December 2, 2024
For immediate release

Contact:
Andrew Wood: 415-399-9554 (o) 415-305-1102 (c) [email protected]
Lucho Ramirez: 415-425-0445 [email protected]

SF International Arts Festival
Announces 2025 Festival Program

Over 50 Artist Ensembles Gather
In the Mission District to Present
100 Concerts in Diverse Venues

Calendar Editors Please Note
Who: Multiple Artists
What:
San Francisco International Arts Festival
Where: Multiple Venues in the Mission District
Dates: April 30 - May 11, 2025.
Tickets: FREE - $40.
Early Bird Tickets On-Sale February 1, 2025
Box Office and Information: https://www.sfiaf.org or 415-399-9554

Photos Available on Request

December 2, 2024 San Francisco: San Francisco International Arts Festival (SFIAF) is pleased to announce its 22nd annual Festival program that will take place in nearly 20 venues in the City's Mission District from Wednesday April 30 through Sunday May 11. In addition to the 100 concerts and performances, the multidisciplinary event will feature numerous educational and outreach activities where artists directly interact with members of the public.

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.

This year the Festival is using the theme to highlight San Francisco's reputation as a civil and human rights leader. It balances providing equitable access and services to the City's residents through collaborations such as one with San Francisco Planning Department's Cultural Corridors program and its work with the local merchant associations to attract visitors and cultural tourists.

The expansion comes as the organization continues to learn to embrace the multiple rhythms and dynamics of the neighborhood since its return in 2023. In addition to the slow rebuilding of international artist participation in the Festival following the COVID-19 Pandemic, the most striking feature this year is the outreach to local businesses, several of whom have become presenting partners and non-traditional venues.

As well as non-profit theatres ad concert halls such as The Marsh, Community Music Center, Dance Mission Theater, Red Poppy Art House, the Chan National Queer Arts Center, Tradicion Peruana Cultural Center and Theater of Yugen whom SFIAF continues to build relations with, this year's Festival will also feature performances at Abanico Coffee Roasters, Arcana SF, Asiento, Barbara Berkeley Studio, Bissap Baobab, El Rio, Finger Snaps DJ Studio and the HQ of Monkey Brains, the local internet service provider.

SFIAF Director, Andrew Wood said of the expansion into non-traditional venues, "The City of San Francisco is looking to the arts to help with economic revitalization following the pandemic. Much of the onus on Grants for the Arts funding is for creating an economic impact. We are taking the issue seriously. As well as prioritizing excellence and diverse voices in the arts, we are also looking for innovative ways to cross-promote and attract new audiences by presenting artistic work in different experimental environments that have a different clientelle. Working with for-profit businesses is something we tested informally last year. This allowed us to develop parameters for their participation this year."

The parameters can be seen at THIS LINK.

Mission Merchants Association President Ryen Motzek expressed full support for the Festival’s partnership with local small businesses as venues, stating, “This concept is one we wholeheartedly endorse. Building connections between artists and local businesses not only revitalizes the neighborhood but also fosters cross-pollination between the Festival’s audience and the merchants’ customer base.”

The opening night of the Festival, on Wednesday April 30, will feature Shaun Blaney performing in the US Premiere of In the Name of the Son (2021), a play based on the remarkable life of Gerry Conlon, an Irishman framed by the English police who served 15 years in prison for a crime he did not commit. The script was written and developed by Conlon's lifelong friend Richard O’Rawe and Martin Lynch of Belfast's Green Shoot Productions in the years following Conlon's death in 2014.

Other confirmed international artists include Agathe & Adrien (Canada), Duane Forrest (Canada), Ayane Nakagawa (Japan) and Ben Noble / Fairly Lucid Productions (Australia). Others are still in process.

One local production that epitomizes the Festival's interest in non-traditional venues is the premiere of a new work being developed by choreographer, Eric Kupers of Dandelion Dance Theater for the Wandering Ensemble. Titled, Lost & Found, it is an immersive performance piece telling the stories of LGBTQ+ elders, leaders and cultural icons that will take place throughout El Rio.

Next year will also see the return of visual arts programming to the Festival for the first time since 2016. Painter, poet and urban planner, Fernando Marti will show a series of works developed with the theme, Diasporic Art in Times of War and Xenophobia. The Precita Eyes Gallery will exhibit the framed works of muralists, Francisco Franco and George Crampton.

The confirmed line up of artists to date is as follows (A-Z): Abhinaya Dance Company, Agathe & Adrien, Alaturca Connection, Alive & Well Productions, Anneli Kanninen, Ayane Nakagawa/Suichu-Megane, Ben Noble/Fairly Lucid Productions, Chris Carlsson / Shaping San Francisco, Christian Jimenez, Conspiracy of Venus, Dee Spencer with Jason Brock, Duane Forrest, E. Franklin, Ensemble for These Times, Erik Walker, Fernando Marti, Francis Wong, Francisco Franco, Gamelan Sari Raras, Grotowski Institute, Helen Hicks Works, Insynckathak, JazzFrancisco, Jenna Valez / Pulp, Karma Roulette Quartet, Loco Bloco, Melody of China, MOTION (David Worm, Destani Wolf, Tammi Brown and Bryan Dyer), Neblinas del Pacifico with Eryen Ortiz, Pablo Quintero, Pulp, Prasant Radhakrishnan, Precita Eyes Mural Project, Robert Kennedy Acoustic Trio, Robert Lopez Ensemble, Samudra Dance Creations, ShaSha Higby, Shaun Blaney / Green Shoot Productions, Sumi Lee Collective, Sweta Ravasankar, Tabla Jazz, The Wandering Ensemble, Theatre Flamenco of San Francisco, Tide & Foam, Tiny Garcia / Poor Magazine, Us in the US, Valerie Troutt Ensemble, Vida Kuang and Women in Jazz & World Music.

Funding Credits: San Francisco International Arts Festival is made possible in part by (among others) the support of the National Endowment for the Arts, Creative West (formerly WESTAF), California Arts Council, San Francisco Grants for the Arts, Further Foundation, Canada Council for the Arts, Conseil des Artistes Quebecois, Tokyo Arts Council, Arts Council Northern Ireland and generous individual donors.

Calendar Editors Please Note
Who: Multiple Artists
What: San Francisco International Arts Festival
Where: Multiple Venues in the Mission District
Dates: April 30 - May 11, 2025.
Tickets: FREE - $40
Box Office and Information: https://www.sfiaf.org or 415-399-9554

Photos Available on Request

~XXX~


San Francisco International Arts Festival
Phone Number: 415-399-9554 | Email: [email protected]
1471 Guerrero Street, #3 San Francisco, CA 94110

 

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