COYOTE Calendar: September 3-September 9

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

Celebrate Dolly by telling off your boss, getting your nails done, and going to see 9 to 5. Celebrate Tim Curry by going to a Rocky Horror Picture Show screening (in Brentwood, Tiburon, Livermore, or, at a few later shows in October). Donate to the Nepalese community recovering from a recent catastrophic flood here.

Transit Month has begun! There are loads of events, and we’ll highlight a few in the calendar, but you can find the whole list here. This weekend the San Francisco Mime Troupe is putting on a musical tragicomedy, the Berkeley Actors Ensemble is doing A Midsummer Night's Dream free in the park, Fork in the Path is offering a knife making workshop, and the BlackMaria Gallery is offering showings of RAW, BLACK & BLUE by Shantré Pinkney. It's also the Kings Mountain Art Fair, the Belmont Greek Festival, the World Arts West Dance Festival, and the Superfest Disability Film Festival. And in the COYOTE Calendar’s first anti-recommendation, we hope that none of you attend the local homophobic baseball team’s homage to the world’s biggest TERF.

This week we've also got talking animals, nerds, zines, amateur sports, a “sexy tortilla making contest,” mysteries, and more. We'll post new events each Wednesday. Go forth and enjoy!

• Alaska Native Relationships with Cetaceans 〰️ Inside me there are two wolves: one that doesn't put online events on the calendar, and one that really wants to tell people about this talk. The second wolf has won this round, so here we are. Hear Roberta Glenn (Inupiaq), speak about the stewardship practices that have sustained communities and cetaceans for centuries. We love a framework that combines cultural knowledge and empirical science! 〰️ 7-8:30pm 〰️ ONLINE 〰️ $10 suggested donation (registration required) 〰️ more info
• How To Sit 〰️ I think at this point we all know that we're sitting wrong somehow. But what remains a mystery is how to actually sit in a way that doesn't destroy your back or your soul. This class isn't about militantly correct posture, it's about how finding the right position for you can unlock awareness and attention that can actually help us be more creative and expressive. Or at least, expressive about something other than back pain. 〰️ 12-1pm 〰️ The Hivery, Mill Valley 〰️ $40 〰️ more info
• Hidden Layers Opening Reception 〰️ Some of the most insidious things about the AI systems that are being shoved down our throats are not terrible graphics, the disgusting food, or even the absurdly wrong interpretations, but rather all the the things that they hide behind those outputs. This new exhibit asked seventeen international artists to engage with these invisible elements to "make visible what AI keeps out of sight, its planetary infrastructures and latent spaces, its colonial underpinnings, its hallucinations, its silent reprocessing of the cultural past." 〰️ 4-6pm 〰️ Worth Ryder Art Gallery, Berkeley 〰️ FREE 〰️ more info
• Building Power in the Belly of a Beast 〰️ What goes missing when the focus is on visibility and snappy movements and slogans? How do we build real power to the people? What does power even mean in that context? These are the questions that organizers Aniya Butler, Darius Simpson, Keala Ochoa, Gopal Dayaneni and poet Sarah O'Neal (a COYOTE contributor!) will tackle in this panel that will "explore what this historical moment demands of those committed to liberation—and what it will require of us to build something capable of winning." 〰️ 5-8pm 〰️ Communities United for Restorative Youth Justice, Oakland 〰️ FREE 〰️ more info
• Sundial Reading Series 3: West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project edition 〰️ Listen to some incredible local writers (Mukethe Kawinzi! Vanessa Hua! Alexis Madrigal!) reading their work, and then stick around for the treat of Lauren Markham in conversation with Veronica Eady, executive director of the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project (WOEIP). 〰️ 6-8pm 〰️ Local Economy, Oakland 〰️ $10 suggested donation 〰️ more info
• Tender Issue One Release 〰️ What does it mean to be tender and, in turn, be a tender? That's the question behind Aleah Fajardo's new mail art zine produced in collaboration with Bathers Library. Come hear Fajardo talk about tenderness, joy, and softness and get yourself a copy of the zine. 〰️ 6:30-8pm 〰️ Bathers Library, Oakland 〰️ FREE 〰️ more info
