AfroSolo Theatre Company presents the 32nd Annual AfroSolo Arts Festival, with the theme GO SOAR! The theme is an admonition to strive beyond one’s expectations. The Festival takes place Friday, October 31, 2025, at 7:00 pm, Saturday, November 1, 2025, at 7:00 pm, and Sunday, November 2, 2025, at 3:00 pm at the Potrero Stage, 1695 18th Street in San Francisco. 415-771-2376.
The program is simple. If you have been drinking – take an Uber, Lyft, or cab, and you’ll get a reimbursement from us! We want you home safe this holiday season.
A conversation about Partnerships, Placemaking & Possibility for San Francisco’s arts institutions
Join Zaccho Dance Theatre to celebrate 45 years of artistry, community, and impact at San Francisco’s legendary Club Fugazi. Enjoy an evening of live performance, music, bites and beverages, and special guest performances by Marcus Shelby & Tiffany Austin, Martin Luther McCoy, Tommy “Soulati” Shepherd, and more. Bid on lively auction experiences, from dance and wellness to food, wine, and leisure. All proceeds support Zaccho’s mission to uplift communities through innovative performance, youth arts education, and artist residencies!
Join us for a festive walking tour and launch celebration of the Big Art Loop – Portside! This free, family-friendly event kicks off at Pier 14 with a joyful Art Parade along the waterfront, introducing the public to four of the ten new sculptures installed along the bay-side waterfront between Fisherman’s Wharf and Heron’s Head Park.
Welcome to our 2nd Winter Gala, a benefit to support the Marin City Health and Wellness and Bayview Hunters Point Medical Centers. The gala will help sustain and expand the services we provide to communities in Marin and Bayview Hunters Point in San Francisco.
JOIN US for the Contra Costa Mineral & Gem Society’s 75th ANNIVERSARY MINERAL & GEM SHOW November 8-9, 2025! Come enjoy a rockin’ weekend full of affordable family FUN, holiday shopping, and educational experiences for ALL AGES! Come celebrate 75 years with us, and see what is NEW this year!
Event: Silicon Valley African Film Festival Opening Night Ceremony
Date: October 9-12, 2025
Location: Historic Hoover Theater, San Jose
Photos: Andrew Caulfield and Natalie Schrik for Drew Altizer Photography
From October 10-12, filmmakers representing 30 countries from the African diaspora visited San Jose for the Silicon Valley African Film Festival to share their visions of creativity over the span of three days through screenings, dialogues, and live performances.
Over the weekend, attendees experienced a variety of themes, formats, and engagements. Filmmakers engaged in post-screening dialogues to discuss their creative processes and inspiration with audiences. Showcasing a total of 90 films, the SVAFF demonstrates the power of storytelling and building cross-cultural connections.
Founder of the SVAFF, Chike Nwoffiah, said of this year’s celebrations, “All the filmmakers and their creative teams are very gratified by the increasing interest and enormous support of the growing international audiences.” Nwoffiah, a filmmaker himself, started the program sixteen years ago to connect a growing film industry to new audiences.
Silicon Valley Chief of Protocol, Deanna Tryon, who was awarded the UBUNTU Award for her service to the community, shared, “It is in our DNA at the Silicon Valley Office of Protocol to help unite international cultures through excellent shared activities such as the highly-acclaimed Silicon Valley African Film Festival in San Jose” stated Chief of Protocol Deanna Tryon. “It is an honor and privilege to help showcase the creative talent of the African continent to a wider audience.”
The SVAFF highlights a burgeoning film industry in Africa. According to a 2022 UNESCO report, it is estimated that the sector currently accounts for US$5 billion and employs five million people. The Pan African Federation of Filmmakers estimates the sector has the potential for US$20 billion and 20 million jobs.
Notable attendees
Chike Nwoffiah – Founder, SVAFF, Deanna Tryon – Silicon Valley Chief of Protocol, Awardee, State Assemblymember Ash Kalra – 27th Assembly District, Supervisor Lisa Gauthier – San Mateo County, Councilmember Webster Lincoln – East Palo Alto
A heartwarming holiday tradition returns with Soulful Christmas, offering a vibrant reimagining of your favorite Christmas classics! Led by the incomparable Dr. Yvonne Cobbs, this magical winter concert features an ensemble of the Bay Area’s most powerful voices delivering joyous melodies, soul-stirring vocals, and a performance overflowing with holiday cheer.
Gather the family and join us for an evening of hope and resilience, guaranteed to fill your heart and lift your spirit.
