Photo by Elijah Ellis

• Free adult classes start at the Richmond Village Beacon on January 30th. Ballroom dance, yoga, tai chi, knitting, computers and English (ESL) instruction – all free! View class schedule
• Kisha Studio (210 Clement) has a spring sale event this Saturday. Free champagne, and hair mini makeover sessions from 1-5pm (call 422-0468 for an appt). Plus 10% off any purchase when you mention the Richmond Blog.
• Supervisor Mar’s latest resolution to the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday was about the Grammy Awards and their limited selection of musical genres. No word yet on the Board’s reaction.
• SFCitizen reports that there will be a public meeting on January 26 about the remodel of the Stow Lake Boathouse. Hall of Flowers, 7pm.
• SF Rec & Park is planning a free tribute concert to Warren Hellman on February 19 from 11am until 5pm. Location will be either Hellman Hollow or Ocean Beach parking lots, depending on the weather. Organizers also hope to stream it live online.
• Feeling lucky? Enter to win a Green Apple $20 gift card from FunCheapSF.

This Saturday, the Westside Art House is putting on a concert to celebrate the Chinese New Year which takes place next Monday, Jan. 23. This is the year of the dragon.

Performing will be the San Francisco-based trio of DaMaDa. They combine Chinese folk song styles from Zhuangzu, Yi Zu, Miaozu, Xinjiang, and other Chinese provinces with American improvisational jazz forms.

The concert begins at 8:30pm this Saturday at the Westside Art House, 540 Balboa. Tickets are $8 per person.

Since they opened last February, the Westside Art House has built a great calendar of free and low-cost classes, workshops and seminars for the community. Check out their website or follow them on Facebook to keep up with their events and classes.

Sarah B.

This weekend, several schools in the neighborhood will take advantage of the influx of Hardly Strictly Bluegrass concertgoers to raise some much needed funds.

This weekend, the following schools will offer all-day parking for $25 (tax deductible!):

Argonne Elementary School, 17th Avenue & Cabrillo
Saturday & Sunday 9am-8pm

Lafayette Elementary School, 36th Avenue & Anza
Saturday & Sunday 10am-8pm

Presidio Middle School, 30th Avenue & Geary
Friday 5pm-9:30pm, Saturday & Sunday 10am-8pm

For all of the schools, these concert parking fundraisers have helped fill the budget gap for school programs. At Argonne, the funds they raise go to support reading and learning support specialists, art, dance, classroom supplies, enrichment programming, chorus and P.E.

The free Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festivals takes place at Speedway, Lindley & Marx meadows in Golden Gate Park from 11am until 7pm on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Full schedule

Most of the lots fill up by noon so if you plan on driving, get there early to secure your spot!

Sarah B.

The Alice Now & Zen fest will feature the Goo Goo Dolls, Michelle Branch and Eoin Harrington

Two free festivals are coming to Golden Gate Park this weekend, just in time for the nice weather!

Tour de Fat Bike & Beer Festival | Saturday, 10am – 5:30pm, Lindley Meadow
Put on by the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, the Tour de Fat festival features a bike parade (at 11am), a marching band, fire-jumping bike acts, cycling games, food and drink, and live music from Dovekins, The Daredevil Chicken Club, Yo Yo Squared, Free Energy, and Extra Action Marching Band.

Why is it called Tour de Fat? Because the festival is sponsored by by the New Belgium Brewing Company, makers of Fat Tire beer. Let’s see if the cops intervene again this year to ban kids from the boozy parts of the festival.

Alice Now & Zen Fest | Sunday, 12pm – 5pm, Sharon Meadow
Spread your blanket in Sharon Meadow to rock out with top bands like the Goo Goo Dolls, Michelle Branch and Eoin Harrington at Alice Radio’s Now & Zen Fest.

The festival also features an assortment of food and drink vendors to keep you hydrated (don’t forget the sunscreen!). Free valet parking for bikes provided by the SF Bike Coalition.

Rock on Richmond folk!

Sarah B.

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.

