Arts & Entertainment

Epic New Santacon Documentary Traces the Event's Rise and Fall, and It’s Streaming This Weekend

A new documentary details how Santacon evolved from a clever SF culture prank to a widely despised black-out-and-vomit nuisance event, and that feature documentary is streaming this weekend for $15.

Arts & Entertainment

Video: Check Out the Renovation Work Happening Inside the Castro Theatre

We now have the most in-depth peek to date inside the still under-construction Castro Theatre, as crews complete what's been a nearly two-year-long, $41 million renovation project.

Arts & Entertainment

Castro Theatre 2026 Film Events to Include 'Hedwig' Screening, Silent Film Fest

The spring and summer schedule at the revamped and renovated Castro Theatre is getting filled in further today with the announcement of several film screenings, and confirmation that the SF Silent Film Festival will be returning there.

SF News

Tahoe Black Bear Makes Self at Home on Holiday Ice Rink at Heavenly Ski Resort

Before the ice rink at the Tahoe ski resort Heavenly had even opened to the public, a well-known local bear named Charlie decided to test the ice out for himself, and no one was going to tell him he had to leave.

Arts & Entertainment

Oakland Zoo’s Glowfari Is More Expensive This Year, Thanks to Trump’s Tariffs

Donald Trump’s tariffs are making it a zoo out there on Americans' finances, as the Oakland Zoo’s holiday spectacular Glowfari is more expensive this year because of Trump’s tariffs on illuminated display equipment from China.

SF News

Renowned SF Filmmaker Kevin Epps Went On Trial Today for 2016 Murder Charge

‘Straight Outta Hunters Point’ director Kevin Epps saw his life go sideways, from making movies with Spike Lee to being charged with a 2016 homicide. This odd tale continues as his murder trial began today.

Arts & Entertainment

Ten-Year-Old Beekeeper Prompts City of Santa Rosa to Amend Zoning Laws After Months-Long Battle

When the city of Santa Rosa told 10-year-old beekeeper Nicholas Bard he had to get rid of his beloved backyard bees — an impressive colony consisting of thousands, he took on a months-long battle to change the city’s zoning laws, and won.

Arts & Entertainment

Field Notes: Trans Youth Talk, Newt Migrations, Seasoning the Streets, and Elks Return to Tule River

This week: Protecting newt migrations, returning the Tule elk to their land, and remembering Humphrey the Humpback whale. Also, Joan Baez in Alameda, mentors for trans youth, 20 years of MoAD, calendar and puzzle fundraiser by East Bay creatives, and a 1912 tugboat for sale.

Arts & Entertainment

'The Hills of California' Tells the Story of English Sisters and the Stage Mother Who Raised Them

As they gather to await the death of their hard-charging, ambitious stage mother, three sisters, and then a fourth, estranged sister, parse through their past in playwright Jez Butterworth's 'The Hills of California,' now playing at Berkeley Rep.

Arts & Entertainment

Union Square Ice Rink Now Back Open, Macy’s Holiday Tree Coming Back This Tuesday

The Union Square Holiday Ice Rink officially reopened for the holly jolly season Wednesday night, and mark your calendars, because the giant Macy’s Christmas tree is getting lit up next Tuesday night.

Arts & Entertainment

Muni Gussies Up 49-Van Ness Buses With Holiday Wraparound Decorative Furbishing

Look how freakin’ festive the 49-Van Ness bus will look for the holidays, with snowflakes, mittens, wrapped gifts, and more. But is that… a Christmas coyote near the front left wheel?

SF Restaurants, Food & Drink

Sup. Sherrill Wants to Make It Easier for Movie Theaters to Serve Booze

In what could be a high-octane shot for movie theaters across SF, District 2 Supervisor Stephen Sherrill hopes to relax the rules around giving liquor licenses to movie theaters, so that more theaters can serve beer and wine.

Arts & Entertainment

Latinx Drag Queens to Put on Anti-ICE Show at Oakland's White Horse Friday

A trio of Latinx drag performers are putting on a show Friday in Oakland in protest of ICE — and the cast includes recently detained performer Hilary Rivers, who spent three months in ICE detention.

