Yerba Buena Gardens Festival Announces 26th Season Programming

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Featured
Dance Outdoors with Rhythm & Motion
Apr 15
Dance Outdoors with Rhythm & Motion

Rhythm & Motion is an addictive follow-along class that is inspired by choreography and music from across the globe.

Earth Day
Apr 18
Earth Day

Celebrate San Francisco Green Businesses at the Yerba Buena Gardens 2026 Earth Day Festival! Join San Francisco Environment Department, in partnership with the Yerba Buena Gardens Conservancy and Climatebase, for a day of sustainability, community and action at the official kickoff event for SF Climate Week.

Sunset Sound System
Apr 19
Sunset Sound System

Specialists in providing dance-inducing soundtracks for celebratory gatherings, Sunset Sound System spins music for a spring picnic in Yerba Buena Gardens.

Dance Outdoors with Rhythm & Motion
Apr 22
Dance Outdoors with Rhythm & Motion

Rhythm & Motion is an addictive follow-along class that is inspired by choreography and music from across the globe.

Bay Area Dance Week: One Dance
Apr 24
Bay Area Dance Week: One Dance

Join us to kick-off Bay Area Dance Week with a family friendly community celebration at Yerba Buena Gardens! Rhythm & Motion leads One Dance, a routine designed for all levels to perform together.

Dance Outdoors with Rhythm & Motion
May 6
Dance Outdoors with Rhythm & Motion

Rhythm & Motion is an addictive follow-along class that is inspired by choreography and music from across the globe.

Season Opener: Hermán Olivera y Orquesta Taíno
May 9
Season Opener: Hermán Olivera y Orquesta Taíno

Yerba Buena Gardens Festival kicks off with a salsa dance party featuring the great New York sonero Hermán Olivera y Orquesta Taíno.

Poetic Tuesday
May 12
Poetic Tuesday

Sharing works that delight, provoke, inspire and rouse, the Poetic Tuesdays series turns lunchtime into a sumptuous literary repast.

Dance Outdoors with Rhythm & Motion
May 13
Dance Outdoors with Rhythm & Motion

Rhythm & Motion is an addictive follow-along class that is inspired by choreography and music from across the globe.

Aireene & The Itch
May 14
Aireene & The Itch

Aireene Espiritu creates music that embraces folks from all over. Born in the Philippines and raised in the Bay Area, she’s a veteran singer/songwriter who’s honed an extensive book of original songs combining Afro-Caribbean and African rhythms, American folk forms, bluegrass techniques and gospel music fervor.

Hailu Mergia
May 16
Hailu Mergia

In the 1970s, when Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa entered a musical golden age powered by a cadre of brilliant musicians combining traditional song forms with American jazz, funk and soul.

Dance Outdoors with Rhythm & Motion
May 20
Dance Outdoors with Rhythm & Motion

Rhythm & Motion is an addictive follow-along class that is inspired by choreography and music from across the globe.

Larry & Joe
May 21
Larry & Joe

The pandemic spawned many unlikely musical connections, but the story of Larry & Joe continues to resonate long after lockdown lifted.

Las Cafeteras
May 23
Las Cafeteras

Blending the percussive Afro-Mexican tradition of son jarocho with electronic beats and cogent rhymes, Las Cafeteras have earned a global following with their infectious live performances.

Dance Outdoors with Rhythm & Motion
May 27
Dance Outdoors with Rhythm & Motion

Rhythm & Motion is an addictive follow-along class that is inspired by choreography and music from across the globe.

Community Music Center Neighborhood Choir
May 28
Community Music Center Neighborhood Choir

The CMC Choirs are part of a tuition-free Neighborhood Choir Program for Older Adults composed of 17 choirs at neighborhood and senior centers throughout San Francisco. The Community Music Center is a non-profit institution making high-quality music accessible to people of all ages, backgrounds and abilities, regardless of financial means.

Children’s Program: Manilatown Ancestral Ensemble
Jun 5
Children’s Program: Manilatown Ancestral Ensemble

The Manilatown Ancestral Ensemble presents the pre-colonial music, dance and attire traditions of Mindanao, Southern Philippines and Kalinga, Northern Philippines.

Gamelan Sekar Jaya
Jun 6
Gamelan Sekar Jaya

For nearly five decades Gamelan Sekar Jaya has set the standard for Balinese music and dance in North America.

