COYOTE Calendar: June 11-June 17

Welcome to the COYOTE Calendar. Here are this week's hand picked events, just for you.

The World Cup starts this week, and this is the calendar so I won't go into my feelings about FIFA or how the US is handling this event, but I will tell you that there are watch parties all over the Bay Area that you can go to if you want to yell about sports with friends. I'm especially interested in the Pride House SF (at the SF LGBT Center) and Raimondi Park watch parties.

This weekend is also Bike!Bike! for the bike sickos, RestoFest for the bioregionalism sickos, 924 Gilman Summer Fest for the punk sickos, Queer Women of Color Film Festival for the film sickos, Solano County Fair for the racing pig sickos, and Flor Y Canto Literary Festival for the poetry sickos. Pride continues apace, so please make sure you're resting and stretching. This week we've also got chili, quilting, archives, carnivorous plants, and more. We'll post new events each Wednesday. Go forth and enjoy!

Last week I accidentally made the Buy Tickets Now feature available to everybody. Whoops! Consider it a taste of what you could get if you were one of our beloved paid supporters! That's #marketing baby!

• BART Mart Artists Alley 〰️ As covered in COYOTE, the Bay Area is a hidden mecca for anime fans. Get your anime on at this cute little market featuring local artists. 〰️ 3pm-6pm 〰️ Castro Valley BART 〰️ FREE 〰️ more info
• Summer Fundraiser Happy Hour for Critical Resistance 〰️ Dance for a good cause: abolishing the prison industrial complex. Every ticket raises money for Critical Resistance’s Oakland chapter and their work to break down the oppressive systems that work against true community health and safety. 〰️ 5-8pm 〰️ El Rio, SF 〰️ $0-7.18 (suggested donation) 〰️ more info
• Mirrored Sessions 〰️ Come experience the work of Frankie Maston, who will lead a cast of trans, gender non-conforming, and queer artists through an immersive performance built in three acts. "A soundbath opening, a soulful R&B middle, and a closing sequence built around live drumming and dance that ends the night in collective joy." 〰️ 6:30-9:30pm 〰️ The Palace Theater, SF 〰️ $23.18+ 〰️ more info
• Wayfinding - 50 years of Hōkūleʻa 〰️ The four musicians from the Del Sol Quartet recently went on a river rafting trip, playing along the banks and caves of the Yampa River with their instruments. Now they're back and performing the world premiere of Moananuiākea by composer Leilehua Lanzilotti which celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Hōkūleʻa’s first voyage to Tahiti. 〰️ 12-1pm 〰️ Angel Island Immigration Station, SF 〰️ Free with museum entry (which costs $5) 〰️ more info

• Juntos Magazine Release Party 〰️ Roll through to grab the first ever Juntos magazine, and stick around for nails, tacos, music, airbrush, matcha, an art market and more. 〰️ 6-11pm 〰️ Arlene Francis Center, Santa Rosa 〰️ $10 NOTAFLOF 〰️ more info
• Indo-Cali Popup 〰️ Shokupan natto toast with caramelized leeks and fish sauce. Scallop crudo with dragonfuit-lychee aguachile. Should I keep going? Pistachio-crusted king salmon with sambal matah. I mean, come on. This popup from Kamu Siapa Kitchen is going to be delicious. 〰️ 6-9pm 〰️ The Punchdown, Oakland 〰️ FREE (but bring money for food, obviously) 〰️ more info
• Queertopia Pride Concert 〰️ "From protest chants to soaring queer anthems, our chorus raises its voice in celebration of queer resilience and trans liberation." Come hear the Queer Chorus performing works by trans composers Michael Bussewitz-Quarm and Mari Esabel Valverde, alongside songs by Laura Mvula, Kacey Musgraves, Sam Smith, Starship, and others. 〰️ 7:30 〰️ Noe Valley Ministry, SF 〰️ $22.46 - $27.74 〰️ more info
• Date My Friend Queer Night (30+) 〰️ Tired: listening to people talk about themselves. Wired: listening to people's friends talk about them. No more swiping, let someone's bestie give you the real pitch and find a cutie to take to the next pride party. This one is for LGBTQ+ singles only. 〰️ 7pm 〰️ The Faight Collective, SF 〰️ $16.17 〰️ more info
• Gender Affirming Surgery Party 〰️ Local astrologer Astra is hosting a party to raise funds for top surgery and you can help! Astra will be doing standup (described as "drunk astrology") and there will also be improv, sketch comedy, drag, and more. Sayonara, tatas. 〰️ 7-9pm 〰️ 2727 California Street, SF 〰️ bring money to donate 〰️ more info
• Bay Area Current One Year Birthday Bash 〰️ The Bay Area Current has been killing it with their coverage of labor, power, and tech for a year, and you can party with them to celebrate! "Vibe with drink in hand over food and vitriol for the enemy. Get a tattoo on site, because it’s 2026 and the future is either ours or it doesn’t exist." 〰️ 8pm 〰️ Mosswood Chapel, Oakland 〰️ more info

