The days have grown shorter, but the list of fun events taking place in San Francisco this week is as long as ever.
Here are 18 events to check out this week in The City.
Monthly movie club at Trellis (Monday)
The coworking space in SoMa hosts a regular cinema get-together, with November’s edition highlighting “Mean Girls,” the 2004 comedy film written by Tina Fey, and “Camp Rock,” a 2008 Disney musical. There will be snacks and drinks for sale.
‘All the Empty Rooms’ film screening at Commonwealth Club World Affairs (Monday)
The nonprofit forum located along San Francisco’s waterfront will screen Joshua Seftel’s 2025 short documentary film that follows broadcast journalist Steve Hartman and photographer Lou Bopp as they travel across the U.S. to memorialize the bedrooms of children who were victims of gun violence.
Seftel’s film will be followed by a conversation with the director. Tickets can be purchased online for $22.20. The event, which lasts from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m., will be held at 110 The Embarcadero.
‘Conundrum Chronicles’ hosted by Fred Bill (Tuesday)
On the second Tuesday of every month, The Marsh — a performing-arts theater in the Mission district — hosts an open-mic storytelling competition. This month’s edition revolves around the theme of being lost. Guests can enter a drawing for the chance to tell a five-minute nonfiction story or serve as a judge, as well as spectate from the crowd.
‘Bye Bye, Breda!’ Muni ride (Wednesday)
The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency is retiring its fleet of Breda light rail vehicles, which have spent 30 years carrying Muni Metro passengers. In honor of the last day of service, farewell rides take place on the J Church line from 11:45 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Muni is retiring its fleet of Breda light rail vehicles, which debuted 30 years ago. In honor of their last day of service, farewell rides will take place Wednesday on the J Church line.
Craig Lee/The Examiner
Churchill, a bar at 198 Church St., hosts a farewell happy hour from 4 to 8 p.m.
The Bay Agenda: The Future of San Francisco Housing presented by KALW (Wednesday)
The San Francisco public radio station hosts a town hall that will be led by KALW executive producer Ben Trefny and SF Public Press Executive Director Lila LaHood. Stakeholders will discuss proposed changes to The City’s zoning plans, which would increase building height limitations along transit corridors and other areas.
The town hall is admission-free, but donations are encouraged and can be made online. KALW’s event, which runs from 7 to 8:30 p.m., will be hosted at its 220 Montgomery St. event space.
Free workshop at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (Wednesday)
In honor of the San Francisco Pride Band’s dance-along performance next month of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s ballet “The Nutcracker,” the YBCA is hosting another all-ages drop-in workshop. For this edition, participants will make miniature nutcracker ornaments to coincide with the holiday season.
Guests take home creations made during the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts’ free drop-in workshop.
Courtesy Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
Guests can register online for free; the session is set to run from 2 to 4 p.m. Materials will be provided and art center patrons will be able to take their creations home.
Valencia Live season finale (Thursday)
The Mission District’s free monthly neighborhood block party is throwing one last shindig of the season, bringing music, dancing and art to three blocks of Valencia Street between 16th through 19th streets. There will also be food trucks, beverages, a craft market featuring Indigenous artists, and games for all ages.
Kim Shuck’s Poet Jam celebrates Pat Parker at the Main Library (Thursday)
Kim Shuck, San Francisco’s poet laureate emerita, hosts an in-person reading of “Essential Poems by Pat Parker,” a new publication by the lesbian literary and art journal Sinister Wisdom. Presented by San Francisco Public Library, the admission-free event takes place in the Main Library’s Latino/Hispanic Meeting Rooms A and B.
The readings, which take place at 100 Larkin St., will take place from 6 to 7:15 p.m.
Monthly book club at Sunset Commons (Thursday)
The art cafe, located at 1600 Irving St. #110, hosts the first meeting of its monthly book club. November’s edition will highlight “Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow,” author Gabrielle Zevin’s 2022 novel about two video-game designers. There will also be crafts for participants.