• Fungi Foraging with Dr. Gordon Walker 〰️ Have you noticed a lack of mushroom based events on the calendar in the past months? That’s because it’s not mushroom foraging season. But never fear! That season approaches, and you can get ready for it by studying up on your fungi, which Dr. Gordon Walker is happy to help you do. 〰️ 7pm 〰️ Pegasus Books Downtown, Berkeley 〰️ FREE 〰️ more info
• Sounds of Swana - Afghan Cassette Archive and Mazikaa 〰️ If you haven't checked out the Afghan Cassette Archive, oh boy you are in for a real treat. The archive documents a moment in Afghan pop that blended synthesizers with distinctly traditional Afghan musical traditions. And in this talk you'll get to learn more about that and engage with some interactive listening experiences so you can vibe to these tapes and groove in person. 〰️ 7-9pm 〰️ RootStock Arts Center, Oakland 〰️ $30 〰️ more info
• Transnational Black culture in Liverpool at the end of the twentieth century: anomalous legacies in the ‘slaving capital of the world’ aka ‘the second city of Empire’ 〰️ It is a truth universally acknowledged that the longer an academic talk's title is the more legit the scholarship is. Okay that's probably not true, but we can't all come up with punny snappy titles for complicated stuff! This talk features Stephen Small, Liverpool native, talking about his many years of research on the city's unique history and the way that the Black community shaped and was shaped by the city itself in ways that are often misrepresented. 〰️ 12-1:30pm 〰️ UC Berkeley 〰️ FREE 〰️ more info
• Lavender League Pinball Season Opener 〰️ Get those paddle flappers ready because it's time to pinball, babies! Lavender Pinball League is a beginner-friendly league for queer people and allies, so come with whatever experience you might have at flinging balls. Have fun, be cool, and hit that jackpot. 〰️ 7-9:30pm 〰️ Emporium Arcade Bar, SF 〰️ $5 plus coin drop; NOTAFLOF* 〰️ more info
• Support Stud Alley 〰️ Show your support for the 18 people that the city of San Francisco had decided must be punished with jail time for [checks notes] dancing during pride (something they also want people to do). This rally will show support for the defendants and demand that the DA drop the charges. 〰️ 9am 〰️ 850 Bryant Street, SF 〰️ FREE 〰️ more info
• Little Brown Dolls No More Exhibition Reception 〰️ A new exhibit at SFPL documents the world of Filipino boxers, who came to the United States and were immediately derided as too small to be a threat. Rather than giving up, these boxers innovated the sport, and used the ring to “claim dignity, pride and visibility in the early twentieth century amid racial tensions and American empire expansion.” This opening reception will include a conversation between Dr. Bernard James Remollino (author of Pancho Villa: World Champion 1923) and Emmanuel Rivera of the Philippine Boxing Historical Society and Hall of Fame. 〰️ 6-7:30pm 〰️ Koret Auditorium, SFPL 〰️ FREE, RSVP required 〰️ more info

• Punk Band Karaoke 〰️ Okay what would be your go-to song for this? I think I'd go with "Glass House" by Screaming Females. Please tell me what you'd sing in the comments. Live-band karaoke is always so fun and makes you feel like a genuine rock star. Check the song list here. 〰️ 8pm sign ups, song start at 9pm 〰️ Eli's Mile High Club, Oakland 〰️ FREE 〰️ more info
• Tortilleras - Sapphic Latine Drag Show And Dance Party 〰️ This event features "a sexy tortilla making contest" so they're really operating a truly stratospheric level. There will be line dancing, there will be drag, there will be regular dancing, there will be baddies. I am absolutely not cool enough to attend this event, which is a strong endorsement. 〰️ 10pm-2am 〰️ White Horse Inn, Oakland 〰️ $16.88 〰️ more info
• About Last Night 〰️ At this point all your friends have probably heard your most unhinged dating stories a million times. But never fear! You can bring them to this show and not only will you get to tell a crowd about the time you woke up with an iguana between your boobs (buy me a drink and I'll tell you that one) but have a musician turn the story into a song. 〰️ 7:45-9:30pm 〰️ Make-Out Room, SF 〰️ $23.10 〰️ more info

