Last year’s first Thursdays block party Unstaged is now a third Thursdays party, returning this week. It won’t have the F-line streetcar running as a mobile jazz club, but it will have to-go cocktails from your favorite mid-Market establishments.
The Downtown First Thursdays party started in SF in May 2024, and they were quite popular from the start. Four months later, another public street party called Unstaged started up on those same first Thursday nights, roughly three blocks up Market Street in the mid-Market area. And Unstaged boasted the F-Market streetcar being transformed into a vintage jazz club on the train tracks.
Well, Unstaged is now back for 2025, starting this Thursday, June 19, and it’s now a third Thursdays monthly party. It will not have the F-Market operating with live musicians this year, but it will now have the popular to-go cocktails from your favorite neighborhood bars, thanks to a new boozy “Entertainment zone” designation.
The establishments selling those to-go cocktails Thursday will be The Red Tail, The Warfield, Timbri Hotel and Saluhall. Yes, Saluhall, so you can pop into the IKEA to grab a drink.
Attendees are encouraged to RSVP for the event.
Since Thursday is the actual calendar date for Juneteenth, this Thursday's Unstaged is full of entertainers and attractions curated by Black Wall Street. There will be music from Red Lotus, Highway Grizz, Samba Funk, and Twilight Brass Band, plus a hip-hop DJ and breakdance battle with All The Way Live, among many other local Black food, visual arts and apparel standouts.
"As we kick off our UNSTAGED series celebrating Juneteenth, we're not only bringing thousands of visitors to the area each month, we're directly supporting local businesses while creating paid opportunities for over 50 local artists and performers,” Mid-Market Foundation executive director Steve Gibson said in a press release (Mid-Market Foundation is coorganizing the event with Market Street Arts). “This partnership with SF Black Wall Street Foundation exemplifies what makes San Francisco special: our diverse creative community, entrepreneurial spirit, and distinctive neighborhood character—all offered as a free experience accessible to everyone in our newly launched Entertainment Zone."
There will be Unstaged parties on mid-Market for the remainder of the summer and autumn months, on the following dates:
- June 19, 2025
- July 17, 2025
- August 21, 2025
- September 18, 2025
- October 16, 2025
Related: F Train to Become Mobile Jazz Club For New Mid-Market First Thursdays Block Party [SFist]
Image: Market Street Arts
