It is proving to be another banner year — literally and figuratively — for SOMA Pilipinas, San Francisco’s first-ever Filipino cultural district. The designated area, located in the city’s South of Market (SoMa) neighborhood, is meant to revive and preserve the Filipino-American community that has a storied history there.
Read MoreIn its second year and with its final month of the season about to wrap up, Undiscovered SF, a night market in SoMa's Pilipinas cultural heritage district, is making headway to become a permanent fixture in the neighborhood.
Read More“Beat writer Jack Kerouac wrote about the South of Market (SoMa) neighborhood’s reputation as a seedy skid row in his book Lonesome Traveler. But for decades, SoMa has also been the city’s center for Filipino culture.”
Read MoreThe cultural district aims to stabilize and strengthen a neighborhood in flux. But Filipinos in S.F. have seen their community obliterated before.
Read MoreTHE National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) has awarded SOMA Pilipinas, San Francisco’s Filipino Cultural Heritage District a $100,000 “Our Town” arts grant to fund the planning process for the increased visibility of Filipino arts, culture, and design. Through this grant, SOMA Pilipinas hopes to reverse decades of underrepresentation of the Filipino community’s history and culture.
Read MoreThe grant will fund the planning process for the increased visibility of Filipino arts, culture, and design. Through this grant, SOMA Pilipinas hopes to reverse decades of underrepresentation of the Filipino community’s history and culture.
Read MoreThe 2018 season of the lone Filipino Night market in San Francisco is off to an auspicious start, capitalizing on the momentum it built from last year, when thousands of participants trooped to its South of the Market Area (SOMA) venue.
Read MoreA "people’s choir" advocated Tuesday for a ballot measure to save projected hotel tax revenues for arts programs.
Read MoreSome people tend to think of SF’s South of Market neighborhood as a personality-less stretch of the city lined with high-rise condos and sprawling warehouses, plus AT&T Park and SFMOMA. But in reality, behind those tech-fueled skyscrapers, there is a rich cultural heritage.
Read MoreSAN FRANCISCO — For 25 years, the annual Pistahan Parade and Festival has showcased the best of Filipino art, dance, music and food at the Yerba Buena Gardens in the heart of downtown San Francisco.
Read MoreUndiscovered SF, this city’s only and biggest Filipino-inspired night market, returns for its 2018 season on July 21, with more culinary temptations for foodies of all ages.
Read MoreFrom the gorgeous to the hideous to the absolutely inexplicable, we scoured the city by foot and on bikes to document hundreds of alleys, side streets, and lanes.
Read MoreThis year’s edition (the third) of the annual Dialogue in the Diaspora featured a benefit performance, dialogues, a kamayan dinner with performances, and workshops on June 15, 16, and 17 at the Bayanihan Community Center at the heart of SOMA: Pilipinas, the Filipino Cultural Heritage District.
Read MoreDozens of people rallied Wednesday in support of four multi-generational Filipino families facing eviction from their longtime homes at 657-659 Natoma St. in the heart of SOMA Pilipinas, San Francisco’s Filipino Cultural Heritage District.
Read MoreOn the cusp of its 30th anniversary, master filmmaker Wayne Wang’s Eat A Bowl Of Tea continues to charm audiences with humor and soul. Based on the classic Asian American novel, the movie transports the audience to the 1940s and introduces us to a group of charismatic Chinese bachelors in New York City’s Chinatown.
Read MoreIn a big win for San Francisco’s LGBTQ community, the city’s board of supervisors voted unanimously on Tuesday to formally recognize its kink and leather district as a place of historical importance.
The distinction protects an area in the city’s South of Market (SoMa) neighborhood by designating it as the LGBTQ+ and Leather Cultural District. The city’s gentrification crisis has whittled the area—a former hotbed for San Francisco’s infamous gay leather scene—down to just four queer and leather bars in the 30 block-neighborhood.
Read MoreUndiscovered SF, the pop-up night market highlighting Filipino food, art, and music, is back for its second season. The market debuted last year in conjunction with an officially designated Filipino cultural heritage district, SOMA Pilipinas. The first in the series is Saturday, July 21.
Read MoreDesignated cultural districts in San Francisco are becoming increasing popular, as we have seen the popularity of the two cultural districts designated so far, Calle24 in the Mission and SOMA Philipinas, South of Market.
“San Francisco continues to be on the forefront of preserving and enhancing neighborhood character, identity and diversity,” said former Mayor Lee. “These important cultural assets are a testament to the work of our partners and residents who embody the values of San Francisco. These communities will shape the future of cultural districts in the state and beyond.
Read MoreIn July, the California Arts Council announced that the SOMA (South of Market) Pilipinas — Filipino Cultural Heritage District in San Francisco — will serve as a state-designated Cultural District. California’s newly launched Cultural District program will support 14 cultural districts to promote the Golden State’s cultural diversity. The California Arts Council will provide statewide marketing strategies, technical assistance and branding resources to selected cultural districts for the next five years, partnering with Visit California and the California Department of Transportation.
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