Arts & Entertainment

Bevy of Queer Performers Added to Reopening Slate at Castro Theatre

After the reopening residency by Sam Smith is done in March, Another Planet Entertainment has booked a slate of queer (and/or queer-friendly) performers for the Castro Theatre, in a clear gesture of good will toward the LGBTQ+ community in the neighborhood.

SF News

Vaillancourt Fountain Will Now Likely Be Removed, as SF Arts Commission Approves Taking the Fountain Down

A 15-month-long controversy over the possible removal of the brutalist Vaillancourt Fountain is over, as the SF Arts Commission just voted 8-5 to take it down, though they say it will be put into storage and it could possibly be rebuilt.

Arts & Entertainment

Gap Inc Removes Jeans From Website After SF Shop Owner Accuses Them of Copying Design

When vintage store the Future Past in SF’s Inner Richmond put Gap Inc. on blast, accusing its Banana Republic brand of blatantly copying owner Lindsey Hansen’s original upcycled jeans design, the company removed the jeans from its store and website.

Arts & Entertainment

Authors Visiting Bay Area to Promote Kids’ Book About Banned Books Told Not to Discuss Banned Books

In an ironic twist indicative of our times, authors Joanna Ho and Caroline Kusin-Pritchard were about to go on stage to discuss their new kids’ book 'The Day the Books Disappeared' at a San Ramon elementary school when they were told not to mention banned or queer books.

Arts & Entertainment

Field Notes: Capybara Pups, Falcons, Supermarket Dance Parties, and Living on a Shellmound

This week: Making use of rotten pumpkins; dancing at the Filipino market; growing up on an Alameda shellmound; and reclaiming the past through kids’ books. Plus, SF Trans Film Festival, teen inventors, the art of falconry, capybara mania, and a serendipitous City Hall photo-op.

Arts & Entertainment

LED Disco Dinosaur ‘Doloresaurus’ Revs Up to Roar for Halloween

Here’s one costume that goes paleo for Halloween, and the entire year, as the fifteen-foot-long glowing LED dinosaur “Doloresaurus” roars, plays music, and tricera-tops all the other costumes in town.

Arts & Entertainment

'Stereophonic' Artfully Evokes Rock Legends Holed Up In a Sausalito Recording Studio In 1976

Tony-winning play Stereophonic blew into town this week with the bravado of the legendary rock band that it sorta kinda imagines the story of, pulsing with 1970s recording studio vibes, and using fiction to fill in the missing pieces of an iconic moment in American music history.

Arts & Entertainment

SF Rec & Parks Appears to Make End Run to Get Rid of Vaillancourt Fountain In a Hurry

Many have called the hulking Brutalist fountain at Embarcardero Plaza "maligned" and even "ugly," but artist Armand Vaillancourt's sculptural work still has many fans who will not be pleased by the lastest move by SF Rec & Parks to remove it in short order.

Arts & Entertainment

Frameline Confirms Return to Castro Theatre For 50th Anniversary Film Fest

As has been expected, San Francisco's LGBTQ+ film festival, Frameline, is going to return to its old home at the Castro Theatre in 2026, and this will be for Frameline 50, marking 50 years of the world's oldest queer film fest.

Arts & Entertainment

Skrillex to Return In Late December, Plus Swedish House Mafia Too, as Lurie Announces ‘Winter of Music’

Mayor Lurie took to Instagram to announce a series of late December SF concerts at places you wouldn’t expect them, featuring Skrillex, Four Tet, Swedish House Mafia, and Fisher, between December 19-30.

SF News

Massive Art Heist Hits Oakland Museum of California, More Than 1,000 Items Stolen

One of the biggest California art thefts in years went down at a warehouse for the Oakland Museum of California, and now the FBI is involved, as thieves pilfered more than 1,000 artifacts and works of art in a 3:30 am heist this month.

Arts & Entertainment

Mitchell Brothers O'Farrell Theatre Sets Sights on Reopening Under New Ownership, Possibly With Booze and Karaoke

Once dubbed “the Carnegie Hall of public sex in America,” the Mitchell Brothers O'Farrell Theatre has been closed since the pandemic. But a new ownership group hopes to revive it, possibly with alcohol service and karaoke.