Arts & Entertainment

Castro Halloween Will Again Be Tame, Mostly Daytime Affair This Year

Halloween falls on a Thursday this year, which in the Castro basically counts as a Friday, but don't expect any big block party or street closure — neither of which has happened in nearly two decades.

Arts & Entertainment

More Creepy Allegations Surface About Coppola’s Behavior on ‘Megalopolis’ Set, Now Accused of Kissing 13-Year-Old Girl

The legacy of Francis Ford Coppola’s mega-flop “Megalopolis” may be the number of sexual misconduct allegations Coppola’s on-set behavior has generated, as now we have claims that he kissed a 13-year-old girl.

Arts & Entertainment

Watch: 2,471-Pound Pumpkin From Minnesota Wins Half Moon Bay's World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off

The city of Half Moon Bay was out of its gourd again Monday morning for the Half Moon Bay Pumpkin Festival World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off, and it was a squeaker, as the winning 2,471-pound pumpkin won by a razor-thin margin of just six pounds.

Arts & Entertainment

Comet Not Seen From Earth For 80,000 Years Will Pass By Us Starting This Weekend

A comet that likely has never been viewed by modern humans, and was last visible from Earth at the time of the Neanderthals, will come in its closest path by our planet on Saturday, and you may be able to see it with your naked eye for several weeks in a row.

Arts & Entertainment

Cal Shakes, a Beloved Summer Tradition For East Bay Theater Lovers, Shuts Down For Good After 50 Years

Late Thursday, a message went out from Cal Shakes' Executive Director Clive Worsley making the sad announcement that the 50-year-old theater company, based in Orinda, would be shutting its doors for good amid significant financial strain.

Arts & Entertainment

It Was Very, Very Hot For the 50th Anniversary of the Castro Street Fair Sunday

People came out in droves but most were trying to huddle in the shadier parts of the Castro neighborhood for the 50th anniversary of the Castro Street Fair on Sunday.

Arts & Entertainment

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Kicks Off In Full Sun; Friday Lineup Includes Cat Power, Sleater-Kinney

Starting at 1 pm Friday, the music will be playing in Golden Gate Park as the 24th annual Hardly Strictly Bluegrass kicks off amid a persistent heatwave.

Arts & Entertainment

Popular SF Artist and Oasis Muralist Diego Gomez Brutally Attacked, Placed in Intensive Care

SF muralist Diego Gomez, who painted much of The Oasis and is also known as drag personality Trangela Lansbury, is in intensive care after a Monday attack in the Tenderloin left him with multiple facial fractures.

Arts & Entertainment

SF Disability Justice Activist Alice Wong Wins MacArthur 'Genius' Grant, as Does Cabaret Star Justin Vivian Bond

The MacArthur Fellows for 2024 have been announced, and among them are San Francisco-based disability justice activist and writer Alice Wong, and onetime SF resident and famed cabaret performer Justin Vivian Bond.

Arts & Entertainment

Wax Museum at Fisherman's Wharf Closes for Good After 61 Years

Madame Tussauds, which had operated the longtime wax museum at Fisherman's Wharf for the last decade, has permanently closed up shop, and this staple attraction of the Wharf for several generations is no more.

Arts & Entertainment

Alameda Complains Less, SF Complains More About Noise From This Year's Portola Festival

The first two Portola Music Festivals in 2022 and 2023 elicited widespread noise complaints, particularly from residents on the island of Alameda — who said they were kept up with rattling windows and unpleasant, dubstep-borne bass vibrations all weekend.

Arts & Entertainment

Jack White Fan Alert: He's Playing a Show at Great American Music Hall on Friday

Musician Jack White and his band are coming to the Bay Area for a pair of "pop-up" shows at small venues this week, and tickets go on sale in a couple hours, as of this writing.

Arts & Entertainment

Beloved Fabric Outlet Store at 17th and Mission Is Closing Permanently on November 23

It will rip the hearts out of crafty types across the Bay Area that the 29-year-old fabric emporium Fabric Outlet has just announced its impending permanent closure, and the place is packed with customers jumping on the 40%-75% off clearance deals.

