FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  

44th Annual Carnaval San Francisco 2022 – May 28 & 29 – 
Memorial Day Weekend 

Hundreds of Dancers, Drummers, Skaters, Musicians and More 
Return to San Francisco’s Mission District After Two Year Pandemic Related Hiatus  

Festival to Include First-Ever Community-Led, Permitted Cannabis Garden, New Tech & Gaming Pavilion and LGBTQ Stage

SAN FRANCISCO (January 28, 2022) – 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 -- is making a celebratory return after a two-year pandemic related hiatus. The 44th annual event, themed “Colores de Amor – Inclusivity, Family and Community,” will take place Memorial Day weekend, May 28 and 29, 2022 in San Francisco’s Calle 24 Latino Cultural District. New to this year’s festival is the city’s first-ever community-lead, permitted cannabis garden; a new tech & gaming pavilion sponsored by Alaska Airlines, and a LGBTQ dedicated stage. 
 

Throughout the weekend, hundreds of Carnaval San Francisco artists will transform the district into an enormous celebration featuring music, dance, brilliant costumes and delicious food from Brazil, Mexico, Bolivia, Colombia, Trinidad, Tobago, Puerto Rico, Cuba, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Guatemala, Africa, Chile, Haiti and more. 
 

The event’s 2022 theme, “Colores de Amor: Inclusivity, Family and Community” was chosen to highlight care, love and support for a community that has seen challenges and met them, particularly during the pandemic.
 

“As we make an exciting return to celebratory Carnaval San Francisco festivities, to understand this year’s theme, it’s important to understand what the community has been through these past two years,” said Rodrigo Duran, Executive Director of Carnaval San Francisco. “During the emergence of COVID-19, so many in this community took the initiative to provide the community with different forms of aid. The whole Carnaval San Francisco team understood the importance of our people and worked in collaboration with the San Francisco Latino Task Force as a response. The Mission Food Hub was formed and in May 2020, instead of the traditional grand parade and festival, we hosted our first Health and Wellness event. These acts of service weren’t solely out of duty, but of pure intention, fervor, and love for the people that we are humbled to call ours. At this year’s festival and parade, we’ll celebrate while continuing our work, expanding upon, and paying our respects to, all the aspects of love.”
 

In addition to its massive festival and parade, Carnaval San Francisco also creates year-round cultural events such as its Mardi Gras Fat Tuesday festivities, annual Royalty Competition, photo exhibits in public spaces; and its year-round Cultural Arts & Health Education program currently in place at Mission District public schools.
 

This year’s Carnaval San Francisco Festival will be held Saturday and Sunday, May 28 and 29 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.  Taking place on Harrison Street between 16th and 24th streets, the festival will feature a rich assortment of food, music, dance, arts, crafts, the new tech and gaming pavilion, the cannabis garden and other fun activities and entertainment on several stages for people of all ages to enjoy.  
 

The Grand Parade on Sunday, May 29, begins at 9:30 a.m. with 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 www.carnavalsanfrancisco.org.  
 

For more information about the skaters' participation, please e-mail D. Miles Jr. at sk8godfather@earthlink.net