People gather outside an event venue on Minna Street in 2022. A San Francisco arts coalition hopes to launch a monthly street party in May to attract more people downtown.
Michaela Vatcheva/Special to the Chronicle
In a fresh attempt to draw residents back downtown, a San Francisco arts coalition is gearing up to launch a monthly street party in May, centered around the 111 Minna Gallery.
The event production company Into the Streets proposed a new initiative, tentatively dubbed Downtown First Thursdays, during a community meeting earlier this week, in partnership with the Civic Joy Fund.
The goal is to attract more than 10,000 attendees to a section of Second Street, spanning Market to Folsom streets, with a schedule boasting live music, DJs, drag performances, martial arts showcases, art exhibitions, shopping opportunities and more. There are also plans to feature food vendors and two outdoor bars on Minna and Natoma streets.
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People gather in a green space between Natoma and Minna streets. This area would be part of a proposed new monthly street party, designed to attract more people downtown.
Yalonda M. James/The Chronicle
Plans for the first event will be announced at a later date if the series is approved at the next community meeting with neighborhood residents in April.
“We found that big cultural events that are fun and cool move the needle to get people downtown,” said Katy Birnbaum, founder and CEO of Into the Streets.
Her company has a track record of organizing successful events like the monthly celebration of South Asian culture known as Bhangra & Beats Night Market in downtown San Francisco, as well as Dog Days of Summer, a pet-friendly outdoor brunch hosted at the Crossing at East Cut throughout the summer.
The inaugural Dog Days of Summer event at the Crossing at East Cut in San Francisco was held in August 2023.
Juliana Yamada/Special to the Chronicle 2023
She added that organizers spent weeks scouting for the right location for Downtown First Thursdays before settling on the South of Market-East Cut location.
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“We wanted to find a spot that would have a mix of small businesses that we could support but was also connected to residences,” Birnbaum said. “There’s a huge community here that is seeking things to do on a regular basis.”
If approved, the series is scheduled to run 5-10 p.m. monthly, May 2 through April 3 of next year. Tickets for the first event are now available for reservation but not required for entry.
The final lineup of participants for the upcoming events is yet to be confirmed, but the organizers plan to collaborate with local entertainment companies such as Noise Pop and Another Planet Entertainment, venues like Oasis and the Midway, and radio station KALW.
The Civic Joy Fund, a group dedicated to San Francisco’s revitalization co-founded by Manny Yekutiel, will provide funding for these events.
“This idea of regularly enjoying our streets with large outdoor festivals is not a new idea,” Yekutiel said, noting that Downtown First Thursdays was inspired by Oakland’s First Fridays event series. “We thought, ‘Why shouldn’t San Francisco have a nighttime event of its own?’ We just need to make it work.”
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Manny Yekutiel, co-founder of Civic Joy Fund, an organization that hopes to revitalize various neighborhoods in San Francisco.
Yalonda M. James/The Chronicle 2023
Most of the money to fund Downtown First Thursdays will come from a $1 million annual endowment, primarily supported by contributions from Randi and Bob Fisher, the former chairman of Gap Inc. and Levi Strauss & Co.
“San Francisco is a deeply resilient city, but it requires all of us working together — businesses, philanthropy, arts and culture, city government — to make it happen,” Bob Fisher said in a statement to the Chronicle. “I can’t think of a better way to give back and support the city that I love so much.”
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, downtown San Francisco art space 111 Minna Gallery hosted unique monthly events that drew crowds overflowing onto nearby streets. But more recently it has become a venue for private events.
A group participates in throwing holi powder during the Holi Color Fest at East Cut Crossing in San Francisco in 2023.
Benjamin Fanjoy/Special to the Chronicle 2023
The Downtown First Thursdays endeavor follows other high-profile attempts to give the city’s ailing downtown area a boost. Earlier this month, the Mid-Market Business Association and Mid-Market Foundation launched Busk It, a series that aims to fill the sidewalks off Market Street, from Fifth to Eighth streets, with live musicians on various days through November.
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Last fall, the nonprofit organization invited 15 arts groups to occupy empty storefronts, transforming them into creative hubs to establish long-term tenants with financial support.
“People are really pumped,” said Yekutiel. “Folks are excited about the idea of bringing thousands and thousands of people downtown regularly to support San Francisco businesses and neighborhoods. Our greatest challenge is going to be delivering and getting people to show up.”
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