San Francisco Carnaval festival season kicks off with Fat Tuesday celebrations
Tuesday marks the opening of San Francisco's Carnaval festival season, a string of events that ends with a parade on Memorial Day weekend.
The kickoff begins with Mardi Gras, also known as Fat Tuesday, in the Mission District at 6 p.m. Carnaval's performance dance troupe Esforco will start at Kimbara Ritmo y Sabor and then at Bissap Baobab at 6:30 p.m.
More live free bands, including King Cheo and the Jaguars of Fire, will fill restaurants and other locations throughout the district, including Arcana and Cha Cha Cha and the 24th Street Mission BART station plaza.
March 30 will be a King and Queen dance competition at KQED headquarters, where 16 finalists will perform salsa and rumba to win the crowns and be ambassadors in the big parade in May.
The California Academy of Sciences will host Carnaval on May 16 as one of their Thursday nightlife events ahead of the big event May 25-26. The festival covers 17 city blocks, hosts five performance stages and five block parties, with over 300 vendors and pavilions.
May 26 is the big day, when the Carnaval parade snakes through parts of the street festival. Over 2,000 different artists in 60 different floats and contingencies will shake and pulse along a 1.5-mile route to Latin American and Caribbean rhythms.
Carnaval San Francisco is supported by the city, state and donors, and it is celebrating its 46th year. For more information, go to the Carnaval SF website.