibit.

"Three Heads Six Arms" by internationally acclaimed artist Zhang Huan has made its world premiere in San Francisco. At San Francisco Civic Center through 2011, the display of the colossal copper sculpture is in honor of the 30th anniversary of the sister-city relationship between Shanghai, Zhang's base, and San Francisco.

December in San Francisco is cold, but this is no time to hibernate. Plenty of arts and cultural events await.

This year is the 150th anniversary of the Japan's first diplomatic mission to the US. Timed for the historic anniversary, an Asian Art Museum exhibit focuses on the Japanese delegation that landed in San Francisco in 1860, subsequent emigrants from Japan, and the involvement of samurai and dolls in diplomacy.

The Oakland Museum of California celebrates its mostly-complete renovation and updating by staying open for 31 hours straight. It would be a sleepover, except that you may want to stay awake for the all-night fun and activities. PJs and slippers are welcome.

The San Francisco International Film Festival honors some big Hollywood names as well as no-name documentary filmmakers.

With more than 175 films from 46 countries crammed into two weeks in San Francisco, the San Francisco International Film Festival has something for every film buff.

San Francisco Ballet presents two mixed bills running concurrently, which include two world premieres and works by Tomasson, Wheeldon and Robbins.

A dog show at the San Francisco Library illustrates how often our best friend has appeared in literature, magazines and comic strips.

A Korean comics exhibit at the Main Library includes comics supporting and opposing government leaders as well as comics just for fun.

San Francisco Ballet presents the US premiere of "The Little Mermaid," a full-length ballet based on Hans Christian Andersen’s fable. “The Little Mermaid” promises to be a visual stunner with unfamiliar movements and steps, powerful emotions and very grown-up themes.

The 2010 San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival offers a wide-ranging 109 films and videos over 11 days. This is the 28th year of the festival dedicated to Asian and Asian American filmmaking.

SFMOMA fundraising has defied the odds: despite the Great Recession, in a short six months, SFMOMA has reached more than half of its capital campaign goal.

Cartier jewelry is stunning, timeless and unsurpassed in artistry, craftsmanship and flexibility. This exclusive exhibit of Cartier jewelry owned by Americans will change how you look at any jewelry.

An alphabetical guide to museums in San Francisco, followed by some notable Bay Area museums, too.

A guide to theater, dance, drama and other live performances.

Check out a flick or an entire film festival.

Most SF museums offer free or reduced admission on certain days or times.

The San Francisco Mime Troupe brings its free shows of loud, leftist satire to Bay Area parks every summer. Its 2010 season production, Posibilidad, has capitalism, workers' rights, strikes and outsourcing with tango, soccer rivalries, soap opera and puns.

Amy Tan and Sharon Olds are famous contemporary writers from San Francisco who have won lots of awards. Do they deserve the praise and the fame? A Huffington Post critic's list of the 15 most overrated American writers--which includes Tan and Olds--has ignited furious debate.

Anis Shivani has published on Huffington Post his list of The 15 Most Overrated Contemporary American Writers. Who is on your list?

Merely weeks after dismantling an exhibit of the Musee d' Orsay’s Impressionist treasures, San Francisco’s M.H. de Young Museum has unveiled the...

Zeitoun, by Dave Eggers, about the surreal accusations and discrimination against a Syrian-American father after Hurricane Katrina, is the 2010 choice for San Francisco’s One City One Book program.

The Asian Art Museum in San Francisco hosts a night of spooky Japanese ghost stories--about people who died with unpaid debts or unfulfilled obligations and are doomed to roam restlessly.

SF Symphony turns 100 in 2011.