Tenderloin Museum

10/14/2026

📣 JUST ANNOUNCED: Jordan Glenn’s BEAK is coming to Dodge Alley on Thursday, November 12! This percussion-heavy ensemble packs a punch with homemade instruments, vibraphone, drums, bass, guitars, and a whole lot of experimental energy. Expect infectious grooves, spontaneous improvisation, noise, and whimsical costumes as this Bay Area musical supergroup pushes the boundaries of New Music. 🎼

📅 Thursday, November 12 | 5–8pm
📍 Dodge Alley (Turk & Larkin)
🎟️ Free, no registration required
🍴 $15 food/drink vouchers for nearby businesses while supplies last

👉 tenderloinmuseum.org/public-programs-2026-2/2026/11/12/beak-dodge-alley

Come catch BEAK in this free outdoor show as part of our 2nd Thursdays series!

10/14/2026

We’re thrilled to participate in the Market Street Arts & Theater Festival, a one-night-only live arts and theater experience that celebrates the deep history of entertainment culture on Market Street! It’s this Saturday, October 17, beginning at 4 PM.

Shortly before 7:00 PM, several cast members of The Compton's Cafeteria Riot will reenact a Vanguard Street Sweep along Market and up Larkin Street to the “Compton’s” venue (835 Larkin St.). Vanguard was one of the earliest known LGBTQ+ youth liberation groups in the United States, established in 1966 in the Tenderloin.

Market Street Arts & Theater Festival has reserved a block of FREE tickets to the October 17th performance of “The Compton’s Cafeteria Riot,” beginning at 7:00 PM. Tickets are extremely limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis.

👉 MORE INFO: eventbrite.com/e/market-street-arts-theater-festival-tickets-2000659569629

10/13/2026

Join Unspeakable Vice this Saturday, October 17, at 1 PM for “Valley of the Queens,” a monthly walking tour exploring LGBTQIA+ history in the Tenderloin and Polk Street neighborhoods.

🏆 Unspeakable Vice was named runner-up for Best Tour in 48 Hills’s Best of the Bay 2026!

Led by Shawn Sprockett, the tour explores the icons, movements, and stories that shaped q***r San Francisco from the 1960s through the 1990s.

📍 Meet at the southwest corner of Geary and Powell streets in Union Square.
👉 TICKETS:

Learn how post-WWII San Francisco's hustlers, street queens, and hair fairies turning the Tenderloin and Polk into America's "gay capital."

10/08/2026

TONIGHT: EDGAR + INGENUE ARE TAKING OVER DODGE ALLEY! 🎶

Join us tonight, October 8, from 5-8 PM, for the latest edition of 2nd Thursdays in Dodge Alley, featuring a live set from and DJ sets by INGENUE (aka ).

Expect gothy maximalist cumbia, warped synthpop, disco, and more, all in the streets of the Tenderloin.

📍 Dodge Alley (Turk & Larkin)
🗓️ Thursday, October 8 | 5–8pm
🎟️ FREE + no registration required
🍴 $15 food/drink vouchers at nearby businesses while supplies last

Come hang out, dance, and support the businesses that make this neighborhood what it is.

👉 MORE INFO: tenderloinmuseum.org/public-programs-2026-2/2026/10/8/edgar-ingenue-dodge

10/07/2026

Our friends at Shaping San Francisco lead a walking tour of “urban green spaces and the treescape” of the TL on Saturday, November 7, from 12- 2 p.m.

From street and sidewalk interventions to community gardens to redwoods(!) to nature-based public art, take another look at this ultra-urban space hiding reverence for nature in plain sight.

RSVP to shaping [at] foundsf [dot] org

10/06/2026

JOIN US NEXT SATURDAY! 🌈 “Valley of the Queens” by Unspeakable Vice returns Saturday, October 17, for a deep dive into LGBTQIA+ history in the Tenderloin and Polk Street, from Compton’s Cafeteria to the site of SF’s first Pride parade and beyond.

1–3 PM | Meet at Union Square (SW corner of Geary and Powell)
👉 INFO & TICKETS:

Saturday, October 17, 2026 | 1:00-3:00 PM ( Please note the new start time of 1:00 pm. ) Meet at the SW corner of Geary and Powell Street, Union Square Register to attend via Humanitix Tenderloin Museum is thrilled to partner with Unspeakable Vice , “a volunteer history initiativ

10/05/2026

November Dates Are Now Available for The Compton's Cafeteria Riot! More chances to see San Francisco’s current longest-running play!

OCTOBER 2026
• Friday, October 2
• Saturday, October 3
• Friday, October 9 — SOLD OUT!
• Saturday, October 10
• Friday, October 16
• Saturday, October 17 — SOLD OUT!
• Friday, October 23
• Saturday, October 24

NOVEMBER 2026
• Friday, November 6
• Saturday, November 7
• Friday, November 13
• Saturday, November 14 (3 PM Matinee)
• Friday, November 20
• Saturday, November 21

🎫 GET YOUR TICKETS HERE: buytickets.at/comptonscafeteriariotplay?ref=fbnov26

10/05/2026

We’re a San Francisco Arts Commission/Grants for the Arts Grantee! 🎉

We’re very happy to share that the Tenderloin Museum has received a General Operating Support grant for the 2026–2027 grant cycle.

This support helps us keep doing what we do: sharing Tenderloin history, presenting exhibitions and programs, and creating opportunities for people to gather and connect with the neighborhood.

We’re grateful to the San Francisco Arts Commission and Grants for the Arts for supporting the Tenderloin Museum and so many other arts and cultural organizations across San Francisco. ❤️

09/30/2026

COMPTON’S THIS WEEKEND! 🔥

Two performances. Two chances to experience San Francisco’s current longest-running play, The Compton's Cafeteria Riot. Tickets are going fast!

FRIDAY, OCT. 2 & SATURDAY, OCT. 3
Both shows at 7 PM; 835 Larkin St.

More than 120 performances. Countless pancakes. More than 8,000 people have seen it. Have you?

🎟️ TICKETS: buytickets.at/comptonscafeteriariotplay?ref=fbig

09/29/2026

JUST ANNOUNCED: EDGAR + INGENUE ARE TAKING OVER DODGE ALLEY! 🎶

Join us next Thursday, October 8, for the latest edition of 2nd Thursdays in Dodge Alley, featuring a live set from and DJ sets by INGENUE (aka ).

Expect gothy maximalist cumbia, warped synthpop, disco, and more, all in the streets of the Tenderloin.

📍 Dodge Alley (Turk & Larkin)
🗓️ Thursday, October 8 | 5–8pm
🎟️ FREE + no registration required
🍴 $15 food/drink vouchers at nearby businesses while supplies last

Come hang out, dance, and support the businesses that make this neighborhood what it is.

👉 MORE INFO: tenderloinmuseum.org/public-programs-2026-2/2026/10/8/edgar-ingenue-dodge