COYOTE Calendar: October 29-November 4

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

I'm back! Did you miss me? This weekend is Halloween and I hope all you nightmare lovers have an incredible time. Please also be careful out there: Halloween weekend is regularly the stretch with one of the highest rates of pedestrian deaths, so walk and drive extra carefully!

The UC Santa Cruz Arboretum's corpse flower is about to bloom and you can help name it, and go take a whiff. (If you can't make it down to Santa Cruz, they do have a live cam setup, but you'll be missing out on the smell, which is kind of the main thing.) The SF Neo-Futurists have a new show about a couple deciding to buy a gun, History Park in San Jose has a Dia De Muertos celebration going on all weekend, and you can catch homegrown puppets in a driveway in Oakland.

Almost all of the Dandelion Chocolate's 12 Nights of Chocolate events have sold out, and you would have already known to get tickets if you were a paying subscriber to COYOTE, as they were included in our Buy Tickets Now section for stuff we know is going to sell out in advance.

This week we've also got events to offend ghosts, shark facts, mysterious chicken bones, a whole haunted hoard of Halloween parties, and more. We'll post new events each Wednesday. Go forth and enjoy!

• Find a Valkyries watch party at the godforsaken hour of 9:30 AM because god forbid a men's team have to be inconvenienced. If your boss asks say you're doing it for the gays.
• Reproductive Justice Interdisciplinary Workshop 〰️ I think this event is really meant for UC Berkeley-affiliated folks, but I am on record as being in favor of crashing any and all public university events and lectures that interest you! (As long as you're cool about it.) This one is for those interested in reproductive justice from all angles: medicine, law, social work, public policy, and more.〰️ 9am 〰️ UC Berkeley, Berkeley 〰️ FREE 〰️ more info
• 100 Years Later: The Role of the University of California in the Loss of Ohlone Land Rights and Steps Toward Repair 〰️ Over 100 years ago, UC Berkeley declared that the Ohlone people were extinct. This was incorrect, but its impact was monumental for the people who were very much still here, leading to the Verona Band of Alameda County losing land rights and a century of having to fight for recognition. Now, the ‘ottoy Initiative (ottoy being a Chochenyo word for repair) is a campus-wide project "that points to a new way forward in repair between the University and the East Bay Ohlone people." Hear 'ottoy Initiative leaders Vincent Medina and Louis Trevino discuss what this all means and why it matters 〰️ 1-2pm 〰️ UC Berkeley 〰️ FREE 〰️ more info
• Is Hope Necessary? book launch 〰️ The good people at Street Spirit are publishing a new book by Osha Neumann that uses his decades of work as a lawyer defending the rights of unhoused folks as a springboard for big, thorny philosophical questions: "How did it come to this-that we seem bent on self-destruction and on taking the biological basis of life on the planet with us? What is the connection between the inhumanity we display to each other and the injury we inflict on the planet? What is to be done-and the corollary-what is to be undone? How much needs to change in order to avoid catastrophe?" Celebrate the launch of this book with Neumann himself, and get yourself a copy. 〰️ 6:30pm 〰️ 1742 Franklin Street 〰️ Oakland 〰️ FREE (but buy the book if you can) 〰️ more info
• General Assembly: A Public History of Occupy Oakland 〰️ It's hard to believe that it's been 15 years since Occupy Wall Street and its connected movements began. I remember being in New York City and hearing about how Oakland had created a sister encampment and feeling so much excitement about it. Were you a part of that? Join Liam O'Donoghue (host of East Bay Yesterday) in a General Assembly style discussion of what that moment in time was like and how those organizing efforts impacted later movements in the Bay Area. And if you have Occupy Oakland archives, the Oakland History Center would love to have them! 〰️ 6-7:30pm 〰️ Oakland History Center 〰️ FREE 〰️ more info
