There’s a Virtual Goldmine of Cultural Activities in San Francisco
Everyone knows that the City of San Francisco is a magnet for people seeking cultural experiences and diversions. At the Civic Center there’s music, in SoMa (south of Market Street) there are museums, and in Union Square there’s theater! The culture of acid rock began in the 1960s in San Francisco with The Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane. All these years later, its still going strong across the country. Meanwhile, cultural attractions of all kinds have spread throughout the San Francisco music, dance, art, film, theater and intellectual scenes.
If you ever find yourself with nothing to do in Marin County, in places like as Sausalito, where the Bay Area Discovery Museum is located, you can always go to the City to see your choice of an amazing array of cultural activities.
Music
Music offerings include the San Francisco Symphony, Tel: (415) 864-6000, ww.sfsymphony.org, and the San Francisco Opera, Tel: (415) 864-3330 www.sfopera.com.
Theater
Theater offerings are at the Geary Theater at www.act-sf.org, Tel: (415) 749- 2228; The Curran Theater at www.shnsf.com, Tel: (415) 551-2000; Teatro Zinzanni at www.teatrozinzanni.org, Tel: (415) 438-2668 and 42nd Street Moon at www.42ndstmoon.org, Tel: (415) 255-8207.
For either mainstream or alternative, visit Tix Bay Area, on Powell Street in Union Sq., Tel: (415) 430-1140; or theaterbayarea.org for full and half price tickets for a variety of performances. Another resource for information is the SF Bay Guardian at sfbg.com or the SF Weekly at sfweekly.com and the bi-weekly Bay Area Reporter at ebar.com. All of these newspapers provide listings about each of San Francisco’s cultural activities.
Film
The San Francisco International Film Festival, held April and May, Tel: (415) 561-5000, www.sffs.org. The Clay Theater, Tel: (415) 267-4893, www.landmarktheaters.com and the Castro Theater, Tel: (415) 621-6120 www.thecastrotheater.com are both venues for the festival. The Castro has a Wurlitzer organ and shows independent art and foreign film. The San Francisco Asian American Film Festival, Tel: (415) 863-0814, www.asianamericanmedia.org.
Dance
The San Francisco Ballet is a wonderful ballet company, information is at www.sfballet.org, Tel: (415) 865-2000 and the Ethnic Dance Festival takes place in June, www.worldartswest.org, Tel: (415) 392-4400.
Museums
Museums abound in San Francisco. Some of the major ones are: California Academy of Sciences at www.calacademy.org, (415) 379-8000; San Francisco Museum of Craft and Design at www.sfmcd.org, Tel: (415) 773-0303; the Maritime Museum, Tel: (415) 556-1613; the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, at www.sfmoma.org, (415) 357-4000; The DeYoung (Art) Museum at famsf.org, Tel: (415) 750-3600; The Yerba Buena Center for the Arts at www.ybca.org, Tel: (415) 978-2787; The Contemporary Jewish Museum at www.thecjm.org, Tel: (415) 655-7800; and the Asian Art Museum at www.asianart.org, Tel: (415) 581-3500.
For kids, there’s Zeum, San Francisco’s hands-on, multimedia arts and technology museum for kids. info@zeum.org. Tel: (415) 820-3320. The fascinating Alcatraz Island Night Tour is at www.alcatrazcruises.com, Tel: (415) 981-7625.
Speakers
Places to hear fascinating speakers include City Arts and Lectures at www.cityarts.net, Tel: (415) 563-2463 and the Commonwealth Club of California, www.commonwealthclub.org, Tel: (415) 597-6700.
David DuPont is a principal with The DuPont Group, a residential real estate firm in Marin County, California specializing in Marin County real estate for sale and Sausalito, California real estate. David is a Senior Real Estate Specialist (SRES) and has consulted more than 50 individuals and families in buying and selling real estate in the San Francisco Bay Area.