It’s that time of year again when the SF Opera puts on their free concert at Sharon Meadow in Golden Gate Park. This year’s event, which takes place Sunday at 2pm, will pay special tribute to the 10th anniversary of 9/11:

San Francisco Opera and our community partners will present a special Opera in the Park concert to honor the memory of those who perished on 9/11 and celebrate the service and heroism of the Bay Area’s first responders including fire fighters, paramedics and police, among others.

General Director David Gockley will serve as master of ceremonies and will be joined on stage by a roster of distinguished political, interfaith and civic dignitaries offering remarks on this national day of remembrance.

The concert begins at 2pm in Sharon Meadow in Golden Gate Park.

Sarah B.

If you’re looking for some fun activities this weekend, stroll over to Golden Gate Park to check out these events:

Zine Fest | Saturday & Sunday, 11am – 6pm | SF County Fair Building (9th & Lincoln)
It’s the 10th anniversary of this free festival which celebrates small-press publishing, from zines and comics to art books and beyond. The Zine Fest serves as a vital showcase of the diversity, creativity, and ongoing exuberance of the small-press movement. They’ve got exhibitors, workshops (DIY Gadget Cases!), panels – plenty to keep you amused and inspired.

Doin’ It In The Park 2011 | Sunday, 12noon – 6pm | Marx Meadow
Drop in to this free, all ages event to enjoy music from some fly DJ’s, as well as some free BBQ. “Leave the negativity at home. This is a time to celebrate life, love and music with your closest friends and a chance to make new ones.” OK! Marx Meadow is located on John F. Kennedy Drive off Fulton Street between 25th and 30th Avenues.

Sarah B.

“Layers” by Mike Dillon

• In case you hadn’t heard, Mayor Ed Lee is running for mayor. No really, he is. He’ll open his Richmond District field office on Saturday at 10am, 389 Arguello Blvd. at Clement.
• The woman who scammed potential renters of her Richmond District apartment out of $100k+ plead guilty and will likely get 2 years in prison. Plus she has to pay it all back. Sentencing is October 19th.
• The Stow Lake legal saga may finally be nearing an end next week when the current vendor will finally vacate for the new one, Ortega Enterprises to take over. Ortega is planning to spend over $200k on renovations and plans to begin operations by end of September.
• Itching to tango? Stop by the Lands End parking lot at Merrie Way every Sunday at 2pm for a free lesson. The Chron’s got the scoop on the tango trend and tangomango.com or @bayareatango has the where and when.
• The Internet Archive at Clement & Funston announced the launch of Understanding 9/11: A Television News Archive, a library of news coverage of the events of 9/11/2001 and their aftermath as presented by U.S. and international broadcasters.
• Safeway is making progress on the remodel of their Ocean Beach / La Playa location, receiving their Preliminary Project Assessment (PPA) from the Planning Dept. Next up is a meeting with the city to determine a date for their formal development application.
• The de Young will be open on Labor Day even though it’s normally closed on Mondays. Good excuse to go see the Picasso exhibit!

I hope everyone has a great Labor Day weekend!

Sarah B.

Photo by Adam Chin

• San Francyclo, based in the neighborhood, offers guided bike tours of the city for all levels of cyclists. Owner Jason will soon be opening up a bike shop on Arguello too.
• Attention inner Clement merchants: City Attorney / Mayoral candidate Dennis Herrera will go on a merchant walk on Clement this Saturday, August 27th beginning at 2:30pm. Consider asking him what he plans to do about the ADA lawsuits…
• Not sweet enough: Reader Chrissy wrote in to tell us The Sweet Days Cafe on 18th & Geary closed it doors. They took over the corner location from Joe’s Ice Cream earlier this year. We’re hearing LOL Cafe at 25th & Geary may have also shuttered.
• Owner William Schoepp of Balboa Street’s Crown Hardware passed away earlier this month. He opened the store in 1957, and his sons Greg and Joe intend to keep the store open.
• Remember the saga over Jimmy’s Old Car Picnic keeping their charity event in Golden Gate Park? SFWeekly digs into the ugly politics behind it. You might need a shower after reading it.
• The tea house at Golden Gate Park’s Japanese Tea Garden will be named after Jack Hirose, former supporter and garden concessionaire.
• Snip, snip. 7×7 profiles old-school barbershops, including Rick’s Barber Shop on Geary between 17th and 18th Avenue. “Rick doesn’t have much patience for postmodern haircut requests…”
• Outside Lands is over but here’s one cartoonist’s take on his experience at the music/food/wine festival. Three Days of Babies, Bros and Bands.
• I had a chance to check out the Rayko Photo Center show that contrasts then & now views of Adolph Sutro’s San Francisco. If you’re south of Market, I recommend checking it out; through September 15.

