Sunday Streets SF is an ongoing event celebrating car-free streets in San Francisco for 15 years and counting. Each month, a different neighborhood hosts a giant family-friendly block party with fun activities, food, music, dance, and fun. This annual open streets program works to reclaim typically traffic-prone streets by transforming them into neighborhood block parties between 1-4 miles long.
Here’s the 2023 schedule to put in your calendar:
- May 21: Bayview – A community block party covering 5 city blocks on Galvez Ave and Mendell St.
- June 4: Tenderloin – A community block party covering 2 blocks. Exact location TBA.
- July 30: Valencia – A 1+ mile event on Valencia Street between Duboce and 26th.
- Sept. 24: Western Addition – Exact location TBA.
- Oct. 15: Excelsior – A massive celebration of the end of Sunday Streets SF on Mission St between Theresa/Avalon and Geneva Ave.
- Oct. 15: Phoenix Day – 3rd annual Phoenix Day celebration with activities across the city.
A typical Sunday Streets block party features a host of performers, small business pop-ups, community groups, city agencies, and more. New for 2023, all exhibitors except for performers must offer a free interactive activity which could range from chalk and hula hoops to free social services.
As opposed to a street fair in which coordinators pack a lot of programming into a few city blocks, open streets programs emphasize open space in the interest of helping attendees to get moving outdoors just by walking between Activity Hubs. The events create space for kids to play, seniors to stroll, and neighbors to meet each other.
Sunday Streets SF comes from nonprofit Livable City, which works in partnership with city departments including SFMTA and SFDPH. They strive to create temporary recreational space in SF’s neighborhoods that most need it, with emphasis on physical activity and community building. The program dates back to 2008 and has since grown into a city-wide endeavor supported by 400+ volunteers and hundreds of nonprofits and small businesses.
You can learn more about Sunday Streets SF here.