Things to do on San Francisco’s west side in August 2025.
Announcements: August 2025
Outside Lands 2025, Day 1
Outside Lands photos, day one. Friday, Aug. 8, 2025.
Sea Serpent Sculpture Finds its Way from Burning Man to GG Park
One foggy Sunday afternoon in July, Anna Boyarsky and her two children were biking west along John F. Kennedy (JFK) Promenade in Golden Gate Park when they rounded the bend past the whale tail and spotted something gleaming through the trees ahead. As they got closer, they began to see a teal serpentine sculpture – a 100-foot-long sea serpent. They stopped, craning their necks to take in all the details of the 25-foot-tall sculpture towering over them.
Skatepark Renamed to Honor Zion Williams-Gaines
The legacy of Zion Williams-Gaines is now enshrined in San Francisco’s first skatepark, recently named in his honor as a tribute for his dedication to skateboarding and perseverance in overcoming blindness to pursue his passion.
Press Release: Sunset Boulevard Received $1.5 Million for Infrastructure
$1 million will be dedicated to the Sunset Boulevard Recycled Water Project. The improvements, designed by Public Works, will replace potable water supplied for irrigation with highly treated recycled water that exceeds state standards
Letter to the Editor: Chain of Lakes Intersection is Dysfunctional
It’s frustrating that Supervisor Engardio keeps claiming to be mitigating Chain of Lakes congestion caused by the Upper Great Highway closure by replacing the stop sign at Chain of Lakes/Lincoln Way/41st Avenue with a traffic signal. In reality, at least for drivers using Chain of Lakes, it has made things worse ….
Community Meets to Discuss Impact of Summer Concerts in GG Park
Next month will mark the 17th year that the Outside Lands Festival (OSL) will be held in Golden Gate Park. In 2019, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to extend the contract between Another Planet Entertainment (APE) and the City of San Francisco until 2031.
From a Reader: Community Meeting – Summer Concerts in GG Park
Community meeting regarding summer concerts in Golden Gate Park in August will be held on June 16.
Letter to the Editor: Confluence of Inconveniences
“First, we’ll close the Great Highway, and then we’ll repave 19th! While all of that a is going on, we will have concert after concert after concert in Golden Gate Park while charging for parking seven days a week. What a great plan.”
Experimental Listening Party Draws Hundreds to Golden Gate Park
A new musical experience has taken root in Gold Gate Park.
Letter to the Editor: New ‘Blue Heron Lake’ Name Indistinctive
I took my dog for a walk at Golden Gate Park today and stopped by the Blue Heron Lake Boat House to buy a drink. I looked at the T-shirts and was struck by how boring and indistinctive “Blue Heron” Lake is. How – and more importantly, why – does an iconic San Francisco landmark have such a generic name?
Big Crowd Witnesses Turning Upper Great Highway Into Sunset Dunes
Before Proposition K was on the ballot, another westside promenade stirred fervor in westsiders. Three years ago, in April of 2022, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors established a permanently car-free John F. Kennedy (JFK) Drive in Golden Gate Park, after voters voted to keep JFK walkable, as it was during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and most weekends out of the year before that. Five years later, it is difficult to imagine that the mile-and-a-half stretch was once one of the City’s major arteries for cars.
Cal Academy’s Dino Days Offers a Trip Back in Time
Visitors to the California Academy of Sciences are familiar with the towering Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton greeting guests at the main entrance. Now, that T. rex has new dinosaur friends in the outdoor gardens.
Community Music Hangout Celebrates 100th Gathering on JFK Prom.
Community Music Hangout, a weekly gathering of musicians and community members, has become a fixture on John F. Kennedy (JFK) Promenade in Golden Gate Park. On April 27, the group celebrated its 100th weekend hangout in the park.
Ping Pong Popularity Grows on JFK Promenade in GG Park
Two years ago, in its effort to make JFK Drive attractive as a car-free “promenade” in Golden Gate Park, the City put a cement ping pong table in the middle of the street near Eighth Avenue. The table became quite popular, attracting crowds on the weekends.
Richmond Review/Sunset Beacon 