Join us for an evening of comedy, music, and plenty of chances to strut your stuff! This dazzling celebration will feature delicious food, an open bar, and unforgettable entertainment. Dress to impress as we honor 25 years of filmmaking, community, and joy—all while raising vital funds through our anniversary ball.
It’s been a tough year for our LBTQIA+ BIPOC community. This ball is our chance to come together in joy, solidarity, and emancipatory fun. It’s a night to show up for one another, celebrate our resilience, and simply have a good time!
We warmly invite you to join beat the streets. As we embark on this exciting journey together, enjoy an evening filled with festivities, music, and refreshments.
DeShuna Spencer, founder of KweliTV, shares what it takes to build a streaming platform from ground zero and works from her own platform.DeShuna Spencer shares her journey from concept to creation—building one of the most dynamic platforms dedicated to global Black storytelling. In this unique session, DeShuna will showcase a curated selection of trailers or clips from her favorite featured works and speak candidly about.
Brides-to-be, bridal parties, and fashion lovers are invited to shop Azazie’s Berkeley Pop-Up on Saturday, October 25, 2025, at the DoubleTree by Hilton Berkeley Marina. For one day only, Azazie will bring its most popular collections offline, including Bridal, Bridesmaid, and Azazie Atelier styles.
Driveway Follies provides professionally staged and family-friendly Halloween performances each year in Oakland.
Beginning in 2007 with just three puppeteers performing a three act show, Driveway Follies has expanded to a crew of nine puppeteers performing up to five acts over three nights. The repertoire celebrates and illustrates historic and cultural aspects of Halloween, some with an educational twist. Since inception, a diverse audience of over 10,000 Halloween revelers has enjoyed the performances.
Join us on Halloween night for a spooky treat: a special performance by the Kronos Quartet and pianist Timo Andres that will include the haunting score Philip Glass created for the classic film Dracula. This eerie evening will also include music from Bernard Herrmann’s iconic score for Psycho, plus selections from George Crumb’s Black Angels, along with other works perfectly suited for a thrilling Halloween.
Designed to introduce participants to the basics of this traditional art form, suitable for beginner skill levels, with the goal of teaching attendees to create their own batik designs!
Starts with a brief overview of batik’s history, followed by a hands-on session where participants will learn how to apply wax and dye to fabric. All participants will be able to take a finished piece they have made home. All necessary materials, including fabric, wax, dyes, and brushes, will be provided. There is a material charge of $40 that is due on class day.
For over 50 years, The Groundlings has been the launching pad for some of the biggest names in comedy—with alumni including Will Ferrell, Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, and more! An improvisational and sketch comedy institution in Los Angeles, The Groundlings Theatre & School is both a school that trains aspiring performers and a theater that entertains audiences weekly, with a focus on original character work, ensemble collaboration, and the magic of spontaneous comedy.
The hit podcast Spooked comes to life onstage as host Glynn Washington and guests celebrate the Halloween season with a night of Snap Judgment live storytelling magic.
Join us for amazing, true-life supernatural stories from people who can scarcely believe it happened themselves. Featuring stories by Tiyi Schippers, Esther Squires, Lopaka Kapanui . Music by Clay Xavier and Simon Keyser-Petty. Animations by Joe Presser.
Join Bobby and Bay Area’s MOTION featuring Bryan Dyer, David Worm, and Destani Wolf. They will lead Circlesongs at noon and encourage everyone to bring a spirit of adventure, curiosity, trust, and joy. Let it free your voice. Find your place in the circle.
Parking
Center Street Garage, next door to The Freight, is currently open nightly until 1am except Sunday. More details here.
Public Transit
The Freight & Salvage is BARTable! Downtown Berkeley BART station is a half a block from the Freight. Details at bart.gov. Many AC Transit bus lines stop within a few blocks of the Freight. Details at actransit.org.
Nearby Favorites Bars/Restaurants
Revival Bar + Kitchen | 2102 Shattuck Avenue, (510) 549–9950
Comal Next Door | 2024 Shattuck Ave, (510) 422-662
Gather | 2200 Oxford Street @ Allston, (510) 809-0400
Kalani Pe’a – A 4-time Grammy winner. Dynamic and charming, Kalani brings his gorgeous and brilliant vocals to the stage, sharing a range of songs from Hawaiian to R&B and showcasing his deep cultural roots and Hawaiian contemporary soul sensibility. He is at the forefront of Hawaiian music for both traditionalists and a new generation. He’s the only Hawaiian performer ever presented at New York’s Lincoln Center’s American Songbook, which sold out, and in 2024, completed a week of sold out performances at Carnegie Hall’s Music Explorers Program. Honored by his Hawai‘i peers, he now boasts 8 Na Hoku Awards, Hawai‘i’s annual music awards.
