Marke B<\/a>.\u00a0keeps an eye and ear out.<\/p>\n
THU\/28: FOU FOU HA! This colorful clutch of erotic clowns has been pitching titillated tents for decades, and in their 25th season presents a new show, The Nectar. \u201cRooted in the shadowed glamour of Weimar-era cabaret and pulsing with the surreal mischief of clown, The Nectar brings together impeccable dance, seductive burlesque, and a femme-powered narrative threaded with absurdity and ritual. A wink to Fosse. A torn Erotica page. A brush with ABBA. A whisper of Dark Garden indulgence.\u201d 8pm and 10pm, Palace Theater, SF. More info here<\/a>. <\/p>\n FRI\/29: MARGARET CHO: CHOLIGARCHY For decades, local comedy legend Cho\u2019s irreverent jokes and hilarious dips into queer and Asian American culture have scalded the ears of her rabid fans. It\u2019s so nice to have her back on the boards! 7pm and 9:30pm, Palace of Fine Arts, SF. More info here<\/a>. <\/p>\n FRI\/29 + SAT\/30: LEA DELARIA A perfect pairing with Cho, Delaria is another huge queer comic who made it big with deep local ties\u2014and who continues to rivet audiences today. She\u2019s turned toward jazz of late, delivering powerhouse, storytelling renditions of standards with the big, bold swagger. Feinstein\u2019s at the Nikko, SF. More info here<\/a>. <\/p>\n FRI\/29-SUN\/31: BAY AREA BOOK FESTIVAL A mind-boggling blast of bibliophilic, with dozens of author appearances, workshops, panels, parties, and everything else you can shake a spine at. From \u201cBuilding Worlds, Building Power\u201d to \u201cI Am the Moment: Voices of a New Generation,\u201d your reading list will runneth over. Various locations, Berkeley. More info here<\/a>.<\/p>\n SAT\/30: PORCHFEST 2026 San Francisco does not have many proper stoops, the New York kind from which rappers, poets, comedians, and indie-jazz bands fill the warm city air with spontaneous entertainment. But we do have a few porches! Porchfest welcomes more than 100 acts, mostly music, onto 18 porches across the Mission for a daylong affair that harkens back to when the pre-gentrified city offered electrifying moments around almost every corner. Best part is many of these are right outside delicious restaurants, so you can fill up, too. Noon-6pm, SF. More info here<\/a>. <\/p>\n SAT\/30: BREWFEST 2026 Who can resist downing a few brewskis on a (hopefully sunny?) weekend day at the Presidio Civil War Parade Ground? The Golden Gate Parks Conservancy puts on this annual thirst quencher, which includes unlimited tastings from more than a dozen local breweries, plus lawn games, live music, food trucks, and much more. Noon-4pm, Presidio, SF. More info here<\/a>. <\/p>\n Sponsored link<\/p>\n SAT\/30: ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT SEAFOOD BOIL The awesome Gumbo Social is leaving Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, and they are going out with this all-you-can-eat bang. \u201cCome enjoy our signature seafood boil loaded with: Shrimp, smoked sausage, baby potatoes, corn, tossed in butter, Old Bay, and Cajun seasoning.\u201d Instead of crying I am diving in! Noon-2pm, Ferry Plaza, SF. More info here<\/a>. <\/p>\n MUSIC SAT\/30: AMELIA RAY Worth a trip to Sacramento! As I\u2019ve said previously, but hear me now on this: Amelia Ray, the San Francisco writer and composer nicknamed the Beatles\u2019 long-lost soul sister, will make you feel something in performance\u2014whether a chuckle (she\u2019s a character) or a heartstring tug that comes out of the blue. According to her site, \u201cRay\u2019s 31-year career has spanned the fields of music, literature, performance art, film, and humanitarianism,\u201d but hey, that\u2019s what storytellers of the highest regard do. Relate experiences that connect us all. More importantly, she\u2019s a singer-songwriter who\u2019s going to tell the truth. 