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Sept.
2002 : Welcome
September, San Francisco’s best weather month, with its full
plate of Indian Summer indulgences:
• Legend-in-making and four-time defending Tour de France champ
Lance Armstrong leads a field of top international cyclists in the
San Francisco Grand Prix, a 109-mile power loop around the
city. Starting from the Embarcadero, racers charge up Broadway,
traverse North Beach and the Marina before hitting the notorious
Fillmore Wall. Arrive early to secure prime vantage points. Race
starts 9am sharp. Embarcadero,
North Beach, Marina, Cow Hollow 9/15; (866) 429-2546
• Pitch in to help tidy California’s beaches and coastline,
and discover its rich marine environment during California Coastal
Cleanup Day, the “world’s largest garbage collection”,
says Guinness. Statewide, 9/21; 800-COAST4U
• Slap on the kinky hotpants and join the 300,000-strong thong,
err, throng at the Folsom Street Fair, San Francisco’s
legendary leather festival / street bacchanal. Anything goes at
this bawdy parade and fetish fashion show, with all proceeds benefiting
charities including the Harvey Milk Institute and the Tenderloin
Aids Resource Center. Folsom Street between 7th and 12th Streets,
9/29; 415-861-3247
• Pick your festival: Samba by the Bandshell during Brazil
in the Park, a celebration of Brazilian independence and free-spiritedness.
Golden Gate Park, 9/7; 415-334-0106
• Chocoholics unite for truffles, gelato, banana chocolate
crepes, chocolate Grand Marnier cheesecake, pastry chef demonstrations,
chocolate art, and an ice-cream sundae eating contest at the Ghirardelli
Square Chocolate Festival. Ghirardelli Square, 9/7-8; 415-775-5500
• Twenty-plus local artists exhibit sculpture, photography,
jewelry and more for Art in the Alley, an ode to North Beach
bohemianism held the aptly named Jack Kerouac Alley, between Vesuvio
and City Lights Bookstore. 9/8, 415-362-3370
• Documentaries of note at the Red Vic Movie House:
A reedited and remastered Blue Wild Angel, which captures Jimi Hendrix
live at his Isle of Wight zenith in 1970: 18 songs, 18 days before
his death at age 27. 9/19-24. Local filmmaker Kevin Epps chronicles
the grit and hardship of his home neighborhood in Straight Outta
Hunter’s Point, a vivid portrait of San Francisco’s neglected
East Side, with its turf wars, toxic legacy, hip-hop hopefuls, and
persevering community. Mr. Epps will answer questions at evening
screenings. 1727 Haight St., 9/25-28; 415-668-3994
• Live music aplenty: Wilco plays in support of its
genre-busting Yankee Hotel Foxtrot at the Warfield, while Karl
Denson’s Tiny Universe shakes the Fillmore across town.
Both shows 9/6-7; for tickets 415-421-8497
•Grammy nominees stack the lineup for RadioAlice’s
Now and Zen Festival: Aimee Mann, the Wallflowers, India.Aire,
and headliners Train. Sharon Meadow in Golden Gate Park, 9/22; for
tickets 415-421-TIXS
• The San Francisco Blues Festival celebrates its 30th
anniversary with a full lineup - Robert Cray, Otis Rush, Big Time
Sarah, Steve Miller’s Chicago Blues Reunion - and prime Golden
Gate views from its setting, the Great Meadow at Fort Mason. 9/20-21;
for tickets 415-421-TIXS
• Naturalist-led excursions depart from lower Fort Mason on
Farallon Islands Nature Cruises with the Oceanic Society.
Head under the Golden Gate Bridge 20 miles out to the Farallon Islands
National Wildlife Refuge, the largest seabird rookery in the eastern
Pacific south of Alaska. Building E Fort Mason, Fri-Sun in September;
415-474-3385
• Baseball fans can catch a Barry Bonds blast and the thrill
of the playoff chase downtown at Pacific Bell Park as the San
Francisco Giants storm into the home stretch with games against
divisional rivals Arizona, San Diego, and archrival Los Angeles.
Pacific Bell Park, Fourth and Townsend, September; for tickets 415-421-TIXS
• Finally, in conjunction with museums nationwide, San Francisco’s
Museum of Modern Art (SFMoMa) will open its doors free of charge
on Sept. 11 to anyone seeking solace, inspiration, or simply a quiet
place for reflection. 151 Third St., 9/11; 415-474-3385
– Jay Cooke is a San Francisco-based travel, food, and culture
writer
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