• Earth 7 with Author Deb Olin Unferth 〰️ If you don't already know Unferth's writing, you're in for a treat. If you do, you've probably already bought tickets before finishing this description. Either way, I'll just give you the novel summary on this one and you'll know if it's for you: "Two women meet on a beach of artificial sand. One was raised in a pod in the ocean and the other may or may not be a robot. Their love—or any love—seems so unlikely. Earth is severely depopulated. Some people have given up, gone off to Mars. Others pursue eternal life as digital code. And yet others, like Dylan and Melanie, are holdouts—and some of those holdouts are constructing a vast molecular collection in hopes that a future person may be alive to make a new Earth. Foolhardy? Misguided? Quixotic? Probably. But what can a human (or a robot) do?" 〰️ 6pm 〰️ Mechanics' Institute, SF 〰️ $15 〰️ more info
• Queer Home on Film: A Shorts Program 〰️ Home is a tricky thing for many people, and more so often for queer folks. This screening features short films and archival footage that circle around the complex "beauty, grief, joy, and community found in the spaces queer and trans people call home." Stick around afterwards for a conversation between artist and curator Aleo Landeta and filmmaker Jenni Olson. 〰️ 6-8pm 〰️ GLBT Historical Society, SF 〰️ $10 〰️ more info
• Pathway to Rugby 〰️ Are you rugby-curious but worried about the homophobia that sports can sometimes bring up? Boy do I have good news for you. The San Francisco Fog, the first gay and inclusive rugby club on the West Coast, is having one more beginner session this month! No experience necessary — just come and learn. You'll be a little bit behind, since these sessions have been going all month, but if you're interested, just go and meet people and see what's up! 〰️ 7:30-10pm 〰️ Crocker Amazon Soccer Fields, SF 〰️ FREE 〰️ more info
• Saints & Sinners: Queer Cabaret and Halloween Party 〰️ Come as a saint, leave as a sinner. Or the other way around I guess but you know what? I think that's way less likely! Meet local craftspeople, be amazed by a queer variety show, get possessed on the dance floor, and show off your best costume for a possible prize. 〰️ 7-10pm 〰️ Saint Joseph's Arts Society, SF 〰️ FREE 〰️ more info
• Celluloid Frontiers: A Missing Can of Film and Stop Genocide 〰️ As always, BAMPFA has some incredible stuff coming up so check out their full calendar. This week, they're showing two avant-garde films out of Bangladesh that tackle the nations complicated and turbulent political history: Stop Genocide, made by Zahir Raihan during the country's war for independence, and A Missing Can of Film by Naeem Mohaiemen which returns to the earlier work in light of Bangladesh's current upheaval. Mohaiemen will be there in person too, to discuss the films. 〰️ 7pm 〰️ BAMPFA, Berkeley 〰️ $18 〰️ more info
• The Book of Genocides with Dana Mashoian Walrath with Nick Sousanis 〰️ This book could win some kind of award for "books you should read but that will make you feel very bad." Ten genocides, five centuries, a tour of some of humanity's darkest moments — from the slaughter of America's Indigenous people, to slavery, to Australia's violence against its own Aboriginal peoples, to the Armenian genocide, the Holocaust, the Rwandan genocide, and all the way up to today's genocide in Gaza. Why subject yourself to this? Because recognizing the patterns of genocide matters, and fighting the dehumanization that is required to carry them out is critically important. 〰️ 7pm 〰️ The Booksmith, SF 〰️ FREE 〰️ more info
• Heretical Girls 〰️ I confess I don't know much about this film, other than that it was shot in Oakland and it is "a montage of unconnected scenes and vignettes showcasing all kinds of folk depravity and foul ecstasy performed by women, femmes and enbies." Which sounds cool! Also it's only a dollar to go. And you can eat pizza. Truly why not. 〰️ 7pm 〰️ Heshers Pizza, Oakland 〰️ $1 〰️ more info
• Jennifer's Body Outdoor Movie Night 〰️ Is Jennifer's body a truly feminist work of art? Is it guilty of queerbaiting? Both? Neither? Come watch the film and form your own opinions. Bring a blanket because this is an outdoor event and it gets chilly on the hill! 〰️ 7-10pm 〰️ Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park 〰️ FREE 〰️ more info
