February 25, 2026
For immediate release
Contact:
Andrew Wood: 415-399-9554 (o) 415-305-1102 (c) [email protected]
Lucho Ramirez: 415-425-0445 [email protected]
Alyssa Morales: 916-838-4236 [email protected]
SF Intl. Festival to Feature 15 Africa & Diaspora Artists from the USA and Around the World
Performers from Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Ivory Coast and Nigeria
Calendar Editors Please Note
Who: Multiple artists
What: San Francisco International Arts Festival
Where: Multiple venues in the Mission District
Dates: April 29 - May 10, 2026.
Tickets: FREE - $60. Festival Passes: $40-$280
Box Office and Information: https://www.sfiaf.org or 415-399-9554.
Photos Available on Request
February 25, 2026, San Francisco: San Francisco International Arts Festival (SFIAF) is proud to present 15 individual artists and ensembles from Africa and the Diaspora including Colombia, Canada, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Brazil, and the United States as part of the 2026 Festival program.
The first week of the festival will include Ireland based, Nigerian-born contemporary choreographer Mufutau Yusuf with the California Premiere of an evening-length modern dance duet titled Impasse. Displaying an attempt to understand the politics of the Black body in a contemporary Western society.
Impasses is presented in partnership with Black Choreographers Festival and Irish Culture Bay Area.
Ivory Coast choreographer Kôdrô Aoussou Evry will travel from her base in Germany to collaborate on Ici N'Est Pas La Paroisse (This Is Not The Parish) with Byb Chanel Bibene of Oakland-based Kiandanda Dance Theater. Their performance displays personal research into the artists' African identity, their roots, spiritual values, and divine creators.
Marimba maestro Eryen Korath Ortiz from Colombia continues her collaboration with Mission based, Neblinas del Pacifico.
Brazilian singer-composer Bia Ferreira celebrates Mother's Day with her solo concert, The Lesbitarian Church. Her one-woman show uses her voice to address social issues and insight "movement".
SFIAF welcomes back Jamaican-Canadian artist Duane Forrest from Toronto with last year's festival hit Bob Marley: How Reggae Changed the World, following the show's extended run off-Broadway in New York. Forrest will also showcase Tree of Dreams, an intimate cinematic experience inspired by The Little Prince & The Alchemist.
A strong group of diverse Bay Area artists are also featured, including in the realm of music, John Calloway's continued explorations into Afro-Filipino culture, Doug Ellington (descendant of Duke) performing original and classic jazz, singer-songwriters Rhonda Sauce and Ariel B. both giving solo concerts at Fingersnaps Media Studio (run by KPOO's Lamont Bransford Young) and Bobby McFerrin's improvisational a capella group MOTION.
Theatrical offerings include Cat Brooks starring in Lay My Burden Down by Strange Angels Theater, Algiin Ford's story of overcoming addiction in Silent Assassin, Austin Antoine's freestyle and Free Association spoken word improvisations and an evening of Black trans revelations in The First Time I Saw Me by the Underground Rainbow Experiment.
Funding Credits: San Francisco International Arts Festival is made possible in part by the support of Americans for the Arts, Creative West (formerly WESTAF with funds from the National Endowment for the Arts), California Arts Council, San Francisco Grants for the Arts, Sam Mazza Foundation, Culture Ireland, Conseil des Artistes Quebecois and generous individual donors.
CALENDAR LISTINGS
DANCE & CIRQUE
Mufutau Yusuf (Ireland, Nigeria, Belgium)
Impasse (2024 - West Coast Premiere)
Thu Apr 30, 8:30pm; Sat May 2, 4:30pm
60 mins (w/out intermission). Tix: Gen Adm: Early Bird: $20, Advance $25, Door $30
Dance Mission Theater, 3316 Mission St, SF CA 94110
A powerful, driving, and charged duet that seeks to understand the politics of the Black body in a contemporary western society. Through striking imagery, raw physicality and emotional intensity the performance challenges the historical racial projections of blackness – its crudeness, threat, sexuality, rage and immorality – unveiling its power, grace, sensuality, tenderness, intelligence and love.
Kôdrô Aoussou Evry & Byb Chanel Bibene (Ivory Coast, Republic of the Congo, USA)
Ici N'Est Pas La Paroisse (This Is Not The Parish) (2026, World Premiere)
Sat May 2, 6:30pm; May 3, 2:30pm
75 mins w/out intermission. Tix: Gen Adm: Early Bird: $20, Advance $25, Door $30.