• Free Fishing Day 〰️ Normally to fish in the Bay Area you need a fishing license, but if you're just curious about it and want to cast your bobber out and see whether you like it, you're in luck! On Free Fishing Day you can go out and fish for free! (Don't get too carried away, all the other fishing rules still apply.) If you're not even sure where you can fish nearby, try this list of Fishing the City spots. 〰️ all day 〰️ all over the Bay Area 〰️ FREE 〰️ more info
• Comedy in the Park 〰️ Bring a blanket and your chortles and enjoy a lineup of local comedians in a beautiful place. This one will feature "adult content and language" so maybe leave the littlest kids at home. Apparently last year's rendition of this event was a big hit, so they're running it back. 〰️ music from 6:15-7pm, comedy from 7-8:30pm 〰️ Creek Park Amphitheatre, San Anselmo 〰️ FREE 〰️ more info
• 2026 Battle of the Bay Flag Football 〰️ Here's a tip from COYOTE's resident sports sicko: Flag football is going to explode soon. The sport has been steadily growing in popularity as parents balk at sending their kids off to the brain pulverization fields, and even the NFL has gotten behind the sport. The 2028 Olympics in LA will feature flag football, and the Bay Area has some truly competitive youth teams. So if you want to see for yourself what this is like, check out this tournament that pits East Bay against West Bay high-school teams against one another.  〰️ 9-10:30am 〰️ FREE (as far as I can tell) 〰️ Piedmont High School 〰️ more info
• Oakland Noticing Club: Mysteries 〰️ I'm a big fan of the Oakland Noticing Club in general, but this month's theme is truly Reo bait: "things that make you wonder why they are the way they are, things that make you want to find out a history or make up a story. Why is that chair on the street? Why is that building still there? Who wrote that note on the sidewalk, and for whom? What happened to that tree?" My favorite kinds of stories are what we call "What's the Deal?" here at COYOTE, so yes, yes and yes on this from me. If you find any mysteries you want us to look into, please send them along! 〰️ 1-2pm 〰️ Local Economy, Oakland 〰️ FREE 〰️ more info
• Offline Navigation: Navigating without Networks and Phones 〰️ Do you know how to get around without the little computer in your pocket helping you along? I’m going to go ahead and guess that for most of you, the answer is no. But this is a good skill to have, not only to slip from beneath the ever-watchfull eye of the tech-giants, but also because if the grid goes down you probably want to know how to get home! Come learn the basics of navigation with some very cool nerds. 〰️ 😷 COVID SAFE: masks required for the indoor portions of this event 〰️  1-3:30pm 〰️ Tamarack, Oakland 〰️ FREE 〰️ more info
• The Great Gatsby Ball 〰️ Pretty self-explanatory on this one: Fet your best flapper outfit out for this 1920s dance party. Dance to waltzes, fox trots, and tangos performed by the Oaktown Strutters and try your hand at "that new dance sensation, the Charleston." Or, stand and try to perform a certain loss of innocence a la Nick. They aren't fully committing to the time period, so there will be a (cash) bar, no moonshine required. You can guess the dress code. 〰️ 6:30-11:45pm 〰️ Alameda Elks Lodge #1015 〰️ $30 〰️ more info
• Dewy: Heatwave 〰️ It's getting colder out but never fear, the babes continue to bring the heat. Work up a sweat shaking ass, and cool down with a wet t-shirt contest. Bring old friends, make new ones, and get slippery for love or money. This is a QTBIPOC-centered event. 〰️ 8pm-1am 〰️ There/There, Oakland 〰️ $8 〰️ more info
• Goddess Communion 〰️ This one is specifically for Black Femme Dommes and "is dedicated to honoring our power, artistry, leadership, and lived experiences while welcoming allies who are committed to showing up with respect, humility, and a willingness to learn." Check the full event description on this one so you can make sure you're showing up with the right intention and energy. Be cool. 〰️ 9pm 〰️ Roasis Space, Oakland 〰️ $35 〰️ more info
• Dollhouse Tattoo Flash Fundraiser 〰️ Get a cute tattoo and help raise money for the Pacific Center for Human Growth, a Berkeley-based organization that supports the queer community here in the Bay Area. This is first come, first serve, so check the flash sheet and have a sense of what you want when you show up (arms and legs only). I love the cute little bathtub! 〰️ 12-5pm 〰️ Dollhouse Tattoo, Berkeley 〰️ $100-150 sliding scale 〰️ more info
• Hoop it Up: 3x3 Basketball Tournament 〰️ Honestly I am a huge fan of showing up to adult non-professional sporting events and cheering on strangers. These folks are in it for the love of the game, you know? And this annual tournament is a really fun one. Go holler at some adults whose knees probably hurt. 〰️ 10am-7pm 〰️ Thrive City, SF 〰️ FREE 〰️ more info
• San Francisco Pickle Fest 〰️ As a long time pickle-truther I am delighted that we are in a moment of brine supremacy. This festival celebrates the glorious pickle in all its forms: food, cocktails, photo-ops and more. Wear green, eat green, get salty. 〰️ 12-6pm 〰️ 2036 Lombard Street, SF 〰️ $22.49 〰️ more info
• Drunk Theatre SF: The Wildest Bay Area Comedy! 〰️ Three comedy events on this calendar? Who even am I? Do I like comedy now? (The answer is no, but I like you, and you might like comedy! I live to serve.) If you don't mind witnessing a probably unhealthy relationship with alcohol, this show features a comedian taking five shots of whiskey and then attempting to perform an improvised play with sober colleagues. 〰️ 9:30-11pm 〰️ Eclectic Box, SF 〰️ $23.18+ 〰️ more info
• MALLORAMA 〰️ Get your rave on next to the Claire's. Dance to the scent of Subway and Auntie Anne's pretzels. Ponder the future of retail and third spaces by the cat cafe to the dulcet oontz-oontz of the South Bay's finest DJ's. This is a rave at a mall. 〰️ 10pm-2am 〰️ Eastridge Mall, San Jose 〰️ $65+ 〰️ more info