• Queer Flirt Night, Halloween Edition 〰️ Want a boo to yell “BOO!” at? Look no further! The theme of this one is vampires vs vixens, so take your pick and interpret that how you will. There will be flirting (with cute little notes exchanged) along with dyke arm wrestling, slick DJ's, and queer cuties as far as the eye can see for you to take a bite out of (with consent). 〰️ 8pm-1am 〰️ There/There, Oakland 〰️ $16.28 〰️ more info

• City Creatures 〰️ Come ready to appreciate the life that lives around, because, and in spite of humans. This immersive exhibition features illustrations, installations, conversations, and more, all circling "the overlooked relationships between people, animals, and the environments we share." Look at the art, and then stick around for an evening of DJs and cocktails. 〰️ 2-6pm 〰️ Terra Gallery, SF 〰️ showcase FREE, evening party ticket required $15 〰️ more info
• Kids Architecture Workshop: Build Your Own Spooky House 〰️ For the kid who wants to go as Frank Geary's Fallingwater for Halloween (hey, it could happen) this is a chance to put your construction genius into practice. Build a spooky house to your very own specifications. All supplies provided. 〰️ 4:30-6pm 〰️ PHOENIX, Alameda 〰️ $21.25+ 〰️ more info
• A Veiled History of Masks 〰️ As Macbeth says, “False face must hide what the false heart doth know.” In this talk, you'll get a wide range of histories of false faces — from Greek tragedy, to Japanese Nō theater, to Poe’s “The Mask of the Red Death,” to West African rituals. Then you'll be offered the opportunity to immediately put your newfound knowledge to use with a Venetian masked ball. Pedagogy in practice! Costumes highly encouraged. Personally, I might wear a mask to not be seen at the same venue that hosted Peter Thiel's Antichrist lectures. 〰️ 5pm 〰️ Commonwealth Club, SF 〰️ $35 〰️ more info
• HOPS & HORRORS FILM FESTIVAL 〰️ Keep your horror local and artisanal at this film festival featuring homegrown filmmakers and their "blood, scares, monsters, madness, and everything that goes bump in the night." There will be a costume contest, and, of course, good beer. 〰️ 6-8pm 〰️ Alameda Brewing 〰️ FREE 〰️ more info
• Roll Fog @ NEIGHBORHOOD SPORTS CLUB: Zine Launch 〰️ Check out a preview of the documentary Roll Fog and pick up a rad zine about the (ongoing) making of the film. San Francisco is home to the oldest community-owned fútbol club in the US, which is now being threatened by a new private equity-backed rival. Yes, Daniel Lurie is involved. I can tell you're shocked. 〰️ 6-9pm 〰️ Neighborhood Sports Club, Oakland 〰️ FREE (but donate if you can) 〰️ more info
• The Civic Joy Fucks with Strange Strange Men and George Jr. & The 911s Benefit Show 〰️ If you read Emma Silvers and Amada Guest's piece about The Civic Joy Fucks and thought "oh hell yeah I'd love to see them play," here's you chance. They're joined by Strange Men and George Jr. & The 911s. Overall it will be funny, gritty, and weird. Plus it's for a good cause — they're collecting donations for Mission Action. 〰️ 6-8pm 〰️ El Rio, SF 〰️ FREE (but bring money to donate if you can) 〰️ more info
• Gay Shame New Friends Meeting 〰️ If you're the kind of gay who would absolutely light a Waymo on fire and are hoping to make new friends, this is for you. "Bring friends, lovers, exes, situationships and more." Meet new people to do [redacted] with. 〰️ 😷 COVID SAFE: masks required. 〰️ 7-9pm 〰️ DM @gay.shame on Instagram for the location (sorry) 〰️ FREE 〰️ more info
• Petaluma’s Houdini Séance: The Centennial Gathering 〰️ Have you ever wanted to absolutely piss off a ghost? This is a great opportunity! Join a medium as she tries to summon the spirit of Harry Houdini, a guy who spent a lot of his time debunking mediums. This is apparently a revival of a formerly annual event in Petaluma that started in 1964, and you know what, I love that for you guys. 〰️ 7-9pm 〰️ Petaluma History Library & Museum Petaluma 〰️ $40+ 〰️ more info