LabRats is a dynamic quartet based in Sacramento composed of multi instrumentalists, composers, and producers. LabRats challenges their listener’s perception of “jazz,” as they embody a wide range of styles and influences ranging from J Dilla, Death Grips, Soulquarians, and Sun Ra. At a live show, the band exudes a wonderful on-stage charm as they hypnotize the audience with colorful synth-scapes, syncopated drums, and fierce improvisation. In just under two years, the band has shared the stage with artists such as Kamasi Washington,Tower of Power, Talib Kweli, and GZA. They have been recognized by NPR, the Grammy Awards for three different categories, and have participated in major music festivals in Sacramento, San Jose, and Davis.
From the acclaimed fine artist Harmonia Rosales, a sweeping retelling of African myth illustrated throughout with Rosales’s spectacular paintings. In Chronicles of Ori, her debut book, Rosales retells the African myths she has long treasured, crafting an enthralling epic that spans the birth of the universe to the modern world of colonialism and resistance. She writes of the powerful, temperamental deities called the Orishas; of the founding of Yorubaland by the shrewd leader Oduduwa; of the young heroine Eve, born in a time of violence and despair, who would help her people regain their past splendor; and of shimmering serpents and monstrous shadows who stalk the lands of mortals. Come for the vividly brought to life African myths but don’t miss Rosales’ artwork, featured in MoAD’s current exhibition, Unbound: Art, Blackness & the Universe. In conversation with Chief of Curatorial Affairs & Public Programs at MoAD, Key Jo Lee.
Join us for a special edition of MoAD Mix: A Spirited Discussion on Art & Culture, as we turn the spotlight on MoAD’s Emerging Artist Program (EAP) — an incubator for bold, innovative, and socially engaged artists in the Bay Area and beyond.
Join musician and visual artist Mark Montgomery French for an intimate viewing of his ambient protest film, Thy Navel is a Goblet That Does Not Lack for Wine, from his album of the same name. This evocative work employs trance-like animations and sensory immersion to explore themes of meditation, resistance, and recovery, reframing Blackness as an origin, an expansion, and a liberation. It sonically draws from across the Diaspora—Javanese gamelan, dub reggae, string quartets, and jazz noir—not just as a style, but as a way to map Blackness across geographies and time. The evening concludes with a Q&A with Mark Montgomery French, offering insights into the album’s themes and creation.
Katalyst is a nine-piece band born and bred in Los Angeles. Katalyst’s style of music can best be described as “contemporary instrumental,” combining sounds from all over the world integrated with jazz.
Katalyst is not just a band, however, it is a collective of producers, composers, session musicians and writers who have worked with the likes of Beyonce, Solange, Kanye West, Jay-Z, Anderson.Paak, Nas, Alina Baraz, Soulection, SiR, Kamaal Williams, Big Sean, and more, on notable stages from the Walt Disney Concert Hall to Coachella.
For over seven decades, Quincy Delight Jones Jr. defied the limitations of artistic label and category, lending his genius as a producer, composer, arranger and visionary to the worlds of jazz, pop music, television, film and so much more. In this series we celebrate the many milestones of Q’s illustrious career.
⭐ Candlelight concerts bring the magic of a live, multi-sensory musical experience to awe-inspiring locations like never seen before in San Francisco. Get your tickets now to discover Halloween inspired music at St. Ignatius Church under the gentle glow of candlelight.
Join the fun, the excitement and the experience of the Bay Area at the Oakland Soul Arts & Music Festival. It all begins at 11am at the HENRY J. KAISER CENTER FOR PERFORMING ARTS (Note New Location) loctaed at 10 Tenth Street in Oakland for two days( instead of one as previoulsy schedule) SATURDAY OCTOBER 25th. Gates open on Satuday at 11am and Sunday at 11am. The event schedule is Saturday 11am-5pm.
Fused Frequencies brings together an extraordinary lineup of genre-defying talent, this powerhouse ensemble merges jazz, rock, classical, and world music into an electrifying live experience. Each member is a dynamic force in their own right, with deep roots in musical innovation, education and global performances. Blazing a trail through the modern jazz landscape, Fused Frequencies is comprised of Mads Tolling on violin, Paul Hanon on electric bassoon, alto and tenor saxophones, Frank Martin on piano and synthesizer, Farida Nelson on bass guitar and keytar with our drummer Deszon Claiborne holding down the kit.