Pride in Yerba Buena
Jun 7
Pride in Yerba Buena

An uproarious variety show manifesting the fabulous creative diversity of queer artistic expression, Pride in Yerba Buena!

Camellia Boutros
Jun 11
Camellia Boutros

Some sounds could only emerge in San Francisco, like the Arabic psychedelic rock of Camellia Boutros.

Children’s Program: Children’s Program: Coventry & Kaluza
Jun 12
Children’s Program: Children’s Program: Coventry & Kaluza

Jamie Coventry is a harmonica addict and eccentric juggler. Natasha Kaluza is The Super Duper Hula Hooper.

Children’s Program: Chelle! & Friends
Jun 12
Children’s Program: Chelle! & Friends

Led by New Orleans-native Michelle Jacques, a soul-steeped vocalist with a big, bold voice, Chelle! & Friends bring to the Gardens a family-friendly taste of the Crescent City, the cradle of so much essential American music. 

Good Medicine
Jun 12
Good Medicine

Co-founded by Oakland stand-up comic Jackie Keliiaa, the smash hit, all-Native comedy revue Good Medicine has sold-out venues around the country, including A.C.T’s Strand Theater.

Native Contemporary Arts Festival
Jun 20
Native Contemporary Arts Festival

A beloved Father’s Day weekend tradition celebrating the creativity of America’s indigenous peoples, the 27th annual Native Contemporary Arts Festival showcases a diverse program of Native music, dance, spoken word, visual artists, vendors and crafts. 

Circus Bella AH HA!
Jun 26
Circus Bella AH HA!

Circus Bella, the region’s premiere circus company, returns to Yerba Buena Gardens with the brand-new outdoor show, AH HA!, commissioned by Yerba Buena Gardens Festival.

Destiny Muhammad Trio
Jul 2
Destiny Muhammad Trio

A jazz harp player and soul-powered vocalist, Destiny Muhammad champions the legacy of the women who came before her while taking the instrument into enthralling new terrain.

SF Uke Jam's Summer Uke-Splosion: Peace, Love and Ukulele
Jul 4
SF Uke Jam's Summer Uke-Splosion: Peace, Love and Ukulele

The ukulele is truly the people’s instrument, and the popular SF Uke Jam is the Bay Area’s leading force bringing fans of the diminutive 4-string uke together. 

San Francisco Mime Troupe
Jul 5
San Francisco Mime Troupe

Fasten your seatbelts for another wild yet thought-provoking ride with the world-renowned San Francisco Mime Troupe.

Mae Powell
Jul 9
Mae Powell

Over the past decade Mae Powell has earned a sterling reputation as a winsome singer-songwriter who can also put a personal, jazz-inflected stamp on American Songbook standards.

Children’s Program: Mariachi San Francisco
Jul 10
Children’s Program: Mariachi San Francisco

A third-generation musician from Jalisco, Aurelio Aceves didn’t wait long after moving to the Bay Area in 1990 before launching Mariachi San Francisco.

MAY

Featured
Dance Outdoors with Rhythm & Motion
May 6
Dance Outdoors with Rhythm & Motion

Rhythm & Motion is an addictive follow-along class that is inspired by choreography and music from across the globe.

Season Opener: Hermán Olivera y Orquesta Taíno
May 9
Season Opener: Hermán Olivera y Orquesta Taíno

Yerba Buena Gardens Festival kicks off with a salsa dance party featuring the great New York sonero Hermán Olivera y Orquesta Taíno.

Poetic Tuesday
May 12
Poetic Tuesday

Sharing works that delight, provoke, inspire and rouse, the Poetic Tuesdays series turns lunchtime into a sumptuous literary repast.

Dance Outdoors with Rhythm & Motion
May 13
Dance Outdoors with Rhythm & Motion

Rhythm & Motion is an addictive follow-along class that is inspired by choreography and music from across the globe.

Aireene & The Itch
May 14
Aireene & The Itch

Aireene Espiritu creates music that embraces folks from all over. Born in the Philippines and raised in the Bay Area, she’s a veteran singer/songwriter who’s honed an extensive book of original songs combining Afro-Caribbean and African rhythms, American folk forms, bluegrass techniques and gospel music fervor.

Hailu Mergia
May 16
Hailu Mergia

In the 1970s, when Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa entered a musical golden age powered by a cadre of brilliant musicians combining traditional song forms with American jazz, funk and soul.