• A Funky Halloween with The Funk Revival Orchestra 〰️ I'm definitely more of a "fun goofy costume and dance party" kind of Halloween guy than a "I'm going to pee myself that's so scary" Halloween guy, so this is my kind of event. Come dance to the funk music, wave your arms around like an inflatable, bust out the roller skates if you've got them, that sort of thing. "Costumes are encouraged. Dancing is inevitable. The funk is guaranteed." 〰️ 8-10pm 〰️ Rythmix Cultural Works, Alameda 〰️ $32 〰️ more info
• Recreation 〰️ Party with people who love plants and soil (although this one is not at a greenhouse) at this music and mutual aid event. Meet activists, donate stuff, get activated, and get down to some funky beats. 〰️ 10pm-2am 〰️ 7th West, Oakland 〰️ FREE (but bring/donate what you can) 〰️ more info

• Free Craft: Mask Making 〰️ For those last-minute people who realize they don't have a costume on Halloween day, swoop by the museum and make one real quick! Or bring the kids and have them make an animal mask so good they'll decide to switch costumes even though you spent ages sourcing the one they asked for first. Fun for the whole family! This is all ages, so enjoy. 〰️ 10am-5pm 〰️ Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History 〰️ FREE 〰️ more info
• The Pumpkin Patch 〰️ In the evening, you'll get sugar high on glorious candy. But what if you got sugar high in the morning on glorious, slightly more refined fare like pumpkin pie choux, kabocha jack-o-lantern mooncake, pumpkin pan de muerto with cream cheese frosting filling, and salted egg pumpkin hand pie with mint chutney. That last one has me drooling in a very gross way. Get your treats before they sell out! 〰️ 10am-2pm 〰️ boon eat + drink, Guerneville 〰️ FREE (but bring money for food) 〰️ more info
• planting day on huyyatka 〰️ Probably worth thinking your costume through for this one because you're going to be planting 130 pollinator-supportive plants on a hillside wearing it. Or maybe you love a challenge! Wear your giant heavy armor if you want! I can't tell you what to do. Get your hands dirty before you head off to your spooky parties, because nothing is scarier than the loss of our native pollinators. 〰️ 10am-2pm 〰️ Lawrence Hall of Science, Berkeley 〰️ FREE 〰️ more info
• trick-or-treat with the rabbits 〰️ Wear a costume and snuggle some rabbits! I am so curious what the rabbits are going to think when all of a sudden the humans they're meeting are dressed very strangely. Then again, I suspect they think a lot of what we do is pretty weird. Find yourself a hella soft new best buddy, and start planning your 2027 matching Halloween costumes. 〰️ 11am-3pm 〰️ House Rabbit Society, Richmond 〰️ FREE (donations appreciated) 〰️ more info
• Plant Gall Gala 〰️ I have to say I do appreciate events that really have nothing to do with Halloween making the effort to figure out a tie in. At this one you'll walk around to find and learn about galls (swelling and growth on plants that can be created by fungi, bacteria, viruses or parasites), and then design a costume accessory inspired by those growths, and walk a green carpet. Sure! Why not! All ages welcome, but parents have to stick around if they bring their kids. 〰️ 11am-12pm 〰️ Tilden Nature Area, Berkeley 〰️ FREE 〰️ more info
• Spooky Slime Workshop 〰️ Remember when slime had a huge moment? The drama in the slime community was unmatched, let me tell you. But you don't have to know anything about that to enjoy a bit of ooze in your life. Come learn how to create ghastly, glowing, or glittery slime and learn a little bit about chemistry! Plus, you don't have to clean any of it up. 〰️ 11am or 2pm 〰️ The Tech Interactive, San Jose 〰️ $15 〰️ more info
• Tricks, Treats & Trinkets 〰️ If you need to burn off some steam before trick-or-treating, here's a great little market to meander: family friendly, local vendors, food trucks, coffee, beer, mini golf, and interesting trinkets and oddities for sale. The weather should be nice and the Sharks are playing right after, so it will be a fun time. 〰️ 1-7pm 〰️ 140 S. Montgomery, San Jose 〰️ FREE 〰️ more info
