The SF Must List: What to Do in San Francisco This August
It’s hard to believe, but summer is nearly halfway over. With Fogust here once again, we’re desperately looking forward to the arrival of San Francisco’s Indian Summer.
In the meantime, we’ll make due with these exciting events happening throughout the month of August in San Francisco, including Outside Lands, a performance by the world’s favorite Monster, Game of Thrones brunches, and so much more.
These are the top events in San Francisco you must attend in August 2017.
Cinema & Media
The Yerba Buena Center for the Arts will be screening films created by independent Filipino filmmakers from mid-August to early September. These movies provide a broad look into social and political life in the Philippines today, tackling issues of the current political climate. Topics range from the war on drugs, to a film about transforming Filipina domestic workers into beauty queens.
New Filipino Cinema 2017 | Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 701 Mission Street, San Francisco, CA | August 17th-September 3rd: check site for showtimes | $10+
An unlikely success, Tangerine is the critically-acclaimed film that garnered adoration during last year’s award season. The film, filmed entirely on an iPhone 5S, follows two trans women in Hollywood as they endure a helter-skelter daylong journey full of meaningful life lessons.
Tangerine | Roxie Cinema, 3117 16th Street, San Francisco, CA | Thursday, August 31st: 9:15PM | $8+
“Snakes? I hate snakes.” The Castro Theatre will have a triple-feature program of the Indiana Jones films: Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Temple of Doom, and Last Crusade.
Indiana Jones: Triple Feature| The Castro Theatre, 429 Castro Street, San Francisco, CA | Sunday, August 27th: check calendar for showtimes | $15
Concerts & Live Music
Fresh off the hot heels of his new album, DAMN, Kendrick Lamar will be taking the stage in Oakland with special guests Travis Scott (AKA Kylie Jenner’s new beau) and D.R.A.M.
Kendrick Lamar with Travis Scott and D.R.A.M. | Oracle Arena, 7000 Coliseum Way, Oakland, CA | Friday, August 4th: 7:30PM | $75+
With a new look and a different sound, pop superstar Lady Gaga will return to the Bay for her Joanne World Tour, which kicks off on August 1st. No word on her disco stick.
Lady Gaga: The Joanne World Tour | AT&T Park, 24 Willie Mays Plaza, San Francisco, CA | Sunday, August 13th: 7PM | $50+
The Outside Lands festival is sort of a right of passage in the Bay Area. This year’s 3-day music festival will feature performances from Lorde, Metallica, and The Who. Bring a sweater.
Outside Lands| Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, CA | August 11th-13th: All Day | $150+
The Stern Grove Festival is a free event occurring every Sunday at 2PM, only during the summer. This free event makes for a great picnic gathering for groups of all ages in the idyllic Stern Grove.
Stern Grove Festival | Stern Grove, 19th Avenue & Sloat Boulevard, San Francisco, CA | Every Sunday at 2PM through August 31st | Free
Comedy
You might recognize Ali Wong from her recent Netflix smash hit Baby Cobra, in which the San Francisco native performed stand-up while 7 months pregnant. The comedian and TV writer is so in-demand that all 7 of her shows are sold out, but you’ll be able to score tickets via resale.
Ali Wong | Masonic, 1111 California Street, San Francisco, CA | August 2nd-5th & 19th: 7PM | $70+ via resale
If you love really funny comedians who just happen to be women, then do yourself a favor and head to the local favorite Punch Line Comedy Club for an evening of laughter courtesy of the Bay’s best female standup comics.
Really Funny Comedians (Who Happen to Be Women) | Punch Line Comedy Club, 444 Battery Street, San Francisco, CA | Tuesday, August 8th: 8PM | $18
If you’re a fan of NPR’s weekend comedy series Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me, then you’d be remiss to miss out of this extravaganza of cultured humor.
NPR’s Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me | Davies Symphony Hall, 201 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco | August 10th-11th: 7:30PM | $246+
The star of Community and host of The Soup will be paying a visit to Cobb’s Comedy Club in the City. All fans of dry wit and biting sarcasm rejoice.
