[ Updated Wed, Sept. 30 ]
The Bay Area does not ease into October. This week moves from public conversation and Black art to major music, film and museum openings, then spills into parks, plazas and neighborhood streets. ● = Includes Black Culture
Ideas—and public life—in motion
Friday brings a rare Oakland convergence from day into night. Oakland Tech Week (● through Oct. 3) continues across The Town; today’s schedule runs across multiple venues; Oakland Art Murmur (● Oct. 2) gathers exhibitions and First Friday openings, including work exploring Black identity; and Oakland First Fridays (● Oct. 2, 5–9:30 p.m.) fills Telegraph Avenue with art, music, food and community. Its Health & Harmony edition partners with Art Murmur to spotlight Black artists.
The free Friday Nights at OMCA with Shanté (● Oct. 2, 5–9 p.m.) adds Shanté’s soulful R&B, a set by DJ Moteef, Drag Storytime with Per Sia, family art-making and a Nexus Black Art Week conversation with Mildred Howard and Adrian Burrell. Nexus: SF/Bay Area Black Art Week (● through Oct. 4) ties the programming together across Oakland and San Francisco; its Friday schedule spans multiple venues.
How We Get Free (● Sept. 28) gathered Angela Y. Davis, Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, Sarah Haley and Ula Y. Taylor in Oakland. W. Kamau Bell: Who’s With Me? (● Oct. 1) brought a personal and comic perspective to Stanford.
Art, books and film open the frame
Nexus: SF/Bay Area Black Art Week (● Sept. 30–Oct. 4) connects more than 58 museums, galleries and cultural organizations across San Francisco and Oakland, featuring more than 70 Black artists. At SFMOMA, Art as Resistance (Oct. 3, 1 p.m.) brings Emory Douglas, Dread Scott and Orlando Smith into conversation, while Black Is Beautiful: The Kwame Brathwaite Story (Oct. 4, 4 p.m.) pairs a screening with a discussion. Both programs offer tiered $0/$10/$20/$30 pricing.
Oakland’s I Was, Am, Will Be (● Oct. 2, 6:30 p.m.) combines a book release, artist showcase and community gathering. The free 40th Annual Emeryville Art Exhibition opens Oct. 2 and runs through Oct. 25.
North of the bridge, the 49th Mill Valley Film Festival runs through Oct. 11 at venues across Marin, Berkeley and beyond. In San Francisco, RM x SFMOMA: Between You and Me opens Oct. 3 with nearly 150 works from the musician and art patron’s collection and SFMOMA’s holdings.
Music worth crossing a bridge for
Branford Marsalis and Dianne Reeves Celebrate John Coltrane (● Oct. 2, 8 p.m.) puts two towering artists on Livermore’s Bankhead Theater stage. A limited $25 front-row option is available by phone.
Hardly Strictly Bluegrass returns free to Golden Gate Park Friday through Sunday. Mavis Staples performs Saturday and Miko Marks Sunday; download the schedule, bring layers and allow time between stages.
The Miles Electric Band (● Saturday and Sunday) revisits Miles Davis’ boundary-breaking electric period at Yoshi’s Oakland, with two Saturday sets and one Sunday performance.
Saturday and Sunday belong to the streets
Saturday brings two substantial, free East Bay destinations. The 52nd Annual Oakland Black Cowboy Parade & Festival (● Oct. 3, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.) celebrates Black cowboy history and culture at DeFremery Park. Taste of Africa (● Oct. 3, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.) fills Bankhead Theater Plaza in Livermore with music, dance, food, art and storytelling.
San Francisco’s free African Arts Festival (● Oct. 3, 11 a.m.–4 p.m.) celebrates music and dance from Africa and the diaspora. Oaktoberfest in the Dimond fills Oakland’s weekend with music, food, vendors and family programming.
On Sunday, MoAD Mix: Keeping the Fire (● Oct. 4, 2–4 p.m.) marks the Black Panther Party’s 60th anniversary through art, conversation and music, bringing historian Xavier Buck together with artists and former Panthers. The Castro Street Fair (Oct. 4, 11 a.m.–6 p.m.), founded by Harvey Milk, returns under the theme “Where We Belong.”
Put these on your radar
San Francisco Fleet Week (Oct. 4–12); Oakland Style (● Oct. 7–11); and two Yoshi’s Oakland BAR Pick + Black Culture engagements: Will Downing (● Oct. 7–8) and Musiq Soulchild (● Oct. 9–16).
This is the short list, not the whole calendar. Browse BAR’s Bay Area Events Calendar for more possibilities—and check event pages before heading out.
