Mayor Daniel Lurie today broke ground on a newly redesigned playground in the Tenderloin, marking a step forward for the neighborhood’s families and children. The project will deliver an improved public space with a reconfigured layout, a more secure and cohesive play area, and accessibility improvements.

Originally built in 1993, the Tenderloin Recreation Center playground has not been renovated in more than three decades. This project represents a significant investment in the health, well-being, and future of the community. The San Francisco Recreation and Park Commission approved the redesign in January 2025. With construction now underway, the project is on track for completion by summer 2026. 

The project is a partnership with KABOOM!, the Mimi and Peter Haas Fund, Crankstart, Cal Fire, Wu Yee Children’s Services, SF Children and Nature, the Low Income Investment Fund, Department of Early Childhood, and Head Start California. For more information, click the link below. 

More than 200 young children at seven San Francisco childcare centers and family childcare homes now have access to newly renovated green play spaces that spark learning, movement, and imagination.

The upgrades were unveiled earlier this week at a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the FACES childcare center in the Bayview with Mayor Daniel Lurie. These improvements were made possible through the Connecting Children with Nature program, led by the Low Income Investment Fund (LIIF) with funding from the San Francisco Department of Early Childhood, and in collaboration with Rec and Park and SF Children & Nature.

The play areas feature gardens, trees donated by the Friends of the Urban Forest, logs and stumps for climbing, sand and gravel pits, creeks, mud kitchens, and other natural materials. Designs were created with input from educators to align with learning goals, and LIIF is also providing a year of teacher training in nature-based education.

Since 2021, the program has transformed more than 30 childcare play spaces citywide, with 10 more planned in the coming year. Learn more and see photos at the link below. 

Mayor Daniel Lurie and the Sijbrandij Foundation announced yesterday the launch of Big Art Loop, an initiative that plans to bring up to 100 temporary large-scale sculptures to San Francisco over the next three years. The Big Art Loop will form a walkable and bikeable trail around the city, transforming public spaces into an open-air gallery for everyone to enjoy.

Big Art Loop is founded and funded by the Sijbrandij Foundation, with curation and operations led by Building 180. With eight Big Art installations already complete, and another 12 in process through 2025, the Sijbrandij Foundation has already spent over $2 million in the initiative’s first year. Big Art Loop brings public art into daily life to encourage civic engagement by working with city and community partners.

Unlike traditional public art programs that commission new work, the Big Art Loop brings existing sculptures out of storage and into neighborhoods, making them accessible to everyone. Artworks are selected through an open call for artists and collaborative review with city agencies.

Since late 2024, Big Art Loop has installed eight sculptures across the city, each going through the proper public processes for review and approval. Those in our parks include: 

New installations are underway with additional partnerships and locations to be announced. For more information, click the link below. 

Thank you to everyone who joined us for our second Sunset Dunes open house last weekend. Rec and Park staff met with participants to discuss interim improvements at Sunset Dunes, as well as the process to create the future park. Hundreds of parkgoers attended and provided feedback. 

In case you missed it, you can still provide feedback through our Sunset Dunes survey, which is open through the end of the year. Let us know what’s working, what’s not, and what you'd love to see more of at Sunset Dunes. For more information, click the link below. 

Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, the free annual music festival, returns to Golden Gate Park on Friday, October 3 and runs through Sunday, October 5 at Hellman Hollow and Lindley and Marx meadows. Featuring more than 70 artists across six stages, the lineup includes Lucinda Williams, Courtney Barnett, Samara Joy, Robert Earl Keen, String Cheese Incident and more. See the maps at this link for details on road and bicycle path closures in the park.

For more information, including the full lineup, click the link below.

San Francisco Fleet Week returns to San Francisco from October 5 to 13. Be sure to check out all of the Fleet Week events, including the neighborhood concert series visiting Patricia's Green, Noe Valley Town Square, India Basin Waterfront Park, Union Square, and the Golden Gate Park Bandshell! For more information, click the link below.

Celebrate Fleet Week with a day of music, food, and family fun at India Basin Waterfront Park (900 Innes Avenue) on Saturday, October 11 from noon to 4 p.m. Enjoy free jump houses, outdoor games, haircuts, and live performances by Afterthought and The Top Chefs and the U.S. Air Force Band of the Golden West’s Travis Brass. The stage program begins at 1 p.m.

