Bright Future — the Bay Area portal of the North Beach relay

Bright Future

A Bay Area calendar of hopeful futurist gatherings — solarpunk, commons, foresight, long thinking, and visions of what comes next

Refreshed October 9, 2026 · 51 upcoming gatherings · past dates retire on their own

This season, the Bay Area’s optimists are meeting above a bar on Broadway, in a theater on Mission Street, at a fold in the Mission, in an archive on Funston Avenue, and in a hall at Fort Mason to ask how the future might actually go well. The calendar keeps their dates; the feeds keep their voices.

Every entry links to the event’s own page and carries the organizer’s verified social handle where one exists. The Mab’s own rooms are marked in red. Sources: organizer pages, plus Bobby Fishkin’s own Luma RSVPs. Times as posted; check each link before traveling. Climate and biodiversity gatherings are chosen for agency — hands-on restoration, citizen science, and solution-bearing rooms; the filter is hope with something to do.

Jump to: On view now · October · November · December · Standing rooms · The time horizon · The Bay map · Values cloud · Topic cloud · The speakers · Future fractals · Subscribe · From the feeds
The time horizon — the season at dusk
Every coming gathering as a light above the water: the nearer the left edge, the sooner the night. Hover a light for its name; tap it for its page. The lights hang from the horizon, and the horizon is December 31.
todayNovemberDecemberOct 9 — Habitat Restoration Day at Heron's Shadow — indigenous-led land care with The CuOct 9 — Unseen Visions: A New Age Music and Culture Symposium — Day 1, Films and LectureOct 9 — Yerba Buena Illuminated — a free 95-foot art projection on Market StreetOct 10 — Unseen Visions — Day 2, Symposium: ambient music pioneers, visionary film, and aOct 10 — 2SIQ: Still Here Fest — Indigenous and Two-Spirit futurisms in music, art, and gOct 13 — Global Catastrophic Wildfire Prevention Day — the relay's own convening: CrowdDoOct 13 — Michael Pollan & Christof Koch: A Journey into Consciousness — Cal Performances Oct 14 — States of Consciousness: Psychedelic Discovery and the Edge of Uncertainty — theOct 14 — Stanford Contemplation By Design Summit — a week of wellbeing research and practOct 14 — Patch Bay — Yoon Chung Han and Tori Sommerhof: artist talks opening Gray Area's Oct 17 — Shared Origins, Bright Mutual Future — an ancient-future solarpunk gathering at Oct 17 — Bay Area Science Festival — 125+ free hands-on science experiences at UCSF MissiOct 17 — Burning Man Presents — Decompression 2026: Oakland Edition, Vol II — participatoOct 17 — Night of the Living Punx — the Mab's own evening stage, after the gatheringOct 17 — Surfrider One Ocean Event — a benefit evening for the coast and the people who kOct 18 — Rooted in Place: California Native Art — contemporary Native California artists Oct 20 — IFTF Ten-Year Forecast 2036 — What We Choose Next: the Institute for the Future'Oct 20 — Mycological Society of San Francisco — monthly meeting: the fungal world as builOct 21 — Internet Archive Annual Celebration — Democracy's Library: Tools for ParticipatiOct 22 — Long Now Talk: On Interdependence — Baratunde Thurston with Blaise Agüera y ArcaOct 22 — Bay Area Solarpunks — open discussion: Does America Have a Ruling Class?Oct 28 — Confronting Our AI Future: Hope, Fear, and the Choices Ahead — Stanford HAI's faOct 28 — Scaling Intelligence — Modal x Gray Area Commissions: eleven commissioned works Oct 29 — Design After Dark — design, art, and the future of the city, benefiting the museNov 4 — Preparing for El Niño — what Bay Area cities, community groups, and advocates arNov 4 — Bay Area Solarpunks book club — Part 2 