• Game of Shrooms 〰️ Have you ever wished that art markets had more of a scavenger hunt vibe to them? Well you’re in luck? Every year artists around the world participate in this “art n seek” event where they hide art around for people to find. And this year, West Alameda is participating. You’ll have to engage with Instagram to get the clues (boo), but maybe you’ll uncover some beautiful local art (yay). 〰️ all day 〰️ West Alameda 〰️ FREE 〰️ more info
• Native Plant and Pollinator Day 〰️ [Oprah voice] BEEEEES!! Some of our most important little buddies, and they certainly deserve their own day. And since their day is in June we can declare that all bees are gay. It’s math! Come learn about the gay bees and how to keep them safe. 〰️ 9am-12pm 〰️ Martial Cottle Park, San Jose 〰️ FREE (but parking costs $6) 〰️ more info
• QTPOC Birders: Rancho Corral de Tierra 〰️ Take a trip out to Half Moon Bay with fellow QTPOC bird watchers and get your avian voyeurism on. This one has special slots reserved for folks who have never been on a QTPOC Birders event, so check it out if you've always wanted to! 〰️ 9am-3pm 〰️ Rancho Corral de Tierra 〰️ FREE but RSVP required 〰️ more info
• Switch: A Queer Surf Exhibition 〰️ Everybody knows that the ocean is gay. Make a pilgrimage to the sea and pay queer homage via surfing, art, drag, dancing, drumming, skating, tacos and more with a wonderful community. 〰️ 9am-5:30pm 〰️ Linda Mar Beach, Pacifica 〰️ FREE 〰️ more info
• The Palestine Laboratory Screening 〰️ A free screening of Antony Loewenstein’s documentary series that explores the ways in which Israel develops and tests weapons on Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, and the ways in which those developments are then exported to the US, Mexico, and beyond. If you can't make the screening, Loewenstein's book on the same topic is worth a read. 〰️ 10:30am 〰️ Albany Library 〰️ FREE 〰️ more info
• Fremont Pride Fair 〰️ Come celebrate pride with the fine folks of Fremont, including a DJ, food, free vaccines, HIV and Hep C testing, drag storytime and more. 〰️ 10am-2pm 〰️ Fremont Public Library 〰️ FREE 〰️ more info
• Bubblefest 〰️ This one is an easy sell — it's bubbles! Bring the kids and learn about the science of bubbles, see some incredible bubble art, watch bubbles dance with dry ice, stand inside a bubble and meet "bubble experts" which sounds like a dream job. Get those pointy bubble popping fingers ready. 〰️ 10am-4:20pm 〰️ Chabot Space & Science Center, Oakland 〰️ $24 adults $19 kids 〰️ more info
• Lazy Summer Daze 〰️ Didn’t we tell you that Sonoma County was having an Asian food glowup? Well here’s proof: a delicious pastry popup from pastry chef Amanda Hoang  aka soft spoken. Featuring a miso brown butter chocolate chunk cookie, coffee caramel choux with boricha praline, and more. 〰️ 11am-2pm 〰️ boon eat + drink, Guerneville 〰️ FREE (but bring money for pastries) 〰️ more info
• Unity Fest 〰️ A beautiful afternoon full of African and African Diasporic culture on display, including music, dance, drumming, arts, activities and more. Plus, you can pop in and see Rhythmix’s current art exhibition, Artists of the African Diaspora, which is lovely. 〰️ 12-5pm 〰️ Chochenyo Park, Alameda 〰️ FREE 〰️ more info
• bánh picnic 〰️ The beloved bánh picnic takes its community joy on the road and heads down to San Jose! Bring your banh, bring a friend, bring a blanket, and snack your heart out. 〰️ 12-3pm 〰️ Cataldi Park, San Jose 〰️ FREE (bring a dish, $5 suggested donation) 〰️ more info
• Black Queer Folks Community Archiving Day 〰️ The queer archive is a powerful, and often precarious thing. If you have photos, posters, letters, or other printed materials related to your Black queer folks, dust them off and bring them over to share at this AfroPortals Community Archiving Day focused on ensuring that this history is preserved. 〰️ 12-5pm 〰️ Eastmont Hills, Oakland 〰️ FREE 〰️ more info
• Live on Larkin Sapphic Summer Street Party 〰️ Fun fact: I did once win a contest for who could tie a cherry stem in a knot with their mouth the fastest. I'm out of practice, but if you want to try your tongue, come to this street party that also features a pie eating contest, line dancing, go-go dancers, DJ's and more. 〰️ 12-5pm 〰️ Larkin Street & Eddy Street, SF 〰️ FREE 〰️ more info
• Two-Spirit Celebration: Pride in the Park 〰️ Trans people have always existed, and in many indigenous cultures we have not been villainized or pushed out (imagine that?!?!). Come celebrate Pride with the Bay Area American Indian Two Spirits (BAAITS) community, make daisy chain bracelets and rattles, sip on some delicious drinks, and get your face and body painted. 〰️ 12-4pm 〰️ Dimond Park, Oakland 〰️ FREE 〰️ more info
• Bay Area Carnivorous Plant Festival 〰️ Do we all remember the deal? If you see me at any plant event, no you did not. (But do say hi.) Get your very own Audrey II and learn all about the myths and realities of plants that eat bugs. 〰️ 12p-5pm 〰️ Saint Joseph Notre Dame High School, Alameda 〰️ FREE 〰️ more info
• Dax Lee's Chili Cook Off 〰️ Eat beans 🤝 Be judgemental. Join friends and neighbors and taste your way through an incredible lineup of home and professional chefs bringing their best chili directly to you. Plus, live music and a bar to give your chili something to swim in inside your stomach. BYOT (Bring Your Own Tums). 〰️ 1-5pm 〰️ Snow Park, Oakland 〰️ $30 〰️ more info
• Disability Visibility Quilting Circle 〰️ Get those brains and hands moving as you quilt in community. They'll have everything you need (fabric, sewing machines, fabric glue, etc.) so all you have to bring is yourself and your most beautiful ideas. 〰️ 1-4pm 〰️ 😷 COVID SAFE, masks required 〰️ Disability Cultural Center, SF 〰️ FREE 〰️ more info
• Tram Day 2026 〰️ "On June 12, 1943, Albert Hoffman’s 22-year-old laboratory assistant, Susi Ramstein, swallowed 100 micrograms of LSD-25 at her desk in Basel, becoming not only the first woman to take acid, but the first woman to take acid at work." Now, 83 years later, you can celebrate Ramstein's spirit of experimentation and psychedelics with fellow explorers. (Here’s a thing I learned researching this event: They call it "Tram Day" because she rode the tram home, a nod to Bicycle Day, which is not really about bicycles at all.) 〰️ 1-4pm 〰️ Berkeley Chapel of the Flowers 〰️ $19.43 〰️ more info
• Rich City Day 〰️ Celebrate the community of Richmond with live music, food, and more. This is the third year of this block party, and this edition also features live screen printing (bring you own gear, as long as it's 100% cotton), dogs up for adoption (get your own adventure dog), and all kinds of local arts and crafts. 〰️ 2-8pm 〰️ Armistice Brewing Company, Richmond 〰️ FREE 〰️ more info
• Commemoration of the 50th Anniversary of the shooting of Barlow Benavidez by the Oakland Police 〰️ On June 11th, 1976, the Oakland Police Department murdered Jose Barlow Benavidez. Learn more about this tragedy, and listen to panelists explore the (bleak) question: "Have black and brown police shootings and police accountability changed since 1976?" 〰️ 2-5pm 〰️ East Art Cultural Center, Oakland 〰️ FREE 〰️ more info
• Healdsburg Pride 〰️ Did you know that Scream was filmed around Healdsburg? That has nothing to do with this event, it's just a fun fact. Anyway! Pride events in small towns just hit different. Head North for this cute afternoon of speakers, music, food, a runway show, and more. 〰️ 3-9:30pm 〰️ Foley Family Pavilion, Healdsburg 〰️ FREE 〰️ more info
• Act Like You've Been Here Before opening reception 〰️ All little shops should have art exhibits, and this one is at a little shop we love. Featuring the work of Amol, an Oakland based South Asian artist whose work is "an attempt to make sense of worlds that frequently collide, but never fully overlap." 〰️ 6pm 〰️ Dear John Shop, Oakland 〰️ FREE 〰️ more info
• Eric Theise, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Quintet 〰️ This one is for my multimedia performance weirdos — come see "performance cartography," an improv quintet featuring vocals, jazz, and ambient synth, and someone who refers to himself as an "anti-cellist." 〰️ 8pm 〰️ Beauty Supply Arts, Oakland 〰️ $15 NOTAFLOF 〰️ more info