Dance Outdoors with Rhythm & Motion
May 20
Dance Outdoors with Rhythm & Motion

Rhythm & Motion is an addictive follow-along class that is inspired by choreography and music from across the globe.

Larry & Joe
May 21
Larry & Joe

The pandemic spawned many unlikely musical connections, but the story of Larry & Joe continues to resonate long after lockdown lifted.

Las Cafeteras
May 23
Las Cafeteras

Blending the percussive Afro-Mexican tradition of son jarocho with electronic beats and cogent rhymes, Las Cafeteras have earned a global following with their infectious live performances.

Dance Outdoors with Rhythm & Motion
May 27
Dance Outdoors with Rhythm & Motion

Rhythm & Motion is an addictive follow-along class that is inspired by choreography and music from across the globe.

Community Music Center Neighborhood Choir
May 28
Community Music Center Neighborhood Choir

The CMC Choirs are part of a tuition-free Neighborhood Choir Program for Older Adults composed of 17 choirs at neighborhood and senior centers throughout San Francisco. The Community Music Center is a non-profit institution making high-quality music accessible to people of all ages, backgrounds and abilities, regardless of financial means.

JUNE

Featured
Children’s Program: Manilatown Ancestral Ensemble
Jun 5
Children’s Program: Manilatown Ancestral Ensemble

The Manilatown Ancestral Ensemble presents the pre-colonial music, dance and attire traditions of Mindanao, Southern Philippines and Kalinga, Northern Philippines.

Gamelan Sekar Jaya
Jun 6
Gamelan Sekar Jaya

For nearly five decades Gamelan Sekar Jaya has set the standard for Balinese music and dance in North America.

Pride in Yerba Buena
Jun 7
Pride in Yerba Buena

An uproarious variety show manifesting the fabulous creative diversity of queer artistic expression, Pride in Yerba Buena!

Camellia Boutros
Jun 11
Camellia Boutros

Some sounds could only emerge in San Francisco, like the Arabic psychedelic rock of Camellia Boutros.

Children’s Program: Children’s Program: Coventry & Kaluza
Jun 12
Children’s Program: Children’s Program: Coventry & Kaluza

Jamie Coventry is a harmonica addict and eccentric juggler. Natasha Kaluza is The Super Duper Hula Hooper.

Children’s Program: Chelle! & Friends
Jun 12
Children’s Program: Chelle! & Friends

Led by New Orleans-native Michelle Jacques, a soul-steeped vocalist with a big, bold voice, Chelle! & Friends bring to the Gardens a family-friendly taste of the Crescent City, the cradle of so much essential American music. 

Good Medicine
Jun 12
Good Medicine

Co-founded by Oakland stand-up comic Jackie Keliiaa, the smash hit, all-Native comedy revue Good Medicine has sold-out venues around the country, including A.C.T’s Strand Theater.

Native Contemporary Arts Festival
Jun 20
Native Contemporary Arts Festival

A beloved Father’s Day weekend tradition celebrating the creativity of America’s indigenous peoples, the 27th annual Native Contemporary Arts Festival showcases a diverse program of Native music, dance, spoken word, visual artists, vendors and crafts. 

Circus Bella AH HA!
Jun 26
Circus Bella AH HA!

Circus Bella, the region’s premiere circus company, returns to Yerba Buena Gardens with the brand-new outdoor show, AH HA!, commissioned by Yerba Buena Gardens Festival.

JULY

Featured
Destiny Muhammad Trio
Jul 2
Destiny Muhammad Trio

A jazz harp player and soul-powered vocalist, Destiny Muhammad champions the legacy of the women who came before her while taking the instrument into enthralling new terrain.

SF Uke Jam's Summer Uke-Splosion: Peace, Love and Ukulele
Jul 4
SF Uke Jam's Summer Uke-Splosion: Peace, Love and Ukulele

The ukulele is truly the people’s instrument, and the popular SF Uke Jam is the Bay Area’s leading force bringing fans of the diminutive 4-string uke together. 

San Francisco Mime Troupe
Jul 5
San Francisco Mime Troupe

Fasten your seatbelts for another wild yet thought-provoking ride with the world-renowned San Francisco Mime Troupe.

Mae Powell
Jul 9
Mae Powell

Over the past decade Mae Powell has earned a sterling reputation as a winsome singer-songwriter who can also put a personal, jazz-inflected stamp on American Songbook standards.