Joel McHale | Cobb’s Comedy Club, 915 Columbus Avenue, San Francisco, CA | Saturday, August 19th: 7:30PM | $35
Theatre & Opera
La Cage aux Folles is a Tony award winning musical about Georges, who manages a Saint-Tropez drag-show nightclub headlined by his longtime love and partner Albin. WHen Georges’ son, Jean-Michel, brings home his fiancée’s highly conservative parents to meet them, things get a little unpredictable. If you love the movie, or if you’ve never seen it before and love all things camp, then this is a must-see.
La Cage aux Folles | The San Francisco Playhouse, 450 Post, San Francisco, CA | Runs through September 16th: check site for showtimes | $30+
Broadway’s new smash hit Something Rotten is touring its way to the Bay. Set in 1595, Nick and Nigel Bottom are two brothers desperate to write a hit play. When a local soothsayer foretells that the future of theatre involves singing, dancing, and acting at the same time, Nick and Nigel set out to write the world’s first musical. This is SHN’s only August show.
Something Rotten | SHN Orpheum Theatre, 1192 Market Street, San Francisco, CA | Opens August 15th: 8PM | $45+
Homefront is a profound musical that about Emma Kolmeier and her two young siblings, who flee from Germany to escape World War I, leaving everything they know behind to settle in Illinois. This passionate musical studies the harsh realities of history and persecution.
Homefront | A.C.T.’s Strand Theater, 1127 Market Street, San Francisco, CA | Opens August 8th: 7PM | $20
Dance
Part of the Diaspora Arts Connection, The Pleasant Pain draws from oral history interviews of thirty young Iranian émigrés who have recently migrated to the San Francisco Bay Area.
The Pleasant Pain | ODC Theater, 3153 17th Street, San Francisco, CA | Saturday, August 29th: 8PM | $20-$30
Brace Forward presents four works by Alyssandra Katherine Dance Project and Carly Lave that resolve the complexities of gender in society, uprooting norms and notions on social constructs.
Brace Forward | ODC Theater, 3153 17th Street, San Francisco, CA | August 18th-19th: 8PM | $25
Head to the esplanade at the Yerba Buena Gardens for an afternoon of free performances. LINES Dance Center presents a program of contemporary and global dance featuring students from the Adult Choreography and Performance Workshops, ranging from classical Chinese dance, Afro-Cuban, and hip-hop.
LINES | Esplanade, Yerba Buena Gardens, Mission Street between 3rd & 4th Street, San Francisco, CA | Thursday, August 10th: 12:30PM | Free
Culture
Friends with Benedicts creator and chef, Derrik Soares, has launched a weekly Game of Thrones themed brunch to celebrate the return of the show for its seventh season. Running for just 7 weeks to coincide with the season’s episode order, you can expect dishes such as The Kingslayer, The Hound, and The Dragon Slayer, as well as “retrospective spoilers” on the menu — featuring plot points from the previous week’s episode. This GoT-themed brunch will rerun every Sunday from 9AM to 3PM until August 27th at Friends with Benedicts’ North Beach and Russian Hill locations. Don’t forget to order a Bloody Mary, in honor of the Red Wedding.
Game of Thrones Brunch at FwB | 622 Green Street & 1431 Polk Street, San Francisco, CA | Sundays through August 27th: 9AM–3PM
Feeling catty? The Californian Academy of Sciences will be hosting an evening of feline festivities. There will be cocktails, as well as cat tails.
Filipino Night Market Festival | The Old Mint, 88 5th Street, San Francisco, CA | Every 3rd Friday starting August 18th: 6PM–12AM | Free
For the first time ever, there will be a Filipino Night Market at the Old Mint, which will occur every 3rd Friday of the month. This August marks the inaugural event.
Feline NightLife | California Academy of Sciences, 55 Music Concourse Drive, San Francisco, CA | Thursday, August 17th: 6PM | $15