Interested in supporting this event? Volunteer to help facilitate youth activities, including face painting. Sign up at this link. For more information, click the link below. 

October marks the start of spooky season in our parks! Scaregrove, Rec and Park's Halloween bash, brings Boo! on the Bayou fun to Stern Grove (19th Avenue and Sloat Boulevard) on Friday, October 24 from 3 to 9 p.m.  Enjoy a haunted house, carnival rides, hay maze, arts and crafts, live entertainment, and food for sale. 

American Sign Language (ASL) interpretation will be provided at this event. For other accommodations, email rpdaccess@sfgov.org or call (415) 831-6841 with at least 72 hours' notice to help ensure availability.

See additional Halloween events in our parks below: 

Join us for free concerts with Illuminate Live in Golden Gate Park and Fulton Plaza. See upcoming shows below:  

Fulton Plaza (Fulton Street between Larkin and Hyde streets)

Golden Gate Bandshell (75 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive)

The Whale's Tail (JFK Promenade at the 14th Avenue East Meadow)

For the full concert schedule, click the link below.

Join the Friends of Alemany Farm for a fall vegetable gardening workshop on Saturday, October 4 from 10 a.m. to noon. Learn how to transition your garden from summer to fall, with topics including crop varieties, planting times, nutrient needs, irrigation and more. For more information and to RSVP, click the link below.

Join En2Action for its pop-up series at the India Basin Waterfront Park Food Pavilion (900 Innes Avenue), held on the weekends from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Papa Rudy’s, a proud family-owned business, has been serving Bayview–Hunters Point community for over 30 years. Founded in 1993 by Chef Garland Steuben, it is a local staple for slow-cooked marinated barbecue and soul food with a family vibe. Today, the second generation keeps the tradition alive, and will be bringing the same authentic flavors to The Food Pavilion on Saturdays and Sundays.

Additionally, on Mondays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., an assortment of cafe drinks and pastries from Ujamaa Kitchen will be available to help start your week right. For more information, click the link below.  

Come out for Cinema on the Square, a series of three free San Francisco-themed movies in Union Square Plaza (333 Post Street). The final screening in this series, presented in partnership with Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, takes place on Saturday, October 4 featuring "The Birds."

Kick off spooky season with Alfred Hitchcock’s classic horror-thriller, with the opening scene of the movie filmed in Union Square. Pre-show fun starts at 5 p.m. For more information, click the link below.

Celebrate the autumn moon at Sunset Dunes and Irving Street with the Friends of Sunset Dunes and the Sunset Chinese Cultural District on Saturday, October 4 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. This all-ages event will feature a lion dance, mooncake, lantern parade and more. For more information, click the link below. 

Come out for free movie nights in McCoppin Square (Taraval Street and 23rd Avenue) this October. The first show takes place this Friday, October 3 starting at 5:30 p.m. with "Moana 2." There will be free food, popcorn and family fun! For more information, click the link below.

Join the Friends of Duboce Park for a free family movie night on Saturday October 4 with a screening of "Coco." The film starts at 7 p.m. on the upper lawn with snacks for sale in the park. For more information, click the link below.

Registration for the 27th season of the Jose Coronado Indoor Soccer (Futsal) League opens on Tuesday, October 7 at 10 a.m. This historic 5-on-5 league returns for youth ages 5 to 18 with recreational, intermediate and advanced teams available. All games are on Sundays. For more information, click the link below.

Come out to Glen Canyon Park Recreation Center (70 Elk Street) for Tuesday movie nights. The next will take place on October 7 beginning at 6 p.m. and will feature the 1962 film "Dial 'M' for Murder." Come meet your neighbors and enjoy these films. For more information, contact the center at (415) 239-4007.

Our Video of the Week comes from the San Francisco Bay Sox Girls Baseball Program and depicts their recent trip to Oracle Park, where the San Francisco Giants honored the 14u team for its division win at the Baseball for All Nationals this summer. Coaches and players took the field to kick off the game, hung out with Lou Seal, and got a surprise photobomb from Giants shortstop Willy Adames. Learn more about Bay Sox programming at the link below, including an upcoming fall baseball clinic on Saturday, October 18 at Jackson Playground (1645 17th Street) from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

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