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Danny Elfman’s Music from the Films of Tim Burton (Thursday-Friday)
The San Francisco Symphony will perform the composer’s scores from several well-known films at Davies Symphony Hall. The concert includes a live performance by Elfman, with original drawings, sketches and storyboards shown on the hall’s big screen as visual accompaniment.
San Francisco Filipino Cultural Center opening reception (Friday)
Sentro Filipino and partner Many Hands Creative present an opening celebration for “Murmurations,” a new group exhibition of self-portaits by over 30 artists who are immigrants or children of immigrants.
Guests can RSVP online, with the reception taking place from 6 to 8:30 p.m. The cultural center is located at 814 Mission St.
From the E: Excelsior Night Market (Friday)
This month’s edition of the neighborhood block party celebrates Korean popular culture through live music, entertainment and crafts. There will also be food vendors, raffle prizes and family-friendly games.
Guests can RSVP online, with the event taking place at a parking lot on Norton Street. The market runs from 5 to 10 p.m.
The Clift Royal Sonesta’s speaker series (Friday-Saturday)
The Union Square hotel is launching “Making History Fun Again,” a program that chronicles San Francisco’s unique past with help from authors, historians and cultural experts. Both days feature local authors Alec Scott, Maria Lenhart and Ruth Carlson, as well as Bill Baker, the author of “Alcatraz #1259.”
Friday’s discussion takes place at 6 p.m., while Saturday’s program starts at 5 p.m. Guests can RSVP online. The hotel is located at 495 Geary St.
Secondhand Saturdays season finale (Saturday)
Held on the third Saturday of every month, the outdoor vintage-shopping experience will host its annual record-swap event, which brings together more than 60 vendors from throughout the Bay Area. Visitors will be able to buy, sell, exchange or browse vinyl collections. DJ Matt Haze will provide live music. There will also be hands-on workshops, family-friendly games and food vendors.
Secondhand Saturdays’ markets take place the third Saturday of every month from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Courtesy Paul Mansfiled
Saturday’s market runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on 37th Avenue between Ortega and Quintara streets.
Community movie day presented by Pacific Atrocities Education (Saturday)
The Pacific Atrocities Education nonprofit screens two films: “The Sinking of Lisbon Maru,” a 2024 documentary about the sinking of a Japanese transport ship carrying British prisoners of war, and “Cliff Walkers,” a 2021 thriller film about two agents in a 1930s puppet state. An optional dinner follows the event being held at the Great Star Theater, which is located at 636 Jackson St.
Free Golden Gate Park Bandshell concert day (Sunday)
The second edition of this free all-ages concert brings together musical acts — Samplelov, Cymandre 3000 and Cynny — together for an afternoon of live entertainment in the park. The show will be hosted by DJ Hellena Handbasket of BFF.FM, a local nonprofit community radio station.
Sand art workshop (Sunday)
Artist Andres Amador’s three-hour workshop teaches participants sand art techniques, with the lesson culminating in the creation of an original artwork. Aerial photos are then taken to commemorate the undertaking.
Volunteers work on “United We Act For Democracy,” an original sand art piece made by artist Andres Amador at San Francisco’s Ocean Beach on Friday, May 16, 2025.
Craig Lee/The Examiner
Guests can RSVP online and donations are encouraged. The event takes place along Ocean Beach and begins at 1 p.m.
San Francisco Civic Music Association performance (Sunday)
Mozart to Mendelssohn, one of the SF Civic Music Association’s three all-volunteer orchestras, takes over the event space at the Noe Valley Church and Ministry. In collaboration with Berkeley-based chorus Chora Nova, members will perform large orchestral works from Ludwig van Beethoven, Felix Mendelssohn and Anton Joseph Reicha.
The performance, which takes place at 1021 Sanchez St., runs from 3 to 5 p.m.