of 2: Octavia E. Butler's Parable of the Nov 5 — Inner Development Goals SF Bay Area Summit — Compassion 2.0's gathering on the iNov 5 — The Future of Social Innovation: Solarpunk, Regenerative Futures & Systems-ChangNov 5 — Richard Louv on Noticing: Intimate Encounters with the Natural World — Climate ONov 7 — Funding the Commons Forum: San Francisco — Redefining institutions, infrastructuNov 7 — 250 Years, Indigenous Futures — Haines Gallery's gathering at Fort Mason, as theNov 8 — Aaron Swartz Day and International Hackathon — open knowledge, built together atNov 8 — Hiking to a bright future together — a solarpunk walk from the Legion of Honor iNov 10 — Long Now Special Event: Entangled Intelligences — an evening on minds that are nNov 11 — On Creating Music with the Animal World — David Rothenberg in conversation with Nov 12 — Remix Culture and the Stories We Share — Alec Robbins, Liz Gotauco, and MeredithNov 13 — Vision Weekend USA 2026 — Foresight Institute's three-day gathering: frontier exNov 17 — Berkeley AI Risk — Emma Pierson on data, fairness, and whose futures the numbersNov 19 — GLOW — the Exploratorium's seasonal exhibition of light art, with new installatiNov 19 — An Evening with Paul Stamets — Reimagining the Future with Psilocybin MushroomsNov 19 — Micro To Macro — Scott Kildall and Kal Spelletich turn signals from bacteria, plNov 20 — The Big Tent — a new public convention on thoughtfully shaping a humanity-drivenNov 20 — Generative Capital & Organizational Ontology — What is Generative CapitalizationDec 1 — Long Now Talk: Lost Landscapes 02026 — Rick Prelinger's annual city-memory film Dec 2 — Disability-Forward Housing Futures Summit — The Kelsey's gathering on housing thDec 3 — The Future of Social Innovation: Solarpunk, Regenerative Futures & Systems-ChangDec 6 — MSSF Fungus Fair — a celebration of wild mushrooms: the mycelial world underfoot
On view now — continuing through the season
On view now · through October 22
Yoon Chung Han: Dreaming Babies, illi — an immersive interactive installation
Gray Area / Grand Theater, 2665 Mission St — San Francisco
visionary culture
event page ↗ On view through Oct 22
On view now · through November 7
Sadie Barnette — new work at Jessica Silverman Gallery: the artist who reaches from her father's FBI file toward outer space
Jessica Silverman Gallery, 488 Ellis St — San Francisco
afrofuturist culture
event page ↗ On view through Nov 7; free
On view now · through November 29
RM x SFMOMA: Between — the Korean collective's large-scale immersive installation, on Floor 2
SFMOMA, 151 3rd St — San Francisco
visionary culture
event page ↗ On view through Nov 29; museum admission
On view now · through January 30
Excavating Uranus, A Psalm for Nyota Uhura — new futurist work opening at the San Francisco Arts Commission Galleries
SFAC Galleries, City Hall — San Francisco
visionary culture
event page ↗ Opens Oct 8, on view through Jan 30; free
October
This week
October 9 · 9:00 AM
Habitat Restoration Day at Heron's Shadow — indigenous-led land care with The Cultural Conservancy
Heron's Shadow — Sonoma County
indigenous futurism
event page ↗ 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM; details on the Conservancy's events page
October 9 · Evening
Unseen Visions: A New Age Music and Culture Symposium — Day 1, Films and Lectures
Gray Area / Grand Theater, 2665 Mission St — San Francisco @grayareaorg ↗
visionary culture
event page ↗ Two-day passes available
October 9 · Evening
Yerba Buena Illuminated — a free 95-foot art projection on Market Street
Market Street at Yerba Buena Lane — San Francisco
visionary culture
event page ↗ Free; one evening; check the listing for the hour
October 10 · 12:00 PM