Are you a link lover? Follow us on Twitter or Facebook for more updates like this.

Sarah B.

A handbag by Dsenyo, who offers contemporary handbags
and accessories celebrating African Textile design and sustainable fibers.

This Friday and Saturday, the de Young Museum Store will host their inaugural Fair Trade Bazaar, showcasing fair trade products from around the world.

The event will feature about a dozen vendors selling jewelry, textiles, native handcrafts and accessories that reflect on the museum’s multicultural collections.

Museum store director Stuart Hata explains, “The de Young Museum store is proud to organize the inaugural Fair Trade Bazaar as an educational complement to the Museum’s renown collections of native arts from around the world. Working with local Fair Trade merchants and the kind assistance of the Fair Trade Federation has allowed us to present a diverse range of fair trade product for the Museum’s audience to shop and support.”

Participating vendors include:

Craftspring – Central Asian arts & crafts
Dsenyo – African bags/accessories
Gianna Fair Trade – Southeast Asian tabletop/textiles
Globally Minded– Mayan jewelry
Good Paper – Multi-ethnic stationery
Jolom Mayaetik – Mayan textiles
Mayan Hands – Mayan crafts
Ock Pop Tok – Laotian textiles
Oryjin – Laotian jewelry/scarves
Tribal Home – African baskets
Woven Promises – African textiles
Yellow Label Kids – Nepalese kids crafts
Zanmi Lakay – Haitian arts & crafts

Many of the vendors at the event are members of the Fair Trade Federation.

The Fair Trade Bazaar will take place in the Piazzoni Murals Room in the de Young Museum on Friday 9:30am until 8:30pm, and on Saturday from 9:30am until 4:30pm. Admission to the event is free and museum members will receive a 10% discount on all purchases.

Sarah B.

Zanmi Lakay Haitian Arts Crafts

Photo by Joseph Hatfield

I’ve been seeing these flowers all over San Francisco and thanks to RichmondSFBlog reader Gabriel, I now know they are a type of Amaryllis known as “Naked Ladies”. Named so because the leaves die away before the flower stalks emerge, so that the stalks appear ‘naked’, not surrounded with vegetation.

The shot above is of some ladies blooming in the northwest corner of Golden Gate Park. They’re amazingly resilient flowers – I’ll see them standing tall on hillsides or lots comprised of nothing but dry dirt and brown grass.

Tweeter marymad says to definitely give them a whiff if you see one. “They smell fantastic,” she says.

Thanks to Gabriel and Joseph for enhancing my floral knowledge!

Sarah B.

On Wednesday, August 24 from 4pm until 8:30pm, the Conservatory of Flowers will host their first photography workshop.

Designed for all levels of photographers, the workshop includes a private guided tour of the Conservatory’s exterior and interior. After the tour, attendees can visit four stations inside the Conservatory to receive professional instruction on specific aspects of nature photography:

1. Still Life
2. Live Model
3. Macro Photography
4. Featured Conservatory Plant

Workshop participants will learn about lighting, working with a live model, composition, and working with both on and off camera flash.

The workshop will be taught by Source Photography, a local company that represents all areas of professional photography.

The class size is limited to 35 participants and reservations can be made online. The cost is $175 per person ($150 for Conservatory members).

For more information, email Morgan Davis at the Conservatory of Flowers.

Sarah B.

The Outside Lands festival wrapped up Sunday night after three days and nights of music, food, wine and merriment. Concertgoers lucked out with sunny, warm weather with nary a hint of fog in the evenings. Judging from the pics, it looks like it sold out and was full of happy music fans. To see more photos from this weekend’s concert, visit the Outside Lands photo gallery.

About 75 volunteers also came out for an Ocean Beach cleanup on Saturday morning.

If you attended the festival, leave a comment to let us know about your experience. Favorite performances? Best nibbles? We want to hear about it!

Sarah B.

A hyped up crowd at Outside Lands 2011

Up above Outside Lands 2011, with the Richmond District in the background

Foster the People performs on Friday

Dave Chapelle and Big Boi, backstage on Friday

Erykah Badu performs on Friday

MGMT fans in the front row on Friday

MGMT performs on Friday

Black Keys perform on Saturday

Girl Talk performs on Saturday night

The Old 97′s perform on Friday

Christina Perri performs to a packed crowd on Saturday

Muse performs on Saturday night

Muse performs on Saturday night

Arcade Fire headlines on Sunday night

John Fogarty rocks out on Sunday

Deadmau5 performs with their trademark mouse

Mavis Staples performs on Sunday with Win Butler from Arcade Fire on guitar

The Infamous Stringdusters kick up some dust on Sunday

!!! performs on Saturday

A packed MUNI bus with Outside Lands concertgoers. Photo by Zach Sheppard