Free all-ages open house and block party will feature all-ages art making and science activities, performance pop-ups, appearances by cherished PBS characters, food trucks, and an outdoor music stage programmed by Noise Pop.
SAN FRANCISCO, CA; September 10, 2024 — KQED, the public media station serving Northern California, is hosting its second KQED Fest on Saturday, October 19. The free, all-day celebration returns with live on-stage programs and activities inside KQED’s headquarters, as well as musical performances programmed by Noise Pop outside on York Street.
KQED Fest was conceived in 2023 as an opportunity to bring KQED’s diverse audiences into the station to offer a glimpse at how KQED’s programming and journalism is created and to celebrate the station’s partners, Mission-district neighbors and the diverse Bay Area audiences KQED serves. KQED’s inaugural KQED Fest in 2023 welcomed over six thousand people into the doors of the station to meet with KQED staffers and journalists and personalities throughout the day.
“KQED Fest is an expression of our mission to inform, inspire and involve by inviting the communities we serve into our home,” says KQED President and CEO Michael Isip. “We can’t wait to host and meet our neighbors and audiences again, and celebrate the programming and services our members make possible with a stellar line-up of local performers and on-stage conversations.”
This year visitors will be treated to conversations and live programs on the KQED Live stage throughout the day. Among this year’s programs are Book Bans & the Freedom to Read with Litquake, a conversation featuring authors Maggie Tokuda-Hall and Maia Kobabe, San Francisco librarian Michael Lambert, and KQED morning anchor Brian Watt; Bay Curious PropFest! with host Olivia Allen-Price; and Can AI Be Funny? with comedians Dhaya Lakshminarayanan and Sarah Rose Siskind; and we’ll share a look Mind Your Own, a new storytelling podcast hosted by Lupita Nyong’o about navigating what it means to belong, all from the African perspective; and a special KQED’s Forum.
Programming for other spaces will feature The Climate Book Club: The Ministry for the Future with science fiction author Kim Stanley Robinson; a special Deep Look Screening and Critter Photo Booth, math games curated by the team behind MindShift; fireside chats with KQED’s Community Advisory Panel; and other activities led by the Children’s Creativity Museum, PBS Kids and other partners. And docent-led tours will provide families an opportunity to explore KQED’s television, radio and newsroom studios.