• Red Scare Communist Halloween Party 〰️ If your true dream of the afterlife is haunting a rich person for the rest of his days, I bet you'll like this one. Celebrate the spooky spectre of socialism with the Red Scare folks, featuring a costume contest, trivia, and thematic music. 〰️ 6-10pm 〰️ San Jose Peace & Justice Center 〰️ FREE 〰️ more info
• Halloween at Beauty Supply 〰️ Okay here is the part of the calendar where it starts to get hard to come up with fun and unique ways to describe a lot of different Halloween parties. This is a Halloween party! It features bands in costume as other bands (Christina’s Trip and Slugfeast as This Mortal Coil, towhead as Neutral Milk Hotel, Try the Pie as Mazzy Star and Lo Rot as Mariah Carey) which is a very fun concept! As with most things on this week's calendar: Wear a costume. 〰️ 7:30 〰️ Beauty Supply Arts, Oakland 〰️ $10 〰️ more info
• Night of the Chicken Dead Halloween Party 〰️ Do I fully understand what this event is? No. Am I extremely interested in something that includes the lines "Behold the mighty ancestor of our beloved Poultry, Pride of Petaluma" and "Dredged from riverbed: fossilized remains of Prehistoric Avian Megafauna?" Yes. What is going to happen at this event? I'm not entirely sure. I think it involves a bird fossil, tarot, eggnog, and an incubator. Costumes should be either paleontology or chicken themed. Someone please go to this and tell me what the fuck is going on. 〰️ 7-11pm 〰️ Hall of the Above, Petaluma 〰️ $50 〰️ more info
• Departed Spirits 〰️ Clio's is one of those venues where I have to stop myself from putting every single even they have on our calendar, so go look at their listings. If the scariest thing to you is someone breaking the spine of a book, this is your party. Costumes required at this one: "Come dressed as a lost soul, a dead idea, a forgotten moment, an out-of-print book, an ancient zeitgeist, or an empty bottle of booze." Free idea: Bone Didion. I will not elaborate. 〰️ 7-11:59pm 〰️ Clio's Books, Oakland 〰️ $28.52 〰️ more info
• Dolly's Mile High Club 〰️ This might be one of the last things you can go to at Eli's ever (although hopefully not!), so get your wigs cleaned and your tits fluffed and your ass bedazzled. Plus if you're in a Dolly costume it's only $1 to get in. 〰️ 8pm-late 〰️ Eli's Mile High Club, Oakland 〰️ $10 〰️ more info
• 10 Years of Halloween at the Cat House 〰️ Another Halloween Party! Celebrate 10 years of Cat House Halloweens with a good old-fashioned celebration at a beloved local bar. 〰️ 8pm-1am 〰️ The Cat House Bar, Oakland 〰️ FREE 〰️ more info
• Night of 1000 Mary Todds 〰️ In honor of Oh, Mary! coming to the Bay Area (still a handful of tickets left), get your black dress and repressed sexuality ready for a night of Mary Todd Lincoln chaos. Throw an entire woman down the stairs! Do Cole Escola proud and bring maximum nonsense with a room full of Mary Todds. 〰️ 9pm 〰️ White Horse Inn, Oakland 〰️ $10, unless you're dressed as Mary Todd, in which case $1 〰️ more info
• Dark Hallow: Halloween Immersive Variety Show Party 〰️ Take your pick: vampire, werewolf, or slayer. Pick wisely because this event includes audience immersion and you may be asked to play the part. This variety show features aerial acrobatics, a photobooth, performance art, and a legendary afterparty. 〰️ 9pm-1:45am 〰️ Fluid510, Oakland 〰️ $45+ 〰️ more info
• Final Girls Halloween Night with Finishher b2b Source, Freak POV, Parking Structure, and Girls Trip 〰️ In researching to write this blurb that should just say "this is a hot Halloween dance party you should go to" I wound up researching the origin of the phrase "final girl" and learning about the scholarship of Carol J. Clover (who coined the term) and got totally distracted by her paper about gender dynamics in warrior maiden folklore. ANYWAY. Go to this party; it will be hot. 〰️ 9pm-close 〰️ El Rio, SF 〰️ $10 〰️ more info

• Diwali Celebration 〰️ Celebrate Diwali (the beginning of the new year in the Indian lunar calendar) with a whole day's worth of activities — from henna art, to talks by chefs, to dances, to mahjong, to special museum tours. Fun fact: In 2025, a Diwali celebration in Uttar Pradesh India broke the Guiness World Record for the largest display of oil lamps. They had 2,617,615! That's basically six oil lamps for every single resident of Oakland. 〰️ 10am 〰️ Asian Art Museum, SF 〰️ FREE 〰️ more info