Children’s Program: Mariachi San Francisco
Jul 10
Children’s Program: Mariachi San Francisco

A third-generation musician from Jalisco, Aurelio Aceves didn’t wait long after moving to the Bay Area in 1990 before launching Mariachi San Francisco.

Lady Wray
Jul 11
Lady Wray

Nurtured in church, selected by Missy Elliott to launch her new label and now soaring into new musical realms, Lady Wray is a soul powerhouse making music on her own terms.

Honoring Our Relatives: A Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples Gathering
Jul 12
Honoring Our Relatives: A Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples Gathering

More than a celebration of indigeneity, Honoring Our Relatives seeks to bridge shared struggles across communities while centering the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous people here on Turtle Island.

Poetic Tuesday
Jul 14
Poetic Tuesday

Sharing works that delight, provoke, inspire and rouse, the Poetic Tuesdays series turns lunchtime into a sumptuous literary repast.

LA GENTE SF
Jul 16
LA GENTE SF

As his band’s name suggests, Rafael Bustamante Sarria created LA GENTE SF as a vehicle to bring a cosmopolitan array of grooves to the people.

Children’s Program: Toishan Lions Dance Troupe
Jul 17
Children’s Program: Toishan Lions Dance Troupe

In Chinese culture, the lion symbolizes power, wisdom and superiority, and when the lion arrives you know it’s a special occasion.

Iwa Daiko
Jul 23
Iwa Daiko

The Sacramento-based taiko collective Iwa Daiko builds community through the thunderous power of percussion.

Children’s Program: René y Familia
Jul 24
Children’s Program: René y Familia

Spanning three generations and an array of celebratory Latin American musical traditions, René y Familia is the latest gift from an iconic San Francisco musical clan.

Yerba Buena Gardens ChoreoFest
Jul 25
Yerba Buena Gardens ChoreoFest

Yerba Buena Gardens ChoreoFest, a mini-festival of site-specific work, turns the Gardens’ various open spaces into a showcase for the extravagant creativity, diversity and vibrancy of the Bay Area dance scene.

WAM’s Local Sirens
Jul 30
WAM’s Local Sirens

Yerba Buena Gardens Festival and Women’s Audio Mission bring Local Sirens to the Gardens for an afternoon of dynamic music.

Children’s Program: Unique Derique
Jul 31
Children’s Program: Unique Derique

A beloved Bay Area institution, Unique Derique is a prince among clowns, an internationally esteemed performer who has honed a singular blend of physical comedy and hambone body percussion.

AUGUST

Featured
Yerba Buena Gardens ChoreoFest
Jul 25
Yerba Buena Gardens ChoreoFest

Yerba Buena Gardens ChoreoFest, a mini-festival of site-specific work, turns the Gardens’ various open spaces into a showcase for the extravagant creativity, diversity and vibrancy of the Bay Area dance scene.

Poetry Workshop with Nia Pearl
Aug 1
Poetry Workshop with Nia Pearl

In trying times, poetry and music bring people together. Join Nia Pearl for one-of-a-kind outdoor poetry workshops inspired by the physical environs  of Yerba Buena Gardens. 

Yerba Buena Gardens ChoreoFest Day 2
Aug 1
Yerba Buena Gardens ChoreoFest Day 2

Yerba Buena Gardens ChoreoFest, a mini-festival of site-specific work, turns the Gardens’ various open spaces into a showcase for the extravagant creativity, diversity and vibrancy of the Bay Area dance scene.

Color Your Mind
Aug 2
Color Your Mind

Curated by visionary East Bay percussionist Sameer Gupta of Rootstock Arts, Color Your Mind is a gathering of musicians dedicated to expanding the boundaries of classical Indian music and related traditions into exciting new territory.

Afrosolo Presents: Fely Tchaco
Aug 2
Afrosolo Presents: Fely Tchaco

Born in Côte d’Ivoire and long based in the Bay Area, Fely Tchaco seamlessly blends traditional Ivorian sounds with Afro-pop, jazz and world music, delivering mesmerizing performances that combine cultural celebration, storytelling and visions of social change.

Children’s Program: Eddie Madril
Aug 7
Children’s Program: Eddie Madril

A dancer, singer, teacher, playwright and filmmaker, Eddie Madril specializes in the dance and culture of the United States Plains Indian tribes from southern Canada, North Dakota, South Dakota, Kansas, Nebraska and Oklahoma.