Unseen Visions — Day 2, Symposium: ambient music pioneers, visionary film, and a live Steven Halpern performance
Gray Area / Grand Theater, 2665 Mission St — San Francisco @grayareaorg ↗
visionary culture
event page ↗ Day tickets and passes
October 10 · 6:00 PM
2SIQ: Still Here Fest — Indigenous and Two-Spirit futurisms in music, art, and gathering
Oakstop, Oakland — Oakland
indigenous futurism
event page ↗ 6:00-10:00 PM; details on the listing
The week of October 12
October 13 · Virtual, time on the page
Global Catastrophic Wildfire Prevention Day — the relay's own convening: CrowdDoing, CWPC, and ARISE-US aligned with the UN International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction, with the fifth Wildfire Innovation Showcase
Virtual, hosted from San Francisco — San Francisco
civic future
event page ↗ Partner-led sessions and the showcase; program on the Luma page
October 13 · 7:30 PM
Michael Pollan & Christof Koch: A Journey into Consciousness — Cal Performances in conversation with UC Berkeley's Center for the Science of Psychedelics
Zellerbach Hall, UC Berkeley — Berkeley
inner development
event page ↗ tickets on the Cal Performances page; part of the States of Consciousness week
October 14 · Two days
States of Consciousness: Psychedelic Discovery and the Edge of Uncertainty — the UC Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics' conference
UC Berkeley campus — Berkeley
inner development
event page ↗ Oct 14-15; the mind studying the mind
October 14 · all day
Stanford Contemplation By Design Summit — a week of wellbeing research and practice, in its thirteenth year
virtual and on campus, Stanford University — Stanford
inner development
event page ↗ the summit begins Wednesday, October 14; free registration through the Stanford events calendar
October 14 · 6:00 PM
Patch Bay — Yoon Chung Han and Tori Sommerhof: artist talks opening Gray Area's new weekly series for media artists and creative technologists
Gray Area / Grand Theater, 2665 Mission St — San Francisco @grayareaorg ↗
visionary culture
event page ↗ Wednesdays 6:00-9:00 PM; sliding scale, no one turned away
October 17 · 8:30 AM
Shared Origins, Bright Mutual Future — an ancient-future solarpunk gathering at Mabuhay Gardens: Warm Data Lab, live uplink to the Cradle of Humankind, festival tables, and a global synchronized moment for peace
Mabuhay Gardens, 435 Broadway — San Francisco @fabmabsf ↗
solarpunk · regenerative
event page ↗ RSVP, $10 suggested donation; the relay's own room
October 17 · 11:00 AM
Bay Area Science Festival — 125+ free hands-on science experiences at UCSF Mission Bay: the future, explorable by hand
UCSF Mission Bay Campus — San Francisco
science future
event page ↗ Free; 11:00 AM-4:00 PM; same day as the Mab's gathering
October 17 · 2:00 PM
Burning Man Presents — Decompression 2026: Oakland Edition, Vol II — participatory art, mutant vehicles, and the city the desert builds, back home in the East Bay
The Loom, entrance at Livingston St and 22nd Ave — Oakland @burningman ↗
participatory culture
event page ↗ 2 PM to 3 AM; 21+ wristbands after 9 PM indoors
October 17 · 5:00 PM
Night of the Living Punx — the Mab's own evening stage, after the gathering
Mabuhay Gardens, 435 Broadway — San Francisco @fabmabsf ↗
music · venue night
event page ↗ Tickets on Eventbrite
October 17 · Evening
Surfrider One Ocean Event — a benefit evening for the coast and the people who keep it
San Francisco, venue on the event page — San Francisco
living systems
event page ↗ Tickets and tables on sale now
October 18 · Museum hours
Rooted in Place: California Native Art — contemporary Native California artists at the de Young, through December 6
de Young Museum, 50 Hagiwara Tea Garden Dr — San Francisco
indigenous futurism