Theatre of Yugen, 2840 Mariposa St, SF, CA, 94110
A personal research into the artists' African identity, their roots, spiritual values, and their divine creators. As part of the process they underwent "initiatic" practices and posed several questions. Who are they really? What are their existential relationships with others, their deities, and themselves? The research informs the ways their bodies move in space(s).
MUSIC
Bia Ferreira (Brazil)
The Lesbitarian Church
Sunday May 10, 6:30pm
90 mins w/out intermission. Tix: Gen Adm: Early Bird: $20, Advance $25, Door $30.
Z Space, 450 Florida St, SF, CA, 94110
Bia Ferreira is a Brazilian singer and artivist who creates "MMP," or Black Woman Music. Her lyrics, described as "writexperience," address feminism, anti-racism, and homophobia. Ferreira aims for her music to create "discomfort" to generate social "movement" while crafting pleasant songs to convey her message effectively. She remains a powerful voice.
John Calloway (USA)
The Afro Filipino Project: New Voices (2026, Work-in-Progress)
Fri May 1, 7:30pm
90 mins w/out intermission. Tix: Gen Adm: Early Bird: $20, Advance $25, Door $30.
Monkeybrains, 933 Treat Ave, SF, CA 94110
Led by artistic director John Calloway’s continued research into Afro Filipino heritage, the concert highlights four Afro Filipinx artists—Ting Alvarez, Umali Horne, Jasmine Miller, and Jojo Thompson—exploring their dual identity through creative work. The ensemble will also perform music that honors the legacy of past Afro Filipinx artists.
MOTION (USA)
Circlesinging (2026, World Premiere)
Sat May 2, 4:30pm
90 mins w/out intermission. Tix: Gen Adm: Early Bird: $20, Advance $25, Door $30.
Community Music Center, 544 Capp St, SF, CA 94110
More than a concert, a MOTION show is an interactive and improvisational a cappella experience. From beatboxing to layered harmonies, the performers build music in real time—inviting the audience to experience and influence how the concert evolves. No two performances are ever the same.
JL Stiles and Doug Ellington (USA)
In Concert (2026, Bay Area Premiere)
Sat May 2, 5:30pm
100 mins with intermission. Tix: Gen Adm: Early Bird: $20, Advance $25, Door $30.Fingersnaps Media Arts, 3527 20th St, SF, CA 94110
Two longtime compadres in music—artists who have toured together and played for years in this format—will present original songs and some early jazz, featuring the fingerstyle ragtime guitar and voice of Stiles and the magical trumpeting of Ellington (a descendent of Duke!) along with some sweet harmonies.
Ariel B. (USA)
Vocal Melodies with Piano
Thu May 7, 8:00pm.
60 mins w/out intermission. Tix: Gen Adm: Early Bird: $20, Advance $25, Door $30.
Fingersnaps Media Arts, 3527 20th St, SF, CA 94110
Singer-Songwriter Ariel B, accompanied by Lamar Green on keyboards, presents an evening of original compositions including her new EP Unwrapped as well as some beloved jazz classics.
Rhonda Sauce (USA)
This Must Be The Place (2026, World Premiere)
Sat May 9, 8:00pm
60 mins w/out intermission. Tix: Gen Adm: Early Bird: $20, Advance $25, Door $30.
Fingersnaps Media Arts, 3527 20th St, SF, CA 94110
Rhonda Sauce presents a one-night performance of unreleased original songs, heard publicly for the first time. Stripped to voice and guitar, her work moves across genres, highlighting lyrical mastery and offering listeners a rare chance to witness songs in their first life.
Neblinas del Pacifico with Eryen Korath (USA and Colombia)
Rivers of Resistance (2026, Work-in-Progress)
Sat May 9, 8:30pm
90 mins w/out intermission. Tix: Gen Adm: Early Bird: $20, Advance $25, Door $30.
Community Music Center, 544 Capp St, SF, CA 94110
Together, Eryen Korath and Neblinas del Pacífico weaves a sonic tapestry of marimba de chonta music from the Afro-Colombian Pacific coast: music of rivers and mangroves, of percussive polyrhythms and multi-part harmonies, of spirituality and everyday life, of ancestors and tradition, of celebration and resistance.
