The Edit
The October Social Calendar
In October, the corridor month into the holiday season, the city doubles down on its cultural happenings and almost-spooky, stylish affairs. A literary festival takes over bookstores, theaters and a former supper club. A design show goes all in on metal, and the pre-Halloween vibes reign supreme. From North Beach to Golden Gate Park, here’s where to seek out prime fall excitement.
The literary circuit
Litquake
Across the city, October 8 to 24
San Francisco’s beloved literary festival returns with more than 80 events and a lineup that includes Hernan Diaz, Marlon James, Min Jin Lee, Walter Mosley and Claudia Rankine. The opening-night Booksellers Ball takes place at 524 Union Street, the former home of the Paper Doll, North Beach’s legendary underground LGBTQ supper club, with an open bar and a literary drag performance in honor of the city’s independent bookstores. Keep an eye out, too, for the Porchlight storytelling series, which takes over the Vogue Theater on the 22nd.
The design moment
Métallique Chic Gala at the San Francisco Fall Show
Fort Mason Center, October 14 to 18
A social calendar do since 1982, the Fall Show annually gathers the world’s leading antiques and design dealers. This year’s 44th edition is a celebration of metal in every finish, from gilded and silvered to hammered and patinated, with Town & Country editor-in-chief Stellene Volandes and Zac Posen as honorary co-chairs and interior designer Suzanne Tucker as show chair. Naturally, the opening-night gala on the 14th is destined to dazzle.
The curtain call
North by Northwest
A.C.T.’s Toni Rembe Theater, through October 18
Emma Rice, the director behind A.C.T.’s critically acclaimed 2009 production of Brief Encounter, brings Hitchcock’s 1959 classic to the stage as a comedy, complete with an advertising executive mistaken for a spy, a cross-country chase and a dash of romance. The theater is atmospheric enough, but to truly set the mood, stop for a cocktail at nearby Stookey’s Club Moderne before curtain.
The art opening
Raven Chacon
SFMOMA, opening October 24
Navajo composer and artist Raven Chacon, winner of the 2022 Pulitzer Prize for Music, presents a seven-channel video installation with drawings and an ambient soundtrack as part of SFMOMA’s New Work series. This is Chacon’s first West Coast solo showing, one that ties together his Diné upbringing, background in experimental and noise music, and a long-running interest in how land is claimed and named.
The Halloween spectacle
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Grace Cathedral, October 30
Just across California Street, Grace Cathedral will become a movie theater for one night, as SFJAZZ presents the 1920 silent film starring John Barrymore. Organist Dorothy Papadakos, a member of the GRAMMY-winning Paul Winter Consort and the former Cathedral Organist of New York’s Cathedral of St. John the Divine, performs a live score on the cathedral’s 7,500-pipe Aeolian-Skinner organ. Costumes are optional, but highly recommended.
Shop The Edit
For a little metallic drama beyond Fort Mason, look to San Francisco jewelry designer Anna Monet. Her Ouroboros bracelet coils three golden serpents around the wrist, complete with sapphire eyes and just enough Halloween mischief. Better still, make an afternoon of it. Ask The Huntington’s concierge to help arrange a private appointment at Monet’s Valencia Street studio, where each piece is made by hand.