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San Francisco Chronicle
06-07-2025
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
S.F.'s Fillmore Jazz Festival draws thousands after financial rescue, but uncertainty remains
Thousands carted around lawn chairs and squatted down on curbs for the first day of the Fillmore Jazz Festival on Saturday — a feat possible only due to an emergency funding rescue three months ago. The San Francisco festival, founded in 1986, was nearly canceled this year due to insurmountable operating costs. Each year it takes about $400,000 to put on the two-day free event, and by this April, the Fillmore Merchants Association was still in debt from last year, according to President Tim Omi. That month, the association announced it would be canceling this year's festival due to lack of funding. But just a few days later, Omi received a call from Avenue Greenlight, a nonprofit founded by crypto billionaire Chris Larsen that funds free community events in San Francisco. An undisclosed grant from Avenue Greenlight, plus support from District 2 Supervisor Stephen Sherrill and District 5 Supervisor Bilal Mahmood, made it possible to hold this year's event, Omi said. The festival filled 10 blocks of Fillmore Street, from Jackson Street south to Eddy Street, with dozens of vendors and live music stretching from 10 a.m to 6 p.m. 'It's great, except that the street is angled, so it's a challenge dancing,' Hong said. The two experienced dancers, both in their 70s, researched each of the festivals' acts ahead of time to decide which would have the best music to dance to. Before Saturday, Hong had not heard about the festival's funding challenges. But he said he believes more money should be put into arts events, such as the festival, to bring people together at a time when many feel divided. Alma Love, 79, said she has come to the jazz festival for the past 20 years both to enjoy the music and to meet new people. Between acts, she browsed the variety of vendors, her attention catching on a booth selling purses shaped like clocks and jars of peanut butter. Love said she was glad the festival found a way to secure funding without charging attendees, keeping it accessible to all. The festival continues Sunday with Kenny Washington, Zepparella, the Latin Jazz Youth Ensemble and the Caribbean All-Stars. Omi is planning for the festival to return in 2026, but it will require a renewed search for financial support because the funding from Avenue Greenlight was only a one-time grant. The merchants association is soliciting corporate sponsors for next year and collecting money through GoFundMe, he said. Omi is also hoping that the city will consider changing its fees and requirements to make it less burdensome for community groups to host free events in the city. For example, it cost the festival around $23,000 to comply with a city requirement to have separate cans for trash, recycling and compost — more than the fine it would pay if it just didn't comply, Omi said. There are also costs to reroute Muni bus routes around the street closures, he added. These events attract crowds that patronize both the booths set up along the street and the existing brick and mortar retail and restaurants. 'I think all street fairs in San Francisco, in order to continue, we need to come together as a city and identify that this adds value,' Omi said. 'We're bringing in close to 30,000 on the commercial corridor a day on a weekend that normally everyone leaves.'
CBS News
05-04-2025
- Entertainment
- CBS News
Fillmore Jazz Festival postponed to 2026 "due to lack of funding"
SAN FRANCISCO — It's considered the largest free jazz festival on the West Coast, but this year, the Fillmore may be filled with silence. The Fillmore Merchants Association announced the cancellation of the jazz festival this week due to a lack of funding. But Ricardo Scales, the man known as the "Black Liberace," is vowing to let the show go on. It wasn't a coincidence that Scales developed a passion for music. His mother, Patient Scales, started teaching him at the age of 5, and he hasn't stopped tickling the ivories since then. After decades of playing at iconic venues throughout the Bay Area, he's now using his talent to try to save the Fillmore Jazz Festival. "It doesn't have to stop and I feel that canceling it is a no no," Scales said. As the Minister of Music at Jones Memorial United Methodist, Scales knew of a way to keep the event going this year. "The church, when you really think about it, is a concert hall," he said. "You have seats. There's a stage. There's a piano and there's some microphones. So let the show go on." He will be calling musicians with Bay Area roots to perform at several different churches in the Fillmore District. There might be a minimal charge this year to pay for basic costs and to raise money for next year. "Show will go on," Scales said. "No matter where we're at, we're going to still do the show. That is how you survive, and people will come." News of the jazz festival being postponed until 2026 quickly started spreading in the Fillmore. "It's going to be bad," Fillmore Lee Washington said. "It's going to be sad that it's not going on this year." The Fillmore Merchants Association says revenues from sponsorships and grants haven't returned to pre-pandemic levels. It's a free event that those in the community look forward to every year. "It's a money situation," Washington said. "I can't do nothing about it because I'm broke." The Fillmore is an area filled with a rich history of local music and artists. "Fillmore was like Harlem to New York," Scales said. "The Fillmore is that to San Francisco." Scales said that he's just applying lessons he's learned over the years to keep a vital event going through tough times. "Somebody is always knocking you down," he said. "In the music business, there's this and that and that and this. The only way you can survive is, you don't quit. You don't give up."