PERFORMANCE ART
Underground Rainbow Experiment (USA)
The First Time I Saw Me: Underground Rainbow Experiment Emerging Artist Showcase
Fri May 9, 7:00pm. Tix: Gen Adm: Early Bird: $20, Advance $25, Door $30.
120 mins w/out intermission.
Fingersnaps Media Arts, 3527 20th St, SF, CA 94110
A showcase gathering Black Trans and Gender Nonconforming artists presenting music, movement, poetry, and visual storytelling. Performances reflects the moment of recognition—when survival softens into self-knowing and art becomes a mirror. The audience is invited to witness transformation, honor resilience and celebrate the beauty of Black Trans creativity unfolding in real time.
Austin Antoine (USA)
Free Association (A Freestyle Collective) (2019)
Fri May 8, 8:30pm; Sun May 10, 7:00pm
60 mins w/out intermission. Tix: Gen Adm: Early Bird: $20, Advance $25, Door $30.
Monkeybrains, 933 Treat Ave, SF, CA 94110
Antoine’s crew merge hip hop, improvisation, and comedy into a high-energy performance shaped entirely by the audience, whose ideas fuel scenes, and stories by skilled performers flipping suggestions into music and laughter. Blending the spontaneous charm of “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” and “Freestyle Love Supreme” to guarantee a new adventure every night.
THEATRE
Duane Forrest (Canada)
Bob Marley: How Reggae Changed the World (2024)
Thu Apr 30, 7:00pm; Sat May 2, 3:00pm
70 mins w/out intermission. Tix: Gen Adm: Early Bird: $20, Advance $25, Door $30.
Monkeybrains, 933 Treat Ave, SF, CA 94110
From Off Broadway to a sell-out Edinburgh Fringe, Duane Forrest takes audiences on an uplifting, deeply human journey through the music and legacy of Bob Marley. Blending soulful renditions of Marley’s classics with heartfelt stories of identity, ancestry and rediscovery, Forrest explores how reggae became a rhythm of unity, resistance and healing.
Duane Forrest (Canada)
Tree of Dreams (2026, Work-in-Progress)
Fri May 1, 7:30pm; Sun May 3, 6:30pm
60 mins (w/out intermission) Tix: Gen Adm: Early Bird: $20, Advance $25, Door $30.
Theatre of Yugen, 2840 Mariposa St, SF, CA, 94110
An intimate, cinematic theatre experience blending live music, object storytelling, shadow play, and projection. Inspired by The Little Prince & The Alchemist, the show follows a boy growing up in government housing who has forgotten how to dream — but the universe conspires to help him remember.
Strange Angels Theater (USA)
Lay My Burden Down (2026, World Premiere)
Fri May 8, 6:00pm, Sat-Sun May 9-10, 3:30pm
90 mins w/out intermission. Tix: Gen Adm: Early Bird: $20, Advance $25, Door $30.
Ruth's Table, 3160 21st St, SF, CA 94110
A serious play with silly puppets about an interracial lesbian couple navigating the burdens of privilege, trauma, and racism. A dying woman-as-puppet orchestrates a fraught reunion between her biological and spiritual daughters, decades after their explosive breakup. What could possibly go wrong?
Algiin (USA)
The Silent Assassin (My Addictive Mind (2026, Work-in-Progress)
Fri May 8, 7:30pm; Sun May 10, 3:00pm
60 mins w/out intermission. Tix: Gen Adm: Early Bird: $20, Advance $25, Door $30.
Theatre of Yugen/NOH Space, 2840 Mariposa St, SF CA 94110
A powerful solo performance by Algiin Ford exploring identity, resilience, and self-discovery. Through vivid storytelling, humor, and vulnerability, Algiin traces a journey from childhood and incarceration to awakening, guided by transformative teachers, ultimately reclaiming his voice, truth, and self beyond labels and illusion.
Calendar Editors Please Note
Full Calendar HERE
Who: Multiple Artists
What: San Francisco International Arts Festival
Where: Multiple Venues in the Mission District
Dates: April 29 - May 10, 2026.
Tickets: FREE - $60. Five Show Passes: $100
Box Office and Information: https://www.sfiaf.org or 415-399-9554.
~XXX~
