After a three-year pandemic pause, the San Francisco International Arts Festival has formally returned to this summer's fray of city-wide festivities. Â
The SFIAF unveiled the lineup for its 2023 edition on Wednesday morning. This year's event, which plays from June 8-18, will feature 40 ensembles and individual artists giving more than 70 concerts over a 10-day period. The theme of all works being presented is "IN DIASPORA: I.D. for the New Majority."Â
Work is expected to begin in September of this year
Coinciding with its 20th anniversary, the SFIAF is coming back to the Mission district after spending more than a decade at the Fort Mason Center. Performances will be spread across three stages, which include BRAVA Theater on 24th Street, as well as the Theatre of Yugen and the Joe Good Annex in Project Artaud.Â
Festival director Andrew Wood said, "We get excited when it is time to announce the initial lineup of artists in December, but it is always still a little bit of a wing and a prayer."Â
"We know the 'who' by then but the 'exactly what' and (most important) 'how' all gets worked out in the weeks between December and March," he added.Â
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This year's festival, which focuses on local artists, brims with new works and re-adaptions of existing pieces. 2023's edition of the SFIAF will brings 16 world premieres to The City alone.Â
The first world premiere is on June 8 with Lis Duran Boubion's Piñata Dance Collective presenting "Cuatro Vientos: Middle of Nowhere." Being performed at the Joe Good Annex, the multimedia dance-theater production investigates "the physiology of fear, the concept of freedom and finding refuge in the natural world."Â
Other productions, like Bons Tempo Theatre's "Qaddafi's Cook" will be performed in front of west coast audiences for the first time. Inspired by real events, "Qadaffi's Cook" plays June 9 and 10 at the Joe Good Annex. It tells the story of two Mexican chefs who "get caught in the tailspin of Libyan dictator, Muammar Qaddafi, world's bloodiest foodie and Lockerbie plotter."Â
General admission tickets range from $12 to $30. Early bird tickets go on sale March 7.Â
To contact the box office and for more information on the full lineup, visit SFIAF's website or call 415-399-9554.Â