• Birds & BBQ Community Pride 〰️ Take a sweet little birdwatching ride from Fruitvale BART to Arrowhead Marsh, have a BBQ lunch, and get the inside scoop on the East Bay Regional Parks planning process. Free repair kit giveaway to all riders under 21! 〰️ 10am 〰️ Fruitvale BART, Oakland 〰️ FREE 〰️ more info
• June Herb Walk 〰️ Here's a Pride Month tip: All the hot queers are into herbalism right now. Take a walk in the hills with a plant expert and learn about the locally abundant medicinal plants, and flex that knowledge at your next queer rave as a pickup line. Win win. 〰️ 10am-12pm 〰️ location revealed with ticket 〰️ $35 〰️ more info
• Fat Swim Pride Picnic 〰️ Have a little swim with fellow trans, queer and/or fat folks and "experience the pool as the liberating space it is." Swim a little, then have a picnic in the park with a really rad community. 〰️ 12-4pm 〰️ Albany Aquatic Center, Albany 〰️ $10 suggested donation NOTAFLOF 〰️ more info
• Archiving the Block 〰️ SF based rapper and producer Uncoolbro will offer up selections from his upcoming album Black Gentrification and participants will listen deeply and discuss what they're hearing and feeling. Then, join the group in "songwriting techniques, storytelling, and the ways music can imagine new relationships to land, space, memory, and Black collective futures." 〰️ 1-3:30pm 〰️ 1427 Broadway, Oakland 〰️ FREE (donation suggested) 〰️ more info
• Fill Your Cups 〰️ "Do you have a fit that makes you feel euphoric in your body? Come celebrate pride by walking the peoples' runway!" Come look good, feel good, play good at this community event.. 〰️ 2pm 〰️ Mission Dolores Park, SF 〰️ FREE, bring clothes to swap 〰️ more info
• Leather & Lace 〰️ In the words of Rob Tomas: man, it's a hot one. As in, this event will be extremely hot. You have been warned. Wear your leather, lace, harnesses, mesh and more and step into a world of fantasy. 〰️ 3:30-8:30pm 〰️ 7th West, Oakland 〰️ $28+ 〰️ more info
• Brown Thumbs: Punjabi x Mexican Land Solidarity 〰️ Mexico and India may be nearly as far apart as two places on our Earth can be. And yet, there are striking and valuable parallels between certain communities in both countries. With a panel, performances, and a community art activation, come see how the connection to land and agriculture "manifests in the artistic and sociocultural identities of Punjabi and Mexican communities." 〰️ 5-9pm 〰️ Dance Mission Theater, SF 〰️ sliding scale NOTAFLOF 〰️ more info
• Text Change 〰️ I am obsessed with both the premise and the lineup on this one. A trans reading series in which the readers talk about literally anything other than transition. Featuring absolute icons Annalee Newitz, Grayson Thompson, Isaac Fellman, Xóchitl Manuel Márquez, Violet Spurlock, and June Martin. 〰️ 6:30pm 〰️ The Stud, SF 〰️ FREE 〰️ more info

