December 1, 2023
For immediate release

Contact:
Andrew Wood 415-399-9554 (o) 415-305-1102 (c) [email protected]

SF International Arts Festival
Returns to May (only earlier!) &
Embraces the Mission with an
Expanded Program in Multiple Venues

Calendar Editors Please Note
Who: Multiple Artists
What: 2024 San Francisco International Arts Festival
Where: Multiple Venues in San Francisco's Mission District
Date & Time: May 1 - 12, 2024
Tickets: $20 - $30 general admission. Early Bird Tickets On-Sale February 14, 2024
Box Office and Information: https://www.sfiaf.org or 415-399-9554.

Photos & Specific Artist Dates / Details Available on Request

December 1, 2023 San Francisco: Exactly six months prior to opening night on Wednesday May 1, San Francisco International Arts Festival (SFIAF) is excited to announce the program for the 2024 Festival. Following a highly successful return to the Mission district in June 2023, this year SFIAF:

Welcomes international touring artists back to the lineup following the pandemic;
Builds the program by initiating new partnerships with multiple venues including visual arts organizations;
Moves to the beginning of May before finals begin at the Bay Area's institutes of higher learning.

2024 marks the next stage in an exciting development as SFIAF continues to fully explore and embrace the neighborhood after returning from the Fort Mason Center.

Festival director, Andrew Wood commented, "When we moved back into the Mission it dawned on us what the potential was for a condensed festival program presented here. We are very grateful to Fort Mason because while we partnered with them we learned to manage multiple venues and refine our operations. But artists are attracted by the diversity and creative energy that exists in the Mission community. They identify with the neighborhood and feel it is important to present their work for the people that live in the district. Plus with two BART stations directly connected to both the East Bay and the Peninsular and a confluence of bus lines, it is much easier for other audiences to get here as well. There are also many organizations and venues we can work with to create a shared and collaborative curatorial process that matches them with Festival artists. We are taking an informal approach to this in 2024 -- just to see how things work. Then, in 2025, from the lessons learned this year, we will expand the program further and take a more comprehensive approach."

For more on the move to the Mission see the interview with Andrew Gilbert of Mission Local HERE.

The Festival will take place in at least a dozen Mission based venues in 2024. They range in type, size and atmosphere and include: Accion Latina, Bissap Baobab, Community Music Center, Dance Mission Theater, El Rio, Horace Mann Middle School, La Casa de los Sentidos, Medicine for Nightmares, Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts, Red Poppy Art House, Studio 210, Syzygy, site-specific venues and the great 94110 outdoors!

The Festival's theme continues to be IN DIASPORA: I.D. for the New Majority. I.D. asks artists to contemplate the changing demographics of the United States of America and / or apply the ideas of social justice to reflect on the conditions of minority, migrant, disenfranchised and/or displaced peoples in other countries and continents.

The list of artists for 2024 to date (A - Z) is as follows: Abdul Kenyatta, Accion Latina (First Exposure), Agua Pura, Alma Esperanza Cunningham Movement, Amelia Romano Trio, Ancient Future, Anupama Srivastava and the InSyncKathak Dancers, Aura Fischbeck Dance, Bryan Dyer (The Flex Duo), CALI & CO, Chris Carlsson (Shaping San Francisco), Clyde Leland and Sharif Zakout (Jewish Voice for Peace), Crescent Moon Theatre Productions, Dee Spencer & Michelle Jacques (Women in Jazz & World Music), Derwin Deon Brown, Edgardo & Candela, Eth-Noh-Tec, Gender Wayang, Greek Chamber Music Project, Joe Landini, Joel Cahen, John Calloway, Karla Brundage (From West Oakland to West Africa), Kassandra Productions, Kismet Art Ensemble, Kimi Sugioka (The Last Supper Party), La Zuli, Left Coast Chamber Ensemble, Ling Tuo (New Art Collaboration), Megan Nicely / Dance with Shoshana Green, Melody of China, Moe Staiano Ensemble, Music In-Takht, Mykalle Bielinski, Navaye Azadi, Neblinas del Pacifico, Ogura Dance, Pandan Leaf Collective, Pat Kinevane (Fishamble Theatre), Precita Eyes Mural Project, Purnamasari, Rachel Garlin, Rebeca Flores, Rhodessa Jones and The Medea Project, Rosemary Hannon, Sarada Kala Nilayam, Sean Tergis (Balkan Sundays), Sha Sha Higby, Shawna Virago, Sumi Lee Collective, The Funky Heroes, Theatre Flamenco de San Francisco, Tom Yang and VidyA. For details, dates and / or interviews with individual artists, please contact [email protected] or call 415-399-9554.

Additional artists will be announced as more program details are solidified.

SFIAF also presents its monthly spoken word and music series, The Last Supper Party curated by Kimi Sugioka at Medicine for Nightmares on 24th Street and its free vocal training course for 15 - 18 year olds, Women in Jazz & World Music with Professor Dee Spencer and Michelle Jacques will be at the Community Music Center on Capp Street in April.

SFIAF 2024 is made possible in part by the support of Bernard Osher Foundation, California Arts Council, California Office of the Small Business Advocate, California Venues Grant, New Place Fund, the Western Arts Federation (WESTAF) and many generous individuals.

~XXX~

SF International Arts FestivalReturns to May (only earlier!) &Embraces the Mission with anExpanded Program in Multiple Venues

SF International Arts Festival
Returns to May (only earlier!) &
Embraces the Mission with an
Expanded Program in Multiple Venues