San Francisco is gearing up to celebrate this holiday season with all-new exciting events welcoming travellers from around the world to one of the most culturally vibrant cities in the US.
Across the fields of art, culture, culinary, architecture, and more, the city is lining up a range of exciting offerings for visitors this season.
Attached and enclosed below are a list of some important additions and celebrations that are on offer in San Francisco.
- New in Architecture
Presidio Tunnel Tops, San Francisco’s Newest Urban Oasis, Opens
- More than two decades in the making, Presidio Tunnel Tops opened on July 17 in the Presidio of San Francisco. Built over the tops of the Presidio Parkway highway tunnels, the Presidio Tunnel Tops site comprises 14 acres of new national parkland, adding to the Presidio’s existing 1,500 acres and connecting the Presidio’s historic Main Post and Crissy Field for the first time in 86 years. Presidio Tunnel Tops features scenic overlooks with stunning views of the Golden Gate Bridge and the city, paths and gardens, a welcome plaza with food and visitor services, a campfire circle, picnic grounds, a nature play area, and more. It starts its opening season with free family-friendly events and activities and an inaugural art exhibition from Favianna Rodriguez honoring the Ohlone Ramaytush and their ancestral homeland. Presidio Tunnel Tops is an instantly iconic “must-see” San Francisco destination for visitors from across the country and around the world.
- New Exhibits
Holiday Season Festivities at San Francisco Internation Airport (SFO)
- Exciting things await passengers at the San Francisco International Airport (SFO). SFO is all set to welcome travelers with the latest activation of an experiential series that brings San Francisco’s neighborhoods and cultural events directly to airport guests. “SFO Celebrates: Holidays in San Francisco” features a holiday-themed photo station, an exhibit of San Francisco neighborhoods and landmarks decorated for the holiday season, and live musical performances from December 14 – 22, 2022.
- Travelers can also check out San Francisco Opera: A Centennial Celebration, a new exhibition at SFO’s Harvey Milk Terminal 1 celebrating one hundred years of San Francisco Opera history which is accessible from November 19, 2022, to August 13, 2023, to ticketed passengers.
- New in Art Exhibitions and Events
- Diego Rivera’s America
Diego Rivera’s America at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (SFMOMA) is the largest and most in-depth examination of Diego Rivera’s stunning works in 20 years and the first to examine his work thematically. On display through Jan 2, 2023, Diego Rivera’s America brings together more than 150 of Rivera’s paintings, frescoes and drawings—as well as three galleries devoted to large-scale film projections of highly influential murals he created in Mexico and the U.S. The exhibition spectacularly showcases Rivera’s art spanning from the 1920s through the 1940s, the richest years of Rivera’s prolific career.
- Ramses the Great and the Gold of the Pharaohs
The de Young museum is the exclusive West Coast venue for the international touring exhibition Ramses the Great and the Gold of the Pharaohs. The show, which opens Aug. 20 and runs through Feb. 12, 2023, is the first new exhibition dedicated to Egyptian ruler Ramses II in 30 years and is the first to be presented in San Francisco.
- The New Black Vanguard: Photography between Art and Fashion
On view till March 5, 2023, the Museum of the African Diaspora (MoAD) will be the venue for the first West Coast presentation of The New Black Vanguard: Photography between Art and Fashion, an exhibition highlighting the work of 15 contemporary fashion photographers—from London to Lagos, New York to Johannesburg—whose images present radically new perspectives on the medium of photography and art, race and beauty, and gender and power.
- 10th annual ‘Illuminate SF Festival of Light’
Keeping in tune with the holiday season, the 10th annual ‘Illuminate SF Festival of Light’ is a must-see event with striking light art illuminating the nights through the end of January.
- New in Performing Arts
- San Francisco Ballet’s “Nutcracker”
Make sure to see the San Francisco Ballet’s annual “Nutcracker” performance in December which is a holiday tradition that sets the city’s art repertoire apart from the rest.
- San Francisco Opera Celebrates Its Centennial 2022/2023 Season
San Francisco Opera celebrates its first 100 years with a blockbuster 2022–23 opera season. The centennial was marked by activities designed to commemorate the past and welcome the community into the exciting new era. On Oct. 23, the Company also opened its doors for Community Open House, when families, music fans and the opera-curious can witness the magic of opera from behind the scenes.
- New in Culinary
Terrene
Terrene, the signature restaurant of the new 1 Hotel San Francisco (8 Mission St.), opened in July. Executive Chef Scott Koranda focuses on seasonal, small plates that reflect the refinement and natural simplicity of 1 Hotels and utilizes sustainably sourced ingredients within a 100-mile radius for dishes and cocktails. The drinks menu features an extensive collection of organic agave mezcal and tequila spirits, zero-waste cocktails, cocktails inspired by San Francisco’s neighborhoods and iconic landmarks, and a variety of local breweries and wineries. Terrene’s distinct design Terrene showcases the influence of nature, from a reclaimed wood bar to the plants and greenery throughout the space. Its spacious outdoor patio is located on the Embarcadero.
- New Accolades
- Travel + Leisure featured San Francisco as one of The 50 Best Places to Travel in 2023 in the Big City Thrills category.
- San Francisco ranked #14 in the World’s Best Cities list in Resonance Consultancy’s exclusive ranking of the world’s top urban destinations.
- San Francisco, CA, named one of National Geographic’s “BEST OF THE WORLD” destinations for 2023.
- San Francisco named one of the World’s 50 greatest places of 2022 by TIME magazine.
- New Air Routes
Air India’s Mumbai-San Francisco and Mumbai-Bangaluru Non-Stop Flights
In addition to enjoying festivities across the city, there is good news for Indian travelers wanting to travel to this unique destination. Air India has expanded their flight connections to San Francisco International Airport with the commencement of direct flights between Mumbai and San Francisco from December 15, 2022 onwards. Air India will be operating three weekly non-stop flights between the cities aimed at meeting the increasing travel demand. In addition to the Mumbai-San Francisco route, Air India also launched three weekly non-stop flights from Bangalore to San Francisco from December 2, 2022. These flights are in addition to 10 existing weekly non-stop flights between Delhi and San Francisco that the airline operates . With this newly added lift, Air India will now have 40 non-stop flights to the US from India, out of which 16 will be to San Francisco International Airport, California.