• 6th Annual Bizerkeley Food Fest 2026 "Healthy People, Healthy Communities" 〰️ Sample a huge range of vegan foods at this annual homage to all things plant based. This year the festival benefits the California Pitbull Rescue, and features music, prizes, and more. Bring some tupperware to take food home with you, and a blanket to hang out and eat on. 〰️ 12-6pm 〰️ Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Park, Berkeley 〰️ $8.24+ (kids under 18 are free) 〰️ more info
• Walter Riley x Marcus Books 〰️ Hear civil rights legend Walter Riley speak about his new book, Civil Rights and Structural Attacks: Conversations which documents Riley's 80 years of work fighting racism. From his teenage years in Durham fighting Jim Crow apartheid, to working with the Black Panthers and bus drivers in San Francisco, to getting his law degree and working as a criminal defense attorney from Oakland to Haiti, "Riley’s life is a masterclass in revolutionary persistence." 〰️ 1-3pm 〰️ Marcus Books, Oakland 〰️ $0-20 〰️ more info
• Chinatown Car Show & Parade 〰️ Vroom vroom, baby. See vintage and exotic cars, lion dances, and kung fu at this community event. Pretend you're in The Fast and the Furious. Nobody can stop you. 〰️ 10am-3:30pm (car parade starts at 3pm) 〰️ 1138 Grant Ave, SF 〰️ FREE 〰️ more info
• In Conversation - Jenni Olson with Elena Gross & Isaac Fellman 〰️ The current exhibit up at Queer Arts Featured is "REBELS, CRIMINALS, PIONEERS: Masc Heroes of the QPA Queer photo archive 1906-1976" and at this event you can hear one of the curators of the show (Jenni Olson) speak with Elena Gross (Director of Exhibitions & Public Programs at the GLBT Historical Society) and Isaac Fellman (Director of Archives and Special Collections at the GLBT Historical Society) about archives, representation, and queer history. 〰️ 7-9pm 〰️ Queer Arts Featured, SF 〰️ FREE (donations welcome) 〰️ more info
• San Francisco Zine Fest 〰️ I see zine event, I put zine event on calendar. This is COYOTE math, or something? Go get yourself some cute-ass little books! You won't regret it. This one has over 200 exhibitors, a zine making workshop, screen printing, and more! 〰️ 😷 COVID SAFE: masks required and provided 〰️ 11am-5pm 〰️ The Hibernia, SF 〰️ FREE 〰️ more info
• San Jose Lowrider Day 〰️ DJ, play "Get Low" by Lil Jon. I'm sure that lowrider aficionados are not tired of that joke! Roll through this celebration of very low cars, local vendors, community resources, and more. Meet the Low Rider Council and show your respects. 〰️ 12-6pm 〰️ Downtown San Jose 〰️ FREE 〰️ more info