7pm, The Bootleg, Sacramento. More info here<\/a>.<\/p>\n MON\/1: AJA MONET She\u2019s known for posting lines from her spoken word poems on the streets before listening parties: \u201cSometimes in my dreams the women are free\u201d got plastered on a barrier before her recent NYC engagement. Her new release, The Color of Rain, co-produced with Meshell Ndegeocello and Justin Brown, uses rain as an analogy for combining jazz, soul, hip-hop, Afropunk, and rhythm and blues as a salve, a means of fighting and healing all at once against this totalitarian moment in the world. The Color of Rain adopts surrealism as a weapon against fascism. 7pm, The Chapel, SF. More info here<\/a>.<\/p>\n FOOD & DRINK ROLL OVER TO THE REOPENED SAM WO RESTAURANT I finally returned to the OG, which opened in 1908, and\u00a0got the chance to learn how it tastes since it has been under new ownership for the past eight months. After one bite of the duck rice noodle rolls dunked in mustard, a dish ordered to go, it was a relief to know that it\u2019s still wonderful! I don\u2019t even normally like mustard of any kind\u2014probably because they aren\u2019t Sam Wo mustard. Had I eaten in the restaurant, I would have definitely added a hot bowl of fish jook, a porridge served with a crispy Chinese donut, and enjoyed the full experience. 713 Clay Street, SF. More <\/a>info here<\/a>.<\/a><\/p>\n EMERYVILLE\u2019S LONE FARMERS MARKET IS BACK The farmers market in Emeryville is seasonal, and it returned earlier this month to the parking lot of Public Market Emeryville, a sleeper hit of a food hall in the East Bay. This year\u2019s edition finds the Public Market\u2019s food tenants utilizing the farmers market produce even more, and brings a Stamp Card promotion with a \u201cspecial reward\u201d from Super Duper Burgers after five farmers market visits. It all takes place on Thursdays from 4pm-8pm in the parking lot at Public Market Emeryville, 5959 Shellmound Street, Emeryville. More info here<\/a>.<\/a><\/p>\n STAGE THU\/28\u2014JUNE 21: THE BARBER OF SEVILLE\u00a0SF Opera stages a fabulously flamenco-inspired production of Rossini\u2019s classic: \u201cA jack-of-all trades, the wily barber Figaro has a scheme for anything. Moved by the distress of two young lovers separated by the curmudgeonly Doctor Bartolo, Figaro pulls out his bag of tricks. But will Figaro\u2019s scheming allow Rosina to escape the clutches of her guardian into true love\u2019s embrace with Count Almaviva?\u201d\u00a0War Memorial Opera House, SF. More info here<\/a>. <\/p>\n FRI\/29-SUN\/31: DOUBT Opera Parall\u00e8le\u2019s version of the hit Broadway play (and movie), Doubt\u00a0takes place during the earliest days of Vatican II, with traditionalists like Sister Aloysius\u2014unabashed hater of the song \u201cFrosty the Snowman\u201d\u2014at risk of becoming obsolete as The Church seeks to maintain relevance in an ever-changing world. Her resolve is solid as the mortar of the cathedrals. Yet, the one \u201ctradition\u201d she won\u2019t tolerate is the one that\u2019s haunted the Church since its earliest days: priests abusing children. Presidio Theatre, SF. More info here<\/a>. <\/p>\n FILM SAT\/30 + SUN 31: \u201cSPOTLIGHT ON AGNES VARDA\u201d Commemorating what would have been the Brussels-born \u201cGodmother of French New Wave\u201d\u2018s 98th birthday\u2014she passed away in 2019 at 90\u2014the 4 Star is showing three of her classics: the \u201creal time\u201d narrative of 1962\u2019s\u00a0Cleo from 5 to 7; The Gleaners and I\u00a0(2000), in which she explores the world of collecting leftover crops post-harvest; and\u00a0Jane B. Par Agnes V., about her longterm friendship with English-French actress Jane Birkin. 