event page ↗ On view through December 6, 2026
The week of October 19
October 20 · 5:00 PM
IFTF Ten-Year Forecast 2036 — What We Choose Next: the Institute for the Future's two-day map of the decade ahead
Palo Alto, CA (venue with registration) — Palo Alto
long thinking
event page ↗ Oct 20-21; the Institute reports capacity is filling — check the page
October 20 · 7:30 PM
Mycological Society of San Francisco — monthly meeting: the fungal world as builder of soils and futures
San Francisco (see society page) — San Francisco
living systems
event page ↗ Monthly; guests welcome per the society page
October 21 · Evening
Internet Archive Annual Celebration — Democracy's Library: Tools for Participation, at the Archive's San Francisco home
Internet Archive, 300 Funston Ave — San Francisco @internetarchive ↗
civic future
event page ↗ Registration open on the Archive's blog
October 22 · Evening
Long Now Talk: On Interdependence — Baratunde Thurston with Blaise Agüera y Arcas on how living with other minds changes how we live
Cowell Theater, Fort Mason — San Francisco @longnow ↗
long thinking
event page ↗ Check the page for start time and tickets
October 22 · 7:30 PM
Bay Area Solarpunks — open discussion: Does America Have a Ruling Class?
Online
solarpunk · regenerative
event page ↗ Online; 7:30-9:00 PM; RSVP on Meetup
The week of October 26
October 28 · 9:00 AM
Confronting Our AI Future: Hope, Fear, and the Choices Ahead — Stanford HAI's fall conference on work, learning, and governance
David and Joan Traitel Building, 435 Lasuen Mall — Stanford @stanfordhai ↗
civic future
event page ↗ Wednesday, 9:00 AM to 6:45 PM, with the Hoover Institution; registration on the event page
October 28 · 7:00 PM
Scaling Intelligence — Modal x Gray Area Commissions: eleven commissioned works on computing at scale with artificial intelligence
Gray Area / Grand Theater, 2665 Mission St — San Francisco @grayareaorg ↗
visionary culture
event page ↗ Opening night; on view Oct 28 - Nov 1
October 29 · 6:00 PM
Design After Dark — design, art, and the future of the city, benefiting the museum's design collection
Monroe, 473 Broadway — San Francisco
civic future
event page ↗ Details on the organizer page
November
The week of November 2
November 4 · 12:00 PM
Preparing for El Niño — what Bay Area cities, community groups, and advocates are doing now for flood resilience
Online (SPUR Digital Discourse)
civic future
event page ↗ Online; 12:00-1:15 PM; details on SPUR's calendar
November 4 · 7:30 PM
Bay Area Solarpunks book club — Part 2 of 2: Octavia E. Butler's Parable of the Talents
Online
solarpunk · regenerative
event page ↗ Online; 7:30-9:00 PM; RSVP on Meetup
November 5 · All day
Inner Development Goals SF Bay Area Summit — Compassion 2.0's gathering on the inner skills a regenerative future runs on
Embarcadero Center — San Francisco
inner development
event page ↗ Presented by Compassion 2.0; tickets about $75
November 5 · 2:00 PM
The Future of Social Innovation: Solarpunk, Regenerative Futures & Systems-Change Radical Collaboration
SF Green House, 55 2nd St (indoors, public open space) — San Francisco
solarpunk · regenerative
event page ↗ Monthly gathering; check the group page for the current date
November 5 · 5:30 PM
Richard Louv on Noticing: Intimate Encounters with the Natural World — Climate One with the Children & Nature Network
110 The Embarcadero — San Francisco
living systems
event page ↗ Climate One at the Commonwealth Club; tickets on the page
November 7 · All day
Funding the Commons Forum: San Francisco — Redefining institutions, infrastructure, and public goods in the age of AI; 200 builders, researchers, funders, and policymakers
The Fold, 3359 26th St — San Francisco @fundingthecommons ↗
