SAN FRANCISCO — Carnaval San Francisco — the annual, free, two-day festival and grand parade drawing thousands of attendees and featuring international music, dance, arts & crafts and cuisine – has announced several new festival elements for its 44th annual event themed “Colores de Amor – Inclusivity, Family and Community.”
Carnaval will include a cannabis garden entitled The Jardin de Hierba Buena. This is the first time in San Francisco history that an event will include a permitted cannabis garden at a neighborhood event. Jardin will be organized as a collaborative effort by a powerhouse of local, female cannabis leaders. They include San Francisco native Nina Parks of Gift of Doja, Nouera & Bast Box. Jardin is also made possible by wonderful sponsors such as Columbia Care, Project Cannabis, Bay Cares, Wunder, Seventh Wave, Swami Select, Headstash, Be More, Joy Reserve, Endo Industries, SF Roots, KBG Reserve, Equity Trade Network, and more. The restorative and rejuvenating garden will feature compliant cannabis sales and brand activations for attendees 21 and over.
“As someone who grew up in SF’s Mission & Excelsior Community, Carnaval has always been an event to look forward to,” said Parks.
“Jardin de Hierba Buena will be the first permitted cannabis garden at a neighborhood event in the state. We want to create a space for people to experience and learn about the plant. As an Equity Trade Certified Cannabis Events Company, it’s important to me that the community gets access to other Cannabis Equity & minority owned brands and to support the movement of healing from the stigmas of the War on Drugs. It’s been great that The City, State & Carnaval SF has been supportive of our Mission & Vision.”
The new Jardin de Hierba Buena, an oasis within the festival that will stretch 17th and 16th Streets and Treat Avenue, will provide consumers ages 21 and over with a relaxed, Carnaval SF themed lounge environment complete with comfortable space to consume cannabis purchased at the event. Gift of Doja’s mission to increase access to BIPOC & Equity products at this event as well as access to craft cannabis from Northern California. The Carnaval San Francisco Festival will take place Saturday and Sunday, May 28 and 29 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m in San Francisco’s Calle 24 Latino Cultural District (between Harrison Street between 16th and 24th streets).
In addition to the cannabis garden, the festival will also feature five main stages, 50 local performing artists and 400 vendors. Dedicated to showcasing a rich assortment of food, music, dance, arts, crafts, other new elements to this year’s festival include a new Tech and Gaming Pavilion sponsored by Alaska Airlines, a new LGBTQ+ stage and other fun activities and entertainment for people of all ages to enjoy.
Carnaval San Francisco also features its 44th annual Grand Parade. Held Sunday, May 29, and beginning at 9:30 a.m., visitors will witness a brilliant procession of contingents, most of which will feature beautifully adorned floats depicting rich multicultural themes and featuring performers who engage and entertain the crowds. Brazilian-style escola samba schools with up to 300 members dance through the streets in fantastic feathered headdresses or sweeping Bahia skirts, while Caribbean contingents perform the music and dance of the Bahamas, Cuba, Jamaica, Puerto Rico and Trinidad. Other parade groups include Mexican Aztec performers, traditional African drummers, Polynesian dancers, Japanese drummers, giant puppets and folkloric groups representing Guatemala, Honduras and Bolivia.
The Grand Parade will start at the corner of 24th and Bryant streets, proceed west to Mission Street, head north on Mission to 15th Street, turn east on 15th and conclude at South Van Ness.
Admission to the festival and parade is FREE. Grandstand seating for the parade, located on Mission Street between 22nd and 23rd streets, is available for purchase online at http://www.carnavalsanfrancisco.org.
For more information, and current updates about Carnaval San Francisco, please visit http://www.carnavalsanfrancisco.org.
About Carnaval San Francisco
Conceived 44 years ago by a group of local musicians, artists and residents eager to bring the spirit of Latin American and Caribbean culture to San Francisco, Carnaval San Francisco has grown to become the largest annual multicultural celebration in California. Carnaval San Francisco is a project of Cultura y Arte Nativa de las Americas (CANA), a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