Vocalist Tony Lindsay is best known for his 25-year tenure with Santana, a run that included the mega-hit Supernatural and 11 Grammy Awards. While he’s inextricably linked to the Latin rock icon, Lindsay at heart is a supple soul crooner, and his second album with the Michael O’Neill Quintet reveals that he’s equally at ease in Latin jazz settings. Synergy features a beguiling set of arrangements focusing on hits by Stevie Wonder and Bill Withers reimagined via an array of Afro-Latin grooves.
With over 13 bilion Spotify streams, multiple major music awards, and songwriting credits for icons like Pink, Faith Evans, and Notorious B.l.G, Q Parker has firmly cemented his legacy as a powerhouse legend in R&B. As a founding member of the Grammy- winning group 112 and now a thriving solo artist, Q has reached new heights with his Billboard-charting single “”BEG” and the anticipated Spring 2025 release of his soulful new track, “Keep On Lovin.” His artistry continues to blend timeless vocals with powerful storytelling, resonating across generations and pushing the boundaries of contemporary R&B.
Not that he’d wish it on anyone, but it was during his ten-year sentence in prison that Lyfe Jennings developed his honest sound, thanks to isolation and Erykah Badu. It was an arson charge that put the Toledo, Ohio native in prison. His musical aspirations started in the church choir and grew up in the Dotsons, a teenage group that Lyfe formed with his brother and a couple cousins. Prison made his music deeper, according to Lyfe, and when a copy of Erykah Badu’s Baduizm ended up in his cell in 1997, he was inspired and had the feeling that this introspective edge to his music was worth developing.
DownBeat magazine says, “Brazilian pianist Amaro Freitas has developed an approach to the keyboard that’s so unique it’s startling.” The Recife-reared instrumentalist performs over two nights in Joe Henderson Lab, including material from his new album Y’Y, an all-star session inspired by his life-changing visit to the Amazon rainforest.
2011 NEA Jazz Master Branford Marsalis represents “the highest echelon of jazz tenor saxophonists” (Los Angeles Times). He returns with his superlative quartet featuring pianist Joey Calderazzo, bassist Eric Reevis, and drummer Justin Faulkner to perform a range of music including a selection of the Keith Jarrett compositions that make up his 2025 Blue Note debut, Belonging — a reinterpretation of Jarrett’s landmark 1974 ECM quartet release of the same name.
Winner of 4 Tony Awards®, including Best Choreography and Best Costumes, and the Grammy Award® for Best Musical Theater Album, SOME LIKE IT HOT is “A Super-Sized, All-Out Song-And-Dance Spectacular!” – The New York Times
Set in Chicago when Prohibition has everyone thirsty for a little excitement, SOME LIKE IT HOT is the “glorious, big, high-kicking” (Associated Press) story of two musicians forced to flee the Windy City after witnessing a mob hit. With gangsters hot on their heels, they catch a cross-country train for the life-chasing, life-changing trip of a lifetime.
Five years into their supposedly happy marriages, Jane and Julia’s perfectly polished lives are thrown into delightful disarray when an old flame announces his sudden return to London. Past passions and present desires – along with generous helpings of champagne – send the two friends into a frenzy of anticipation, jealousy, and determination to choose their own destinies. Set in the glamorous 1920s, this classic from the famously witty and charming Noël Coward is a hilarious excavation of the complexities of love and desire.
Sylvia Santillanez and Rena Tom of Berkeley’s Reprographixxx print studio offer an introduction to risograph printing. Reprographixxx is a volunteer-run risograph print studio inside the Long Haul Infoshop and Zine Archive. Inspired by the legacies of 1970s–1990s DIY publishing, it opens to the public several times a month for walk-in printing. Participants at this event will each make a two-color poster featuring a message or a poem using collage, transfer lettering, typewriters, and other analog methods.
Atypically comic for Mikio Naruse, Traveling Actors follows an itinerant Kabuki troupe, focusing on two actors who play a horse—the older and more experienced in charge of the front legs, the younger relegated to the rear—but whose jobs are threatened when a real animal is hired to play the part. Naruse called this one of his personal favorites, saying “the actor who plays the front legs of the horse . . . sees his role as a serious art form. However, the harder he tries to succeed, the funnier things get for the audience. That’s the kind of comedy I wanted to make.”
Based on the explosive 1969 novel by Sam Greenlee, who cowrote the screenplay, director Ivan Dixon’s pull-no-punches adaptation follows the CIA’s first Black agent—recruited as part of a Potemkin integration policy—from the halls of power to the streets of Chicago, where he uses the agency’s own training to foment a violent Black revolution. For his part, Dixon shot the film guerrilla-style, deploying the action tropes of Blaxploitation to revolutionary ends, using their camera as a weapon in the ongoing cultural war of self-representation.