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

Janelle Monae performs at Outside Lands 2010

It’s that time of year again when San Francisco’s largest outdoor music festival will take place in Golden Gate Park. Here are a few tips for festival neighbors to help negotiate the event.

LINEUP, SCHEDULE AND HOURS
If the festival’s Twitter is to be believed, this will be the most popular festival yet. Tickets are nearly sold out for all three days of music, food, wine and art that features top bands like Muse, Phish, Black Keys, Arcade Fire, Deadmau5, MGMT and Erykah Badu (view the full lineup and schedule).

Festival hours are:
Friday: 11am – 10pm
Saturday: 11am – 10pm
Sunday: 11am – 9:45pm

PARKING
With the popularity of this year’s festival, parking should be tighter than ever for concertgoers and residents during all three days.

If you encounter parking issues like someone blocking your driveway or other illegal parking, the festival is staffing up to handle it. Two dedicated tow trucks and one parking control officer will be available on each side of the park to respond to parking issues. Call the Outside Lands community hotline at (415) 379-9063 from 10am – 11pm on festival days for assistance. You can also call SFMTA Parking Enforcement at 553-1200 (press 1 for English, then press 5 for blocked driveway).

If you have friends or family coming in for the event, let them know about the shuttle service that will be running from Bill Graham Civic Center Auditorium. For $29.50, shuttle riders get roundtrip transportation on all three days.

If you’re an enterprising resident with a parking space you can lend out, why not earn on it? Check out startup parkcirca.com where you can list and rent out your parking space / driveway.

And if you see bewildered concertgoers driving in circles, looking for parking, try directing them to the local schools who will be opening up their lots: Lafayette at 36th & Anza, Argonne at 17th & Cabrillo, and Presidio Middle School at 30th & Geary. Rates start at $25 for all-day parking.

TRAFFIC & PARK CLOSURES
The festival takes place in the west end of Golden Gate Park, which means many of the driving and walking areas will be closed off. The main stage is at the Polo Fields with the rest of the festival area spanning out eastward from there. View festival map (PDF)

The map below shows the park entrances that will be closed to car traffic from Thursday, August 11th at 8pm through Sunday, August 14th at 11pm:

If you need to cross through Golden Gate Park this weekend, Park Presidio/19th Avenue is your only option.

Within Golden Gate Park, some of the popular west end areas will be closed off to be used as festival venues. This includes the Polo Fields, Lindley Meadow and Speedway Meadow.

Lloyd Lake and Metson Lake will also be closed August 12 – August 14. Spreckels Lake and the Dog Run will be closed to vehicles August 12 – August 14.

Visit the Neighborhood 311 page on the Outside Lands website for more information.

LOCAL EATERIES
If you’re attending the festival, be sure to look for some of our favorite neighborhood restaurants in the Taste of the Bay area including Namu (Korean tacos, chicken yakitori, loco moco), Gordo Taqueria (chicken, beef and carnitas burritos), and Q Restaurant (tater tots with Smilin’ Andy’s Mojo mix).

Whether you’re headed to this year’s festival or sitting it out, we hope everyone has a good weekend that is fog free!

Sarah B.

Bust out the picnic blanket and basket – it’s time to enjoy some classical music in the park!

Join the San Francisco Symphony in Golden Gate Park this Sunday for a free concert in Sharon Meadow beginning at 2:00pm:

The concert program features beloved works, favorites of the classical repertoire. A Night on Bald Mountain entered the American consciousness in the 1940s courtesy of “Fantasia.” Its pulsating rhythms and exotic imagery continue to fire imaginations today. Rachmaninoff’s Second Piano Concerto inspires awe for the remarkable solo turn, delivered here by the electrifying pianist Valentina Lisitsa. The program concludes with definitive Beethoven, with the symphony whose opening phrases are among the most recognizable in the entire musical universe.

The concert will be conducted by Michael Francis and Sunday’s event will also feature an instrument “petting zoo” where you can get hands on with some of the symphony’s tools of the trade.

Sarah B.