Around the bay in March

The San Francisco Brewers Guild and Slow Food San Francisco present the Slow Beer Festival on Saturday, March 1st, in Golden Gate Park.

Courtesy of FLOAT Gallery

The event will run from noon until 4:00 p.m. at the San Francisco County Fair Building, just inside the 9th Avenue and Lincoln Park entrance (next to the Botanical Garden).  Tickets are $50 and benefit Slow Food San Francisco programs such as their Sanchez Elementary School Garden Project. You can buy tickets at any of the SF Brewers Guild breweries and also online at brownpapertickets.com.  The ticket price includes unlimited beer tasting as well as food from Hog Island Oyster Company, Fatted Calf Charcuterie, Thirsty Bear Brewing Company, Monk’s Kettle, Fish Restaurant, Massimo Gelato, Harley Farms Goat Cheese, Bodega Goat Cheese, Oktoberfeast Pretzels, King of Mushrooms, and Mendocino Mustard. Participating breweries include 21st Amendment Brewery, Beach Chalet, Gordon Biersch, Magnolia Brewery, Marin Brewing, San Francisco Brewing, Speakeasy Ales & Lagers, Thirsty Bear Brewing and Wunder Brewing among others. For more information, go to sfbrewersguild.org, slowbeersf.com, or slowfoodsanfrancisco.com.

On Saturday, March 15 the city will celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, and everything green, with a parade that includes thousands of dancers, musicians, and other types of groups from all over the state. Celebrating the 156th anniversary of the oldest and largest Saint Patrick’s Day parade west of the Mississippi, more than 250,000 people are expected to attend this joyous parade, presented by the United Irish Societies. And, back by popular demand, the family festival with games, music and Irish folklore will be the final destination of the day. The parade will begin at 11:30 a.m. at the corner of Second and Market, where more than 5,000 entertainers from all over the state, will reel about with laughter and revelry all the way to City Hall. Talented participants like San Francisco’s Irish Pipers and the San Mateo Bearcat Marching Band will spread the Irish cheer with the traditional sound of bagpipes and drum rolls while plenty of Irish dance schools will showcase their customs and fancy footwork. The Family Festival will be held at Civic Center Plaza and will include live music, face painting, delicious food, a world-class Beer Garden and some of the Bay Area’s top Irish performers will grace the festival stage. For more information, please visit www.sfstpatricksdayparade.com or call the parade hotline at (415) 675-9885.

Two exhibits currently on display at the FLOAT Gallery will be leaving soon and warrant a visit before they are gone. Peter Boyer’s mixed media pieces are built with materials designed for constructing buildings. His process consists of tearing off and reapplying materials like canvas, muslin, linen, paint, charcoal and graphite until the work attains what he describes as presence. Also featured at the FLOAT Gallery through March 15th is a compellation of stunning plasma jellyfish sculptures by Ed Kirshner and Bernd Weinmayer who create the one-of-a-kind art from glass, neon and gas plasma forming creations that seem to take on a life of their own.. Several other eye-catching plasma sculptures on display take on other unique forms. The closing party on March 15th from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. will feature live improvised ambient music by Cornelius Boots. FLOAT, located at 1091 Calcot Place, Unit 116 in Oakland, is the only floatation center and art gallery in the San Francisco Bay Area. Floatation therapy is a unique and powerful tool that allows you to shut out the world and drift into the deepest possible level of physical and mental relaxation. For more information call (510) 535-1702 or visit www.thefloatcenter.com.

The California Parks and Recreation Department (CDPR) is planning to put the contract for operating the ferry route to Angel Island up for a formal public bidding process. The CDPR attempted to have a stealth public meeting at the Tiburon Town Hall on January 22 without announcing the meeting to local public officials or business leaders. When word of the meeting spread, it was rescheduled at the last minute for February 19th. A crowd of over 75 people packed the Tiburon Town Hall meeting in February to voice their concerns over the possible threat to the McDonogh family’s longtime operation of the Angel Island-Tiburon ferry and the possibility of a change in the route to another facility other than Tiburon. The McDonogh family has run the ferry service since its inception around 50 years ago. When Angel Island became a State Park they received a long-term contract that expired in 1992 but have been operating under a month-to-month agreement since then. The meeting was held to gather input to be used in drafting a Request for Proposal (RFP) for the ferry route. The route is being referred to as the Angel Island-Marin route leading some to speculate that locations other than Tiburon are being considered. Tiburon city officials and business leaders are very concerned over the possible impact of loosing the popular ferry route.

The third annual Suffragette March highlights Women’s History Month at the Historical Park. On Saturday, March 8 at noon and 3:00 p.m. turn back the clock to 1901 and experience a costumed reenactment of a suffragette march in support of votes for women. At 2:00 p.m. join a salon of Victorian women as they discuss issues of the day. Also discover Families At Sea, the ranger-guided tour through the historic three-masted sailing ship Balclutha that explores the feminine presence at sea when a captain would bring his wife and daughters along on sea voyages, creating a family atmosphere. Vessel admission is $5 for adults and ages 15 and under free. Other programs celebrating Women’s History Month include a photographic exposition called Women Who Changed Maritime History, illustrating the often overlooked impact women have on maritime history, which will be on display for free at the Visitors Center throughout March from 9:30 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park is located at the west end of Fisherman’s Wharf, in San Francisco. The park includes a magnificent fleet of historic ships, visitor center, maritime museum (currently closed for renovation) and library. For more information about the park, or its public programs, please call (415) 447-5000 or visit the park’s website at http://www.nps.gov/safr.