San Francisco is home to a breathtaking diversity of cultural events. Between our fair city’s world-class museums, restaurants, bars, art galleries, music scene, festivals, and clubs, between all that is weird and quirky and purely San Franciscan, there’s something going down, somewhere, every single day of the year. Check out our Flavorpill social discovery engine, where you can create and share events with friends, and follow our carefully curated editors’ picks. Below, you’ll find Flavorpill’s top picks for this week — just a little bit of help as you set out into this beautiful wide world of SF’s happenings.
Monday, August 5
PERFORMING ARTS: Quiet Lightning: The Greenhouse Effect Unlike other submission-based literary events, Quiet Lightning’s curation process is blind with regard to who the author of a submission may be, thereby culling out any celebratory or otherwise founded hype from the experience of listening to literature. This is a without-banter, without-preamble reading, quiet lightning-like. Tonight, Quiet Lightning returns to arguably one of the most beautiful locations in the city, the Conservatory of Flowers, for an evening aptly titled “The Greenhouse Effect.” Come to watch and listen, or participate either with a submission of your own or as curator of the night’s readings. — Bonnie Chan
Tuesday, August 6
PARTY: National Night Out Today’s National Night Out, or “America’s Night Out Against Crime,” marks the 30th anniversary of the community-based effort to reduce neighborhood crime by organizing get-to-know-each-other block parties and cookouts. Now involving more than 15,000 communities across the country, this day is all about introducing yourself to your neighbors and asking for the proverbial cup of sugar. Just look for the event happening near you, or organize one yourself, and leave your lights on. Set the evening aglow with neighborly love. — Bonnie Chan
Wednesday, August 7
TV: Rebecca Eaton: Inside Downton Abbey and Masterpiece Rebecca Eaton is the executive producer behind Downton Abbey and PBS’ Masterpiece series. It’s been 30 years now that Eaton has been phenomenally successful at introducing American audiences to British period dramas — so much so that, in 2011, Queen Elizabeth II honored the American-born Eaton with an honorary Order of the British Empire, the same year Eaton was also named one of TIME magazine’s “100 Most Influential People in the World.” Get a rare chance tonight to hear Eaton talk about her work as she engages in conversation with Dr. Mary Bitterman, Chair of the PBS Foundation. — Bonnie Chan
Thursday, August 8
PARTY: Outside Lands NightLife This week’s Thursday-night party for grownups at the California Academy of Sciences is themed “Outside Lands” in honor of the world-class music festival that kicks off tomorrow at Golden Gate Park. The Growlers, Houndmouth, and DJ Andy Cabic of Vetiver take the stage tonight to provide the musical backdrop to an evening of specialty cocktails, Berlin-style ping pong, a four-story rainforest, and more. — Bonnie Chan
Friday, August 9
FESTIVAL: Outside Lands 2013 On old maps of San Francisco, the ground that Golden Gate Park was built upon was called the Outside Lands because the desolate sand dunes were outside of SF city limits and jurisdiction until 1866. When Another Planet Entertainment was looking for a name for its inaugural music festival in Golden Gate Park in 2008, the company discovered the term via Woody LaBounty and his project to preserve the history of SF’s western neighborhoods. That first Outside Lands Music Festival, in 2008, boasted Radiohead and Tom Petty as headliners. Subsequent years’ lineups have included acts ranging from Pearl Jam to Arcade Fire to Erykah Badu, quickly making Outside Lands one of the most sought-after, fastest-selling festivals around. At this year’s Outside Lands, expect more than 100,000 revelers to descend on the park as Sir Paul McCartney headlines another astounding lineup. And don’t forget to sample some local wine and take an urban gardening workshop while you’re at it. — Christina Richards
Saturday, August 10
ART: Origami-Palooza Observe! Contemplate! Participate! Whether you have an eye for the aesthetically pleasing, the drive to learn more about the elegant Japanese art of paper-folding, or a sordid background involving paper airplanes hurled at your teacher’s back, the inaugural Origami-Palooza is for you. Tour a splendid array of breathtaking art, all composed of folded paper. Learn from a wide assortment of training stations ranging from basic to advanced origami techniques. Submit your own work to the Origami or Paper Airplane challenge for a chance to win prizes and fame. You can’t lose. — Joshua Wyatt
Sunday, August 11
FESTIVAL: A Fair to Remember Nestled into the mural-filled alleyway between two landmarks of the Beat movement (the alley itself was renamed Jack Kerouac Alley in 2007 to honor the freewheeling writer who first coined the term “Beat Generation”), A Fair to Remember has a bit of the boho flair that’s fitting to its location — a punny name, handmade crafts, handmade banners, and a crowd of shoppers who appreciate local products that are mixed, hammered, printed, sewn, or selected by hand. Our suggestion: Stroll through the fair with a fresh-baked roll in hand, then pop next door to browse the shelves of City Lights or to grab a drink at Vesuvio — a perfect agenda for a late summer afternoon in the city. — Bonnie Chan
Ongoing
ART: Be Bad… Do Good: Activism with a Beat REAL BAD is a consistently sold-out fundraising dance party following the Folsom Street Fair, climax of San Francisco Leather Week. Over the last 25 years, REAL BAD has raised over $1.7 million dollars, including $200,000 last year alone, to support civil rights and public health projects in the LGBT community. Be Bad… Do Good: Activism with a Beat commemorates the phenomenal 25-year run of REAL BAD with a wide array of art installments spanning all the way back to REAL BAD’s first go in 1988. Come check out posters, photos, ephemera, a custom-made video for the event, and a wall-sized info-graphic tracing the impact of REAL BAD’s one-of-a-kind fundraising campaign. — Bonnie Chan