Ziggy Marley is an eight-time Grammy winner, Emmy winner, musician, producer, activist and humanitarian who has cultivated a legendary career for close to 40 years. The eldest son of Bob and Rita Marley, Ziggy has hewed his own path as a musical pioneer, infusing the reggae genre with funk, blues, rock and other elements through mindful songcraft. Equal parts master storyteller and motivational guide, he deftly explores issues from environmental awareness to self-empowerment, social injustice to political inequity, while returning again and again to the transformative power of love. And over the past 15 years with his own companies, Tuff Gong Worldwide and Ishti Music, Marley has complete control of his masters and publishing; alongside his charity URGE – benefiting the well-being of children in Jamaica, Africa and North America. For more, visit ziggymarley.com and all socials at @ziggymarley.
Hari Kondabolu is a comedian, writer and podcaster based in Brooklyn. The NY Times called him “one of the most exciting political comics in stand-up today” and described his 2018 Netflix special Warn Your Relatives as “an incisively funny and formally adventurous hour that reveals a comic in command of his powers.” The special was named on many “Best of” lists, including for Time, Paste Magazine, Cosmopolitan, E! Online, and Mashable. He was also named one of 2018’s “Comics To Watch” by Variety. Hari currently hosts the new Netflix food competition series Snack vs Chef along with Megan Stalter. His newest special, Vacation Baby, is available on Hulu and YouTube.
Grammy nominated Aloe Blacc has long been a voice for the people—a globally recognized singer, songwriter, and changemaker whose music uplifts, empowers, and unites. Best known for genre-defying anthems like the international smash “Wake Me Up” with Avicii, anthemic “The Man”, and the timeless “I Need A Dollar”, Blacc continues to inspire through sound and purpose.
⭐ Candlelight concerts bring the magic of a live, multi-sensory musical experience to awe-inspiring locations like never seen before in San Jose. Get your tickets now to discover the music of Queen vs. ABBA at Hammer Theatre Center under the gentle glow of candlelight.
Join us to hear the dramatic untold story of Barry Goldwater’s and Martin Luther King Jr.’s decade-long clash over the meaning of freedom—and how their conflicting visions still divide American politics.
In the mid-1950s, Barry Goldwater and Martin Luther King Jr. emerged as the leaders of two diametrically opposed freedom movements that changed the course of American history. King mobilized civil rights activists under the banner of “freedom now,” insisting that true freedom would not be realized until all people—regardless of race—were empowered politically, economically and socially.
Cheryl Dunye is a Liberian-American film director, producer, screenwriter, editor and actress. Dunye’s work often concerns themes of race, sexuality, and gender, particularly issues relating to black lesbians.
Event: Human Needs Project Fundraiser 2025
Date: October 9, 2025
Location: Webster Hall, San Francisco
Photos: Jessica Monroy for Drew Altizer Photography
The Human Needs Project hosted its annual gala at Webster Hall in San Francisco, bringing together 150 guests for an evening that was equal parts heart, purpose, and celebration. By the end of the night, the community raised $250,000 to support clean water, energy, and education programs in Kibera, Kenya.
The program was led by HNP Founder Connie Nielsen and Executive Director Kristina Yarmolich, who announced the organization’s next big step: building a Satellite Center in Kibera. The new site will bring essential services and job training to more neighborhoods in the community, marking the next chapter in HNP’s decade-long impact.
Notable attendees
Connie Nielsen – HNP Founder, Daniel Futwax – Musician, Kristina Yarmolich – HNP Executive Director, Hon. Ann Claire Williams – Former Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, James and Zem Joaquin – Entrepreneurs, Dr. Dean Ornish – President and founder, Preventive Medicine Research Institute, Natasha Dolby – Nonprofit executive and philanthropist, Holly Levow – Co-founder, CEO Foundation
Celebrate the season with Broadway stars, festive favorites, and heartwarming moments. Plus, Gold ticket holders at Sonoma Country Day School are invited to an exclusive pre-show reception, while Gold ticket holders at Sebastiani Theatre attendees can enjoy a post-show reception at Three Sticks Winery.
Watch the digitally remastered film in full on a massive cinema screen, while a live band and singers perform every unforgettable song from the original soundtrack, syncing with each moment of the movie.
As the story of Baby and Johnny unfolds, you’ll sing, sway, and relive the time of your life, surrounded by fellow fans who love the film just as much as you do.
But the magic doesn’t stop when the credits roll. After the film, the celebration continues with an encore party where you’ll be invited to sing and dance along to the hits that defined a generation.
© Copyright 2025 - BAR | Bay Area Registry