• Vivacious Vessels: Fiber Wrapped Coil Baskets with Vicki Assegued 〰️ Fall is truly upon us and that means that basketcore has returned in full force. Learn how to create your own elaborate and beautiful baskets using a series of fiber wrapping and weaving techniques. No experience necessary, all materials supplied. 〰️ 11am-3pm 〰️ San Jose Museum of Quilts & Textiles 〰️ $130 〰️ https:〰️tinyurl.com/2kvj4hue
• Feral 〰️ In case you were thinking to yourself, "you know, COYOTE hasn't put many sex parties on the calendar recently, what gives?" never fear! We are back in action with this event for those who like squeaky toys, kitty play, tug of war, and tails of a wide variety of shapes and sizes. This event has two spaces: one for sexual play and one for non-sexual play. Check the rules and be cool. 〰️ 😷 COVID SAFE: negative COVID test required before entry. 〰️ 12-5pm 〰️ Ethology Collective, Oakland 〰️ $25 〰️ more info
• The Gymnasts of Fisherman Colony 〰️ Follow three teenage girls in Pakistan as they follow their passion for gymnastics and, unfortunately but not all that surprisingly, clash with cultural expectations around what girls should be allowed to do. "The film follows their journey as they find themselves straddling two polar opposite worlds as they push to make space for themselves through gymnastics. The result is a lyrical and deeply human portrait of three young girls from a corner of the world we rarely see on screen." After the film, stick around for a Q&A with director Habiba Nosheen moderated by Jenni Olson. 〰️ 1pm 〰️ New People Cinema, SF 〰️ $17.62 〰️ more info
• Camino de los Muertos 〰️ Take a stroll through Santa Clara University and enjoy live music, Catrina competitions, foods, vendors, and beautiful, handmade altars commemorating El Día de los Muertos. There will also be a special mass (in Spanish) at 5pm in Mission Santa Clara if you're interested in that sort of thing. 〰️ 5-9pm 〰️ Santa Clara University 〰️ FREE 〰️ more info
• Filipino Ghost Stories 〰️ You likely know about El Día de los Muertos, but perhaps lesser known to some is the Filipino tradition of undas — a ritual in which families visit their departed loved ones where they're buried to celebrate them. Partake in your own little taste of undas at this evening "featuring two of the West Coast’s finest mixologists stirring up spooky, story-driven pours inspired by Filipino folklore and ghost tales." 〰️ 6-10pm 〰️ Viridian, Oakland 〰️ FREE (but bring money for drinks) 〰️ more info

• Assessing Mercury Exposure in Urban Coyotes 〰️ It is no secret that we here at COYOTE are big fans of our region's scrappy Canis latrans. Hell we'd vote for a coyote over Gavin Newsom any day! And so the health of our resident trickers is of great interest to us, including the fact that urban coyotes of the Bay Area may be exposed to high levels of mercury!?!? Seems bad! Come to this talk to find out how bad. 〰️ 12-12:50pm 〰️ Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park 〰️ FREE 〰️ more info
• Defending Bodily Autonomy 〰️ Amidst all the other horrible garbage fires, human rights abuses, and other disgusting examples of fascism, don't forget that Republicans are continuing to try and destroy people's rights to have a say in what happens to their own bodies! Between abortion bans and attacks on gender affirming care, the "current national legal landscape" for bodily autonomy is bleak. If you want to understand the contours of that blighted landscape, this talk is for you, featuring Elizabeth Gill, Senior Attorney with the ACLU National LGBT & HIV Project. 〰️ 1-2pm 〰️ UC Berkeley 〰️ FREE 〰️ more info
• Tendon thread feat. Tanya Lukin Linklater 〰️ What does it feel like to see the art and technology of your people on display in a museum? Sugpiaq artist Tanya Lukin Linklater engages with that question in her work, in which she visits Sugpiaq technologies currently captured by museum and creates speculative responses using photography, objects, sculpture, movement, and more. If these ideas compel you, Linklater is also hosting a hands-on workshop to further explore those ideas the next day (application required, more here). 〰️ 5-6:30pm 〰️ UC Berkeley 〰️ FREE 〰️ more info
