Sights & Sounds is your weekly guide to the Bay Area arts scene. Award-winning, best-selling author and columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle Vanessa Hua told KALW’s Jen Chien about three spectacular arts events happening around the Bay this week.
- Eat Real Fest - Jack London Square 9/14-16
- Northern California International Dragon Festival - Lake Merritt 9/15 & 9/16
- Autumn Moon Festival - San Francisco's Chinatown 9/15 & 9/16
The Eat Real Food Festival at Jack London Square in Oakland begins this Friday 9/14 and goes through Sunday 9/16. It’s like a state fair, a street-food festival, and a block party rolled into one to create a celebration of good food. There will be live music and art as well as a Kidzone loaded with activities on the Harrison Street side. Cooking classes will also be available at the festival, so if you want to learn how to make cheese or ferment vegetables this is for you!
The Northern California International Dragon Festival will be happening at Lake Merritt in Oakland this Saturday 9/15 and Sunday 9/16. Over one hundred colorful 40-foot dragon boats are set to race to the beating of the drums. There will also be performances, delicious food, clothes and crafts vendors, and activities for the kids happening in the Dragon Land area.
“There’s something so cool about seeing something you know has such a long tradition that is being kept alive here.”
The Autumn Moon Festival will take place in San Francisco's Chinatown this Saturday 9/15 and Sunday 9/16. The annual celebration started in 1991 and is sponsored by the Chinatown Merchants Association and will feature dance troupes and musical performances throughout the weekend as well as plenty of food vendors and the Miss Teen Chinatown pageant. The opening parade will begin on Saturday at 11 am at the Grant Avenue Dragon Gate.
"A favorite thing to be eaten is Mooncakes. They’re the Chinese equivalent of Fruitcakes. You will get boxes and boxes of them during this time and you will give away boxes and boxes of them."
Vanessa’s debut novel, A River of Stars, which she’s described as “a pregnant Thelma and Louise,” is available right now in bookstores, libraries, or wherever you get your books.