• Free Labor Day Concert in the Park 〰️ Bring the family to the park and listen to some live music at the bandstand. This lineup is delightfully chaotic, from Bayou Breakdown to Montego Bay to a musical tribute to the Beatles (bring your own wig). 〰️ 1-2:30pm 〰️ Spreckels Temple of Music, SF 〰️ FREE 〰️ more info

• Black Oystercatchers and Sea Level Rise 〰️ Reader, I will not lie to you. I originally thought this talk was about humans who catch oysters who are Black. But no, it is about the bird species the Black Oystercatcher (Haematopus bachmani). Either way, interesting! Turns out Black Oystercatches are facing a range of threats, and you can use remote sensing to figure out which communities are at highest risk. 〰️ 6pm 〰️ Hopkins Marine Station, Pacific Grove 〰️ FREE 〰️ more info
• Animal Talk 〰️ Did you know that there is a "Coller Dolittle Prize for Two-way Interspecies Communication?" Well there is, apparently, and Dr. Julie Elie has won it so she is the real deal when it comes to communicating with animals. Dr. Elie's work looks at zebra finches and was able to decode their vocalizations into a basic vocabulary. Come hear her talk about this (in human language, not zebra finch sounds) and about what it really means to try and communicate with non-human animals. 〰️ 7pm 〰️ Hopmonk Tavern, Novato 〰️ FREE 〰️ more info
• Traditional Foods, Medicines & Songs of the Land 〰️ We live in a place that is absurdly rich in both natural beauty and cultural history. In this talk, Joe Salinas (Kashia Pomo Band of Indians) offers his wisdom about his people's living traditions of ecological care, foraging, relating to the land, singing, and more. 〰️ 6-8pm 〰️ Berkeley 〰️ $20+ sliding scale 〰️ more info
• The New Space Race: Power, Policy and the Moon 〰️ The moon is not simply our beautiful glorious sky cookie, but also, unfortunately, a place that certain people fight over to control. So much so that Stanford's Hoover Institution is dedicating and entire academic year's worth of talks in their "Nerds of the Roundtable" series to these moony questions. This is the first one, featuring Dan Berkenstock, will talk about "sustained American aerospace leadership." Know thy moon's enemy, I say. 〰️ 10-11am 〰️ Schultz Auditorium, Stanford 〰️ FREE 〰️ more info

• The Nerd Reich 〰️ The Bay Area has played a big part in the rise of fascism — from Berkeley's own Curtis Yarvin, to Palantir co-founder Peter Thiel. In his new book, journalist Gil Durán pulls back the curtain on the cult of Silicon Valley billionaires and their enablers and minions, and argues "that American democracy faces an existential threat from a group of billionaires who dream of world domination—and are taking steps to make their dystopian dreams into reality." Durán will be in conversation with local reporter Adam Becker, and this talk will surely be enraging and terrifying. 〰️ 7pm 〰️ Clio's Books, Oakland 〰️ $10-33.85 〰️ more info
• Storied: SF Season 9 + Intersections SF Launch Party 〰️ West Bay heads will be happy to hear that Storied SF is partnering with a new show called Intersections SF to bring you even more looks into the city's history and the working people behind it. Plus, there will be a raffle, music, merch, and more. 〰️ 6-9pm 〰️ Madrone Art Bar, SF 〰️ FREE 〰️ 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