• Make Your Own Perfume 〰️ "What makes a perfume smell expensive? Why do some scents disappear in minutes while others linger all day? And what happens when you mix something floral, woody, smoky, or sweet?" This perfume workshop will answer those questions and more, and teach you the ways of the olfactory arts. You'll leave with a custom 10ml bottle of your own personal, handmade fragrance and probably an expensive new hobby. Make one for yourself or for your crush so you can sniff them. "Top notes: you're hot." 〰️ 6:30-8pm 〰️ The Love Potion Library, SF 〰️ $75 〰️ https:〰️luma.com/dm9hcg5q
• Expert talk: Living with Lions in Marin 〰️ Did you know that there's a mountain lion in Marin who enjoys going swimming in the lakes? Hear from Dr. Quinton Martins about the local lions, their ecology, behavior, how human encroachment threatens these beautiful creatures, and what each of us can do about it. 〰️ 6pm 〰️ Sausalito Women's Club 〰️ FREE, email to RSVP 〰️ more info

• Free Rides to the Polls 〰️ Don't have transportation to get to your local voting location? Want to roll up to the polls in maximum style? The East Bay Coyotes are offering free rides for Concord residents who need them! "Tu voto importa. Déjanos ayudarte a llegar de manera segura." 〰️ 5-7:45pm 〰️ Concord 〰️ FREE 〰️ more info (más información)
• Tommy Orange and Shane Hawk talk Indigenous horror stories 〰️ This one is waitlist-only at this point, and I usually don't put those on the calendar, but I'm sharing this because it's just too good, and I'm probably going to loiter about outside Local Economy to see if I can manage to get in. The team behind Never Whistle at Night (an Indigenous fiction horror anthology that you should absolutely read) has a new volume out called Back for Blood: Never Whistle at Night Part II, and it goes so hard. Hear co-editors Shane Hawk and Ted Van Alst Jr. talk about dread, horror, appetite, and more. 〰️ 6-7:30pm 〰️ Local Economy, Oakland 〰️ FREE 〰️ more info
• Election Night: 2026 Midterm Election Watch Party 〰️ If you are somehow still interested in attending an election watch party in the year of our lord 2026, I bow down to your fortitude and pray for your therapist. And as you know, I am never one to forget about the most deranged readers of this calendar, so here is an election watch party just for you, you sickos. Featuring food, drinks, and a panel of experts from UC Berkeley's Institute of Governmental Studies and the Robert T. Matsui Center for Politics and Public Service. 〰️ 6-9pm 〰️ UC Berkeley 〰️ FREE 〰️ more info
• Saint Joseph’s Art Society & Lo-Fi Oyster Co. present Normal Dreams featuring Liana Zhen-Ai and Astrid Sonne 〰️ What is experimental dance if not an oyster being opened, hoping for a pearl — squishy, hard, mysterious, sometimes magical? Does that make any sense? Can you tell I know nothing about experimental dance? But maybe you do, and you like oysters, and if so this is a must-see. Dancer Liana Zhen-ai and composer Astrid Sonne's Normal Dream is described as an evening at the intersection of dance, light, electronic music. Plus oyster service. Shuck those feelings, my friends. 〰️ 7-10pm 〰️ Saint Joseph's Arts Society, SF 〰️ $40 〰️ more info
• How a Shark Thinks 〰️ Don't judge a shark by its cover (or its beady eyes), these creatures are full of complexity, fascinating behaviors, and life histories. Did you know that sharks, as an evolutionary group, are older than trees? They're also older than the rings on Saturn, and the North Star. I swear I am not making these things up. These ancient creatures have learned a lot along the way, and at this talk you'll hear Dr. Stephen Palumbi, Professor of Marine Sciences at Stanford University reveal some of their secrets. 〰️ 7pm 〰️ Hopmonk Tavern, Novato 〰️ FREE 〰️ more info

