San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Fall arts and entertainment thrives locally in a moment of uncertainty.
Options for entertainment abound this fall, even with coronavirus restrictions
If it’s one thing the pandemic has shown, it’s that Bay Area arts and entertainment organizations are resilient.
After more than a year of sitting in the dark, the spring of 2021 brought a wave of hope for a return to normalcy buoyed by the arrival of COVID vaccines and a new science-first administration. As coronavirus case rates dropped, masks came off and long-shuttered businesses once again reopened, with the people behind the scenes at local venues getting to work furiously to plan their fall calendars.
Then came the delta variant, a highly contagious strain of the virus that from July to August caused COVID-19 hospitalizations to more than double throughout the Bay Area, ushering in the return of many pandemic restrictions and a new era of uncertainty.
“We haven’t seen anything like delta before,” said Dr. Peter ChinHong, an infectious disease expert at UCSF.
But Bay Area arts leaders have learned to embrace change. So with vaccine mandates and testing requirements in place, the season presses on.
The San Francisco Symphony, San Francisco Opera and Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra & Chorale prepared for a dynamic season with new conductors and leadership. Film festivals and comedy shows have planned a comeback, with masks but without concessions. And theater groups plan to continue to welcome audiences — whether to watch them on indoor stages or during a starry night outside. There will be dance performances online and in the streets. And art galleries will do their best to reflect this chaotic moment in history, with shows that are no longer interested in playing it safe.
Here are just a few events The Chronicle is looking forward to this season — pandemic permitting.