• Decolonized Kitchen Workshop 〰️ This one is for the youths — bring your kids ages 5-12 (although the organizer says "aren't we all kids at heart?" so if you really, really want to go I bet you could) for cooking, drawing, and learning how to be good guests on our native lands. If you're not willing to crash a workshop for children, Maribel Garcia offers these in several locations throughout the year so follow her work. 〰️ 1pm 〰️ Oakland Public Library, Eastmont Branch 〰️ FREE 〰️ more info
• Summer Survival of Native Plants 〰️ How do native plants survive and thrive in the California summer? While you're eating ice cream and chilling in a kiddie pool, our local plants are deploying all kinds of fascinating strategies to save water and avoid the intensity of the sun. Come learn about them! 〰️ 2-3pm 〰️ Civic Center Library, Livermore 〰️ FREE 〰️ more info

• Stitch 'N Pitch 〰️ Baseball is great because you can do something else for most of it and not really miss anything (complimentary). Bring your fabric project and stitch with the Alamada's Coven of Stitches while you watch the Oakland Ballers take on the Long Beach Coast. This is also "Celebration of Cal" night which is either good or bad depending on who you are. (Check the link to make sure you're getting seats in the stitching section.) 〰️ 6:35pm 〰️ Raimondi Park, Oakland 〰️ $38 〰️ more info
• Queer Rebels Fest 〰️ A whole evening of incredible artists, DJs, singers, noise makers and experimental musicians offering up everything from poetry, to huayno, to saya, to cumbia, to homohop, to maritime folklore, to "carnal and sonic grief ritual reckoning." 〰️ 7pm 〰️ The Knockout, SF 〰️ $15 〰️ more info

• The Art of Black Storytelling — Juneteenth Edition 〰️ Prepare for Juneteenth and beyond with this evening that explores "the power, craft, and cultural legacy of Black storytelling as one of the most enduring forms of expression and resistance." Not just a lecture, but also an opportunity to engage with spoken word, blended storytelling, conversation and community. 〰️ 6:30pm 〰️ Mad Oak, Oakland 〰️ $25 〰️ more info

You can see all of COYOTE's past calendar picks here. If you have an event you'd like to see on a future COYOTE Calendar, email us at calendar@coyotemedia.org. If you attended and enjoyed any of these events, we'd love to hear about it in the comments!

*NOTAFLOF = No One Turned Away For Lack Of Funds