• Surface as Voice - Threads to 3D | Workshop 3 〰️ I missed the first two of these and am kicking myself because it seems like such a cool series! Learn how to translate digital geometry and designs into three-dimensional forms, and take handmade patterns from idea all the way to 3D printing. You don't have to have gone to the first two sessions to come to this one, so bring your ideas and your spatial reasoning and have fun! 〰️ 10am-12pm 〰️ San Jose State University 〰️ FREE 〰️ more info
• Data Are Made, Not Found 〰️ If nothing else, true geeks should appreciate the correct pluralization of data in the title of danah boyd's latest book, which she is on hand to talk about at this event. The book chronicles the surprising drama and challenge of the 2020 census — from "Jenga politics," to the pandemic, to natural disasters. Copies won't be on sale at this, but if you bring your own copy that was sourced elsewhere (we recommend your local indie bookstore), boyd will sign it for you after the event. 〰️ 12:10-1:30pm 〰️ UC Berkeley 〰️ FREE 〰️ more info
• Ecological Worldmaking: Field Notes from Speculative Science and More Than Human Aesthetics 〰️ This is a real murderers row of interesting people engaging with the human and nonhuman (or, in the parlance of these scholars, "more than human") world and all its complexities and strangeness. Scholars Donna Haraway, Karolina Karlic, Mark Nash, Dimitris Papadopoulos, Maria Puig de la Bellacasa, and Kriti Sharma will all be on hand to discuss "Crossing the human exceptionalist boundaries of social imagination, engaging speculatively with science, and conjuring critical aesthetics." 〰️ 12:15-1:30pm 〰️ UC Santa Cruz 〰️ FREE 〰️ more info
• Millennial Punk: Episodes 1 & 2 + Conversation 〰️ Is punk dead? If so, what do we make of the punk that currently exists? This screening of the first two episodes of a German documentary series Millennial Punk – Eine Subkultur in Zeiten der Digitalisierung ponders the dead and undead status of punk through those who were a part of the scene in the 1990s and early 2000s. After the screening, writer Diana Ringelsiep and director Felix Bundschuh will have a conversation with audience Q&A. And if you're hooked and want to see episodes 3 and 4, come back the next day.〰️ 6-8pm 〰️ Goethe-Institut, SF 〰️ FREE 〰️ more info
• Panel: Evolving the Archive 〰️ Archiving is more than just storing or hoarding material. An archive is a living thing that must breathe both in and out. Archivists think about not just how to preserve, but also how to make room for more stories, histories, and testimonies. At this panel you'll hear from four archivists working across disciplines about how they think about spaces of public memory, accessible archives, storytelling, digitization, and memorial. 〰️ 6-7:30pm 〰️ SFPL Koret Auditorium 〰️ FREE 〰️ more info
• Moth Belly Affordable Art Market 〰️ I love the idea for this art market: everything is under $200! Come get real art by real artists at a chill price point. There will be prints, crafts, merch, and other forms of art and 100% of the proceeds will be going to Hospitality House, an incredible org doing great work to support low-income and unhoused adults across the Tenderloin, Sixth Street Corridor, and Mid-Market neighborhoods. Buy good art from good people for a good cause at a good price. 〰️ 6-9pm 〰️ Moth Belly Gallery, SF 〰️ FREE (but bring money duh) 〰️ more info
• Priyanka Mattoo, How to Be Less Useful 〰️ If you liked How to do Nothing but wish it were more aimed at your personal midlife crisis, this book event is for you! Mattoo's book (subtitle The Joy of Inefficiency) is all about how less can be more — more joy, more pleasure, more light. Let yourself be slower, stranger, and inscrutable to the algorithm. 〰️ 7-8pm 〰️ Bookshop Santa Cruz 〰️ FREE 〰️ more info
• SF: Wicked Grounds Presents: SpankLab! 〰️ By now your ass is probably recovered from Folsom, and so I offer unto you a spank party. Learn new skills and tools at this community event open to all experience levels. Bring toys if you have them and questions if you want to ask an expert who will be on hand (and hands-on, if you want). 〰️ 7pm (don't be late, doors close permanently at 7:15) 〰️ Wicked Grounds, SF 〰️ $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're curious how we pick events, read this. And 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