PISTAHAN
Aug 8
PISTAHAN

Celebrating Filipino and Filipino-American arts and culture, the annual Pistahan features 2 days of art pavilions and stages highlighting contemporary and traditional music, dance, art, crafts, cuisine and artifacts.

Poetic Tuesday
Aug 11
Poetic Tuesday

Sharing works that delight, provoke, inspire and rouse, the Poetic Tuesdays series turns lunchtime into a sumptuous literary repast.

Brazil in the Gardens: Alexandre Ribeiro and Alessandro Penezzi
Aug 13
Brazil in the Gardens: Alexandre Ribeiro and Alessandro Penezzi

Every summer some of Brazil’s greatest musicians gather in the redwoods of Cazadero for California Brazil Camp, and every season several faculty members venture down to the Gardens to share their mesmerizing music.

Children’s Program: Caterpillar Puppets
Aug 14
Children’s Program: Caterpillar Puppets

Joe Leon’s Caterpillar Puppets don’t just entertain kids and parents. His eccentric menagerie draws audiences of all ages into seemingly familiar stories that take unexpected turns.

Helado Negro + Reyna Tropical
Aug 15
Helado Negro + Reyna Tropical

The son of Ecuadoran immigrants, Roberto Carlos Lange is a producer and singer-songwriter who has created an expansive, intoxicating body of music as Helado Negro. Known for crafting compassionate, atmospheric, and experimental pop music, he joins forces with Reyna Tropical, a decade-long project led by Fabi Reyna, the Mexican-born, Texas-raised activist, and guitarist who also founded She Shreds Magazine – the world’s first and only print publication dedicated to women guitarists and bassists.

Annual African Arts Festival
Oct 3
Annual African Arts Festival

The 7th Annual African Arts Festival celebrates the glorious diversity and extraordinary creativity of the continent’s peoples.

SEPTEMBER

Featured
Yerba Buena Movie Night
Sep 5
Yerba Buena Movie Night

Movie Night returns to Yerba Buena Gardens! Enjoy San Francisco summer in September, and cozy up with family and friends on a cinematic journey.

OCTOBER

Featured
Litquake Out Loud + Book Fair
Oct 4
Litquake Out Loud + Book Fair

In a city built on tall tales, hard-boiled prose, revelatory memoirs, and penetrating reportage, Litquake is the soul of San Francisco’s cultural life.

Quinteto Latino
Oct 8
Quinteto Latino

A wind quintet with an imperative mission, Quinteto Latino is a singular Bay Area-based chamber ensemble devoted to breaking down the racial and social barriers that have long plagued the classical music world.

Follow the Music
Oct 10
Follow the Music

Since launching in 2023 Follow the Music has been at the forefront of a rising movement promoting arts education around the Bay Area.

YBG Dance Day
Oct 11
YBG Dance Day

A party, a workout, a meditation and a communal celebration, Yerba Buena Gardens Dance Day is a portal to a joyous dance-filled world! Presented by YBG Festival and Rhythm & Motion, YBG Dance Day transforms the Gardens into an outdoor dance heaven where participants can sample dance in a variety of forms and flavors with some of the Bay Area’s most talented teachers.

San Francisco Indigenous Peoples Day
Oct 12
San Francisco Indigenous Peoples Day

Join us in celebration of San Francisco Indigenous Peoples Day with a magnificent profusion of Native American art, music and vendors. 

Richard Howell's John Coltrane Tribute
Oct 15
Richard Howell's John Coltrane Tribute

The 100th anniversary of John Coltrane’s birthday has inspired dozens of performances across the Bay Area this year, but no artist is better equipped to evoke the legacy of the saxophone titan and spiritual seeker than Richard Howell.

Joe Bataan
Oct 17
Joe Bataan

Festival favorite Joe Bataan, a Latin music legend since the mid-1960s, returns to the Gardens for his third performance in the past four years.

Afro-Filipino Jazz Project
Oct 24
Afro-Filipino Jazz Project

Few artists have appeared at the Festival more frequently than flutist, percussionist and arranger John Calloway.

Halloween Hoopla
Oct 31
Halloween Hoopla

The 25th annual Halloween Hoopla is back with family-friendly frights and delights for kids under 10 and their adults!