San Francisco Festivals of Note

Below are a list of festivals and events that you may want to mark on your calendar:

•  Bay to Breakers.  May 15th, 2011.  This year we celebrating the 100th anniversary of the race that was originally started as a way to increase the morale of the city after the devastation of the 1906 earthquake.  It is now a tradition which defines the eccentricity that is San Francisco.  There is a race component, but most people watch and participate for the costumes.  Yes, I said costumes.  Organizers are limiting the run/walk/crawl to 50,000 participants, and they do not allow alcohol this year.  Really?  No rolling kegs this year?

• Folsom Street Fair.  Sunday, September 25, 2011.  Even if black and blue are not your colors of choice, you will find the Folsom Street Fair interesting.  Over 400,000 people attend each year, and it covers 13 city blocks.  I can't really describe it here.  All I can say is that you have to see it to believe it.  

• San Francisco Pride Celebration & Parade.  June 25th & 26th, 2011.   This year's theme is "In Pride We Trust."  Around 1,000,000 visitors will flood the city in order to attend the events and show their pride and support.

• San Francisco Fringe Festival.  September 7th - 18th, 2011.  The fringe festival will present over 200 different theatrical performances by local actors and playwrites.  This will get your creative juices flowing.  The link shows a list of the plays from 2010, and it will give you an idea of what you will see in 2011.

• Castro Street Fair.  The first Sunday in October, 11:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.  Originally organized by Harvey Milk in order to build community, this event continues to thrive and grow with hundreds of artist booths, vendors, live entertainment, and dance stages. 

• Santacon.  2011 - TBA.  Grab your big black boots, your red velvet suit, fur lined hat, and head out on the town with hundreds of other similarly dressed individuals to bar hop the afternoon and evening away.  Elves and the Mrs. are also welcome.

Historical Saturday: Chinese New Year

On Thursday, February 3rd, the 2011 Chinese New Year began.  It is the year of the Rabbit. 

Shortly before the New Year in a traditional Chinese home, members arm themselves with brooms and dust rags in order to sweep and clean the house of last year's bad luck and make room for this year's good luck which will begin to arrive as the celebration begins.  Some families even put a fresh coat of red paint on the wood frames around doors and windows.  There are many different variations on what happens over the remaining days of the old year, but the culminating event is the big family meal where some type of fish is prepared, and dishes symbolizing prosperity and wealth, such as dumplings,  are served.    

There is a myth which states that many, many, many years ago during the New Year, villagers worked hard to fight off a monster known as Nian that would swoop down and eat livestock, crops, and even children.  To appease this beast, they would prepare meals and leave them on the doorstep.  The theory was that if Nian ate the food, he would not eat people or animals.  One year it was noticed that a little child wearing red scared Nian away.  The villagers started displaying red everywhere and using firecrackers to scare him away.  Since that time to today, this ancient creature's fear of noise and the color red has not allowed him to enter the towns and cities and wreak havoc on the Chinese population. 

The next time you go to a Chinese New Year Celebration, take the time to look around at  the displays of red, listen to the firecrackers, watch the children delight in getting lucky coins, and realize that you are in the midst of ancient tradition.

Happy New Year!

Mike

Source:  Wikipedia

"Defenestration"

If you drive by sixth and Howard in SOMA (South of Market), you will find an artistic structure that was made out of an abandoned building.  Attached to the sides of this brick apartment, you will see chairs, lamps, sofas, refrigerators, old fashioned bathtubs, a giant armoire and even a grandfather's clock.  They are firmly attached, but they appear to be in the midst of a great fall.  You will see these items on the fire escapes, window ledges, and sometimes just sitting on the sides of the building.  To add a touch of whimsy, the lamps are turned on at night.  The ground level of the building is boarded up and serves as a venue for street artists to use their talent.  

Brian Goggin is the creator of this contemporary piece of art, and it's name, "Defenestration," means to throw someone or something out the window.  I could tell you all the different interpretations on the art, but I think it is probably best if you experience it yourself and draw your own conclusions on what it means about our society and the neighborhood in which it resides.

Cheers!

Mike