Arts & Entertainment

Portola Festival Grows Into Massive Rave In Its Third Year, With Shining Performances By Jessie Ware, Disclosure

The Portola Music Festival, now in its third year on San Francisco's Pier 80, felt far more crowded and much better organized than in its initial outing — and the VIP offerings have only grown to occupy a huge footprint of the event.

Arts & Entertainment

Sunday’s Folsom Street Fair Ropes In Brontez Purnell, More Bars Selling To-Go Alcohol, and a New Truck Stage

You’re bound to have a ball at Sunday’s Folsom Street Fair, with more leather bars than ever selling to-go cocktails, Brontez Purnell headlining the main stage, and the former bar and now pop-up Truck rocking its own new disco/play space.

Arts & Entertainment

Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong Called Las Vegas a 'Sh*thole,' Now Las Vegas Radio Stations Are Boycotting Their Music

At a concert appearance in the SF last weekend, East Bay natives Green Day took a stand about the Oakland A's decision to decamp to Las Vegas, and while their beef is more with the A's ownership than with Las Vegas, two Las Vegas radio stations are taking it personally.

Arts & Entertainment

City to Buy Barry's Building In the Castro, Will Make It the GLBT Historical Society Museum

What was once the popular Tower Records building at Market and Noe streets has just been bought by the city, and its upper floor will be home to the museum and archive for the GLBT Historical Society.

SF News

SF Supervisors Streamline Permit Rules to Create More Boozy ‘Entertainment Zone’ Parties

The recent tick-up of more alcohol-permitted “entertainment zone” parties may turn into a flood of more such parties, as the SF supervisors just approved legislation to create a whole lot more of these parties downtown, and in SoMa and Union Square.

Arts & Entertainment

Castro Neighborhood Wants In on Night Market Game, Will Host One On 18th Street Next Month

A first-ever Castro Night Market will be happening on Friday, October 18, following the success of recent neighborhood night markets in Chinatown and the Sunset.

SF Politics

Does Janet Jackson's Beef With Kamala Harris Stem From Comments Harris Made Before Michael Jackson's 2005 Trial?

Pop star Janet Jackson has not walked back some odd comments she made during an interview with a UK publication, repeating falsehoods promulgated in right-wing circles about Kamala Harris's race. And this has raised questions about what Jackson's motivations may be.

Arts & Entertainment

‘Dancing With the Stars’ Pro Artem Chigvintsev Won't Be Charged In Napa Domestic Violence Case

The Napa County District Attorney's Office announced Tuesday that Artem Chigvintsev will not face charges relating to a domestic violence arrest last month that made national headlines.

Arts & Entertainment

Green Day Revisits Their Hometown Pinole 7-Eleven, Gets Key to the City

It’s normal for a big, successful rock band to get a key to the city when they return to their hometown. It is not normal for the ceremony to be in a 7-Eleven parking lot, but that’s what Green Day did on Sunday when they returned to their native Pinole, California.

Arts & Entertainment

'Mexodus' at Berkeley Rep Takes a Riveting Musical Journey Into a Little-Known Piece of History

Berkeley Rep kicked off its new season this week with a new musical piece by a pair of talented performers and musicians that delves into a mostly untold piece of pre-Civil War history.

Arts & Entertainment

How Weird Street Faire Is On for Saturday, After Four-And-A-Half-Month Delay

The 2024 How Weird Street Faire was postponed not even 48 hours before the event in May, but will indeed rear its weird head again on Saturday for what will be the street fair’s 25th anniversary.

Arts & Entertainment

SF Symphony Chorus Goes on Strike, Canceling Thursday Night’s Season Opening Performance

Ticket holders to Thursday night’s SF Symphony season opening performance of Verdi’s ‘Requiem’ were wrecked to find the performance canceled barely two hours before showtime, as the symphony’s chorus is on strike because their wages have been frozen.