commons · public goods
event page ↗ Two-day forum, Nov 7-8; tickets on Luma
November 7 · 10:30 AM
250 Years, Indigenous Futures — Haines Gallery's gathering at Fort Mason, as the nation marks 250 years
Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture — San Francisco
indigenous futurism
event page ↗ Free; 10:30 AM to 5:30 PM; part of a fall series at Fort Mason
November 8 · 10:00 AM
Aaron Swartz Day and International Hackathon — open knowledge, built together at the Internet Archive
Internet Archive, 300 Funston Ave — San Francisco @internetarchive ↗
commons · public goods
event page ↗ 10:00 AM-5:00 PM; lunch 1-3 PM is the best time to drop in
November 8 · 1:00 PM
Hiking to a bright future together — a solarpunk walk from the Legion of Honor into nature and future-building
Legion of Honor, 100 34th Ave — San Francisco @fabmabsf ↗
solarpunk · regenerative
event page ↗ The relay's own hike; RSVP on the Solarpunkification page
The week of November 9
November 10 · Evening
Long Now Special Event: Entangled Intelligences — an evening on minds that are not ours, and what they return to us
Cowell Theater, Fort Mason — San Francisco @longnow ↗
long thinking
event page ↗ Ticketed special event; presale for members first
November 11 · 5:30 PM
On Creating Music with the Animal World — David Rothenberg in conversation with Jennifer Wells
Online (CIIS Public Programs)
living systems
event page ↗ Online; 5:30-7:00 PM; $11-$32
November 12 · 10:00 AM
Remix Culture and the Stories We Share — Alec Robbins, Liz Gotauco, and Meredith Rose on the public domain
Online (Internet Archive) @internetarchive ↗
commons · public goods
event page ↗ Virtual; 10:00-11:00 AM; register on the Archive's events page
November 13 · All day
Vision Weekend USA 2026 — Foresight Institute's three-day gathering: frontier experts, unconference sessions, live technology demonstrations, and a $10,000 grant for a project advancing the frontiers of science
San Francisco (venue on registration) — San Francisco @existentialhope ↗
foresight · public goods
event page ↗ November 13-15; forty years of Foresight
The week of November 16
November 17 · 4:00 PM
Berkeley AI Risk — Emma Pierson on data, fairness, and whose futures the numbers serve
621 Sutardja Dai Hall, UC Berkeley — Berkeley
foresight · public goods
event page ↗ Tuesday talk, also streamed on Zoom; title to be announced
November 19 · Museum hours
GLOW — the Exploratorium's seasonal exhibition of light art, with new installations
Exploratorium, Pier 15 — San Francisco @exploratorium ↗
science future
event page ↗ On view Nov 19 through Jan 24, 2027; museum admission
November 19 · Evening
An Evening with Paul Stamets — Reimagining the Future with Psilocybin Mushrooms
Sydney Goldstein Theater, 275 Hayes St — San Francisco
living systems
event page ↗ CIIS Public Programs; time and tickets on the page
November 19 · 7:00 PM
Micro To Macro — Scott Kildall and Kal Spelletich turn signals from bacteria, plants, and crustaceans into sound and robots
Gray Area / Grand Theater, 2665 Mission St — San Francisco @grayareaorg ↗
visionary culture
event page ↗ Doors 7:00 PM; performance 8:00 PM
November 20 · 10:00 AM
The Big Tent — a new public convention on thoughtfully shaping a humanity-driven future with AI: talks, career fair, unconference, and a World's Fair of demos
Mox, 1680 Mission St — San Francisco
foresight · public goods
event page ↗ Nov 20-21; early-bird tickets until Oct 16
November 20 · 2:00 PM
Generative Capital & Organizational Ontology — What is Generative Capitalization, a working session on capital that regenerates what it touches
2 Embarcadero Ctr — San Francisco
inner development
event page ↗ Compassion 2.0 series; 2:00-5:00 PM
December
The week of November 30
