It's Fleet Week in San Francisco and that means awesome airshows from the Blue Angels and uniformed men and women roaming the Castro. In between catching views of the planes and the eyes of military personnel, we've got some events in and around the Castro to consider this weekend.
Fiesta Time at Mission Dolores
The Mission Dolores Academy (3321 16th Street) will be hosting their 23rd Annual Mission Dolores Fiesta this Sunday from 11am - 4pm. The festival will feature a smorgasbord of food and drink from Latin-American, Filipino, and East African countries in addition to live performances from fully costumed Aztec and Polynesian dance troupes. Proceeds collected during the fair go to scholarships for Academy students.
Arab Film Festival Kickoff
The 18th Annual Arab Film Festival taking place throughout the Bay Area kicks off their opening night tonight with a reception (6pm) and the film "May in the Summer" at 7:30pm at the Castro Theatre. "May in the Summer" follows the story of a young New York woman who travels back to her hometown of Amman, Jordan before tying the knot. After reuniting with friends and divorced parents she begins to question whether or not she is making the right decision. You can get tickets on the film festival's website or at the door. Check out the trailer:
Meet the Animals
Tomorrow, the Randall Museum (199 Museum Way) in nearby Corona Heights Park will be hosting kids of all ages to come and check out the museum's resident animals. The museum is home to over 100 animals that can no longer survive in the wild due to injury or being born in captivity. Visitors can meet rodents, amphibians, and perhaps even touch the shell of a tortoise! Come out on Saturday at 11am to meet some of California's diverse and disappearing wildlife.
Girl Group Flash Mob
Bay Area Flash Mob organizers have been running classes since July to prep dancers for their flash mob this Saturday throughout San Francisco. The group is featuring flash dances to music from all-female groups including En Vogue, Spice Girls, TLC, Salt-N-Pepa, Destiny’s Child, Pussycat Dolls and Danity Kane. Come out to the Castro's Jane Warner Plaza at 3:30pm on Saturday to see the dancers strut, shake, prance and twerk all in (mostly) perfect unison.
To prime you for the all-girl tribute flash mob check out the boy band version in the Castro from back in March:
Celebrate Cleve Jones' birthday for a good cause
Join the SF AIDS Foundation and Juanita MORE! at The Cafe from 9pm till 2am on Saturday to celebrate the 60th birthday of activist, advocate, and SFAF co-founder Cleve Jones. There will be special guest appearances from Dustin Lane Black (Milk) and from actor and singer Jonathon Groff in addition to music, DJ's, and cake. Proceeds from this party will benefit the Cleve Jones Fund to end HIV transmission for the SF AIDS Foundation. Get your tickets here.
The Mission Dolores Academy (3321 16th Street) will be hosting their 23rd Annual Mission Dolores Fiesta this Sunday from 11am - 4pm. The festival will feature a smorgasbord of food and drink from Latin-American, Filipino, and East African countries in addition to live performances from fully costumed Aztec and Polynesian dance troupes. Proceeds collected during the fair go to scholarships for Academy students.
Litquake at Magnet
Head over to Magnet on 18th Street on Sunday at 1pm to hear poets, novelists and writers of all kinds sharing their work and personal stories in Litquake's 2014 Festival. Writers from the LGBT community on deck for Sunday's event include Carolina De Robertis, Kevin Fisher-Paulson, Jason K. Friedman, Jean Ryan, Leslie L. Smith, Renate Stendhal, and Kat Marie Yoas.
