San Francisco International Arts Festival Presents Live Open Air Performances

San Francisco International Arts Festival (SFIAF) is pleased to announce that, in tandem with the COVID-19 re-opening plans of the City & County of San Francisco, the organization will present a weekend of discrete outdoor concerts featuring performances by local artists.

The weekend will include solo theatre performances by Nkechi (Licensed to Drive While Black) and David Kleinberg (He Wants to Run), music concerts by Manos Lindas, Mission Hot House, Lisa Graciano and Sumi Lee with Heyni Soleri. There will be classical dance by Marika Brussel & Dancers and Peninsular Ballet Theater, with the classical Indian variety represented by Abhinaya Dance Company of San Jose and Samudra Dance Creations. Site-specific contemporary dance presentations by Jessica Fudim, Steamroller Dance Company, Joe Landini and Bhumi Patel, with performance art by Sha Sha Higby (Clouds of Fish) and art installations by Na Omi Judy Shintani. Additional artists to be announced soon.

SFIAF has been a leading industry voice in advocating for the safe reopening of outdoor performing arts as part of San Francisco's recovery plans. One of the primary objects in staging these events is to demonstrate how performing arts organizations can open to the public out-of-doors and operate safely. The operation will focus on COVID-19 health and safety protocols for audiences, artists and other workers.

Audience management will be polite but specific. Face coverings will be mandatory, physical distancing regulations observed and sanitizer will be on-hand (no pun intended). Most importantly, a robust box-office operation will ensure that every single attendee can be instantly contact traced.

Festival Director, Andrew Wood said of the event, "First and foremost I want to thank the artists who are gracing us with their presence. Six months is a long time to be without access to the arts and this feels like a landmark moment in the Bay Area's recovery. I also want to thank the San Francisco Dept. of Public Health and all the other city agencies who have managed the corona-virus and protected the City while the pandemic raged in other parts of the country. We really appreciate their positive energy in guiding us to this safe reopening place. It is important that we stage this event now as a working prototype. We need to test our operations and procedures on a small and intimate scale that can be easily and safely managed. Health Departments throughout the State need to develop comprehensive health and safety guidelines for the performing arts industry as we come to terms with the fact that more of our events than usual are going to take place out-of-doors in the coming 12 months. Our goal is to provide the City with a tangible practical example on which to base these guidelines before the rainy season. There will be very few outdoor concerts during the winter months. But there is expected to be a rush of applications for outdoor performing arts permits in the Spring of 2021. If there isn't a practical example to work from, Health Departments will be creating their guidelines in a vacuum."

In speaking to the City & County of San Francisco's INTENTIONS to include the performing arts as a major part of its recovery plans, President of the Entertainment Commission, Ben Bleiman said, "Arts and entertainment will be the main driver of San Francisco's economic and cultural recovery, not just a part of it."

Joaquín Torres, Director of the Office of Economic and Workforce Development concurred, "The recovery of our arts and entertainment sectors are critical to both our economy and our City's cultural fabric."

The performances will take place at scenic locations in Upper Fort Mason (away from the indoor spaces most people associate with the Fort Mason campus).

The first rendition of the schedule will be available and tickets will go on-sale at the Festival website (http://www.sfiaf.org) on Monday October 5. Maps and diagrams of the site layout will be available then as well.

These performances were funded in part by the San Francisco Arts Commission and other individuals and institutions.

San Francisco / Bay Area Awards - Live Stats

Best Musical - Top 3

1. URINETOWN (Ghostlight Theatre Ensemble)

16.9% of votes

2. THE DAY THE SKY TURNED ORANGE (San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Company / Z Space)

8.9% of votes

3. SWEENEY TODD (Cabrillo Stage)

8.7% of votes

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