4 Star Theater, SF. More info here<\/a>. <\/p>\n THU\/28-JUNE 4: DOCFEST The 25th installment is celebrated with a program this Wed\/27 through Thurs\/4\u2014its online component runs till Sun\/7\u2014that as usual finds a lot of fun in new nonfiction filmmaking. But there are also some honorary looks backward, notably a \u201c2001 Flashback\u201d sidebar (complete with 2001 ticket prices) bringing back a few favorite titles from the festival\u2019s inaugural edition. Among this year\u2019s eye-openers: high-heeled anarchy, Amazing Sea Monkeys, rock star wangs, Oakland tent evictions, queer rights in Cuba, a Palestinian comedy club, NOFX and Grateful Dead jams. Read our full preview here<\/a>. More info about the full fest here<\/a>. <\/p>\n NIGHTLIFE FRI\/29: DIRECT TO EARTH WITH DVS1 AND MAX GARDNER\u00a0I didn\u2019t make it to Detroit for last weekend\u2019s big Movement techno fest, and I am craving some hard-driving yet intelligent beats that keep me engaged holistically. Killer Minneapolis producer and DJ DVS-1 knows how to make the roof shake as if a spaceship\u2019s landing, and Direct to Earth party crew honcho Max Gardner will help it all lift off. 11pm-6am, more info here<\/a>. <\/p>\n SAT\/30: EW! Big queer daytime patio dance parties are back, baby. And while we sadly await the final Hard French extravaganza <\/a>happening Pride weekend, insanely cute little party EW (formerly packing Underground SF) is blowing up to fill its stilettos at El Rio. DC\u2019s excellent Baronhawk Poitier and Tommy C, both sweethearts who know how to throw down, hop behind the decks. EW! 3pm-8pm, El Rio, SF. More info here<\/a>. <\/p>\n SAT\/30:\u00a0THE NIGHT BELONGS TO THE UNDERGROUND WITH SHIGETO Detroit polymath Shigeto brings an expansive jazz sensibility to his electronic productions and DJ moments\u2014last time I saw him he was performing live at the newly refurbished Michigan Central Train station, using African drums and a rush of ambient tones to summon the ghosts of trains long since passed through the cavernous Beaux Arts monument. After a day of playing experimental music with some wonderful friends <\/a>in Golden Gate Park\u2019s Elk Glen Meadow, he\u2019s taking over the intimate Underground SF, sure to provide some spine-tinglingly danceable moments. 9pm-2am, Underground SF. More info here<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Welcome to Big Week, our weekly guide to cool things to do, put together by our expert critics…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":336431,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[143,145,144],"class_list":["post-336430","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336430","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=336430"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336430\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/336431"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=336430"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=336430"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=336430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/spring-bloom-720x90-1.gif\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Amelia-Ray.jpg\")
Amelia Ray<\/p>\n
Hit up John-Paul Shiver\u2019s\u00a0Under the Stars<\/a>\u00a0column for great tunes and shows every week.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Duck-Rice-Noodle-Rolls-1024x768.jpeg\")
Duck rice noodle roll at Sam Wo<\/p>\n
Tamara Palmer\u2019s weekly\u00a0Good Taste column<\/a>\u00a0tells you where to stick your fork.\u00a0<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Barber-of-Seville-Sf-Opera-1024x682.jpeg\")
SF Opera\u2019s \u2018The Barber of Seville.\u2019 Photo by Cory Weaver\u00a0<\/p>\n
Charles Lewis III checks out theaters and performance spaces every week in the\u00a0Drama Masks<\/a>\u00a0column.<\/p>\n
Dennis Harvey\u2019s long-running\u00a0Screen Grabs<\/a>\u00a0has tons more flicks to recommend.<\/p>\n
Marke B.<\/a>\u00a0usually knows what\u2019s up.<\/p>\n