December 1 · Evening
Long Now Talk: Lost Landscapes 02026 — Rick Prelinger's annual city-memory film of San Francisco, from the archive
San Francisco (venue on the Long Now page) — San Francisco @longnow ↗
long thinking
event page ↗ Annual tradition; check the page for venue, time, and tickets
December 2 · 9:00 AM
Disability-Forward Housing Futures Summit — The Kelsey's gathering on housing that includes everyone, by design
Ed Roberts Campus, 3075 Adeline St — Berkeley
civic future
event page ↗ 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM; registration on the page
December 3 · 2:00 PM
The Future of Social Innovation: Solarpunk, Regenerative Futures & Systems-Change Radical Collaboration
SF Green House, 55 2nd St (indoors, public open space) — San Francisco
solarpunk · regenerative
event page ↗ Monthly gathering; RSVP on the group page
December 6 · 12:00 PM
MSSF Fungus Fair — a celebration of wild mushrooms: the mycelial world underfoot, in specimens, talks, and identification tables
El Camino High School, South San Francisco — South San Francisco
living systems
event page ↗ Save the date per the society page
Standing rooms — every week
NightLife
California Academy of Sciences, every Thursday, 6:00 PM @calacademy ↗
calendar ↗
After Dark
Exploratorium, Pier 15, every Thursday, 6:00 PM @exploratorium ↗
calendar ↗
The Future of Social Innovation
SF Green House, 55 2nd St, monthly solarpunk systems-change gathering
calendar ↗
Apollo Innovation Commons — Agora Series
The Fold, 3359 26th St; interdisciplinary salons for the new renaissance
calendar ↗
The Commons SF
A community meeting house in San Francisco; public events weekly for non-members
calendar ↗
Foresight Institute gatherings
The Fold and around the Bay; workshops, salons, and Vision Weekend @existentialhope ↗
calendar ↗
Eco Afro Futures Summit
Critical Ecology Lab at the Oakland Museum of California; climate transition through Black ecological futurism; 2026 summit, 10:30 AM-2:15 PM, date on the Luma page
calendar ↗
Museum of the African Diaspora
MoAD, Third Street, San Francisco; Black futures in art and ideas @moadsf ↗
calendar ↗
SETI Institute talks
Mountain View; monthly public lectures on life in the universe
calendar ↗
CIIS Public Programs
California Institute of Integral Studies, San Francisco; conversations on consciousness, ancestral wisdom, and futures
calendar ↗
Omni Commons
Oakland; a collectively-run commons for organizers, hackers, and dreamers
calendar ↗
Sogorea Te' Land Trust
Oakland; Lisjan (Ohlone) rematriation of the land the city stands on
calendar ↗
Speculative Futures SF
Design fiction, critical design, and strategic foresight gatherings, San Francisco
calendar ↗
Black Girls Code, Bay Area
Workshops and camps for young Black women in code, AI, and emerging tech
calendar ↗
The Hidden Genius Project
Oakland; Black male youth learning technology, leadership, and creation
calendar ↗
Human+Tech Week
one city-wide week of summits, salons, and partner events on human flourishing and technology; the next edition is set for May 10-14, 2027, San Francisco
calendar ↗
Solarpunk hikes — Hiking to a bright future together
Bobby's own series with the Solarpunk community: walking the city's greens and museums while talking futures; announced on the Mab's solarpunk page @fabmabsf ↗
calendar ↗
San Francisco Habitat Stewards
Wednesdays 9 AM-noon and Thursdays 1-4 PM, rotating national park lands
calendar ↗
Save The Bay wetland restoration days
Hands-on habitat days around the Bay, most weekends
calendar ↗
Nature in the City — Biodiversity Campaign
Nature walks and volunteer habitat days across San Francisco
calendar ↗
Bioblitz.club field days
Citizen science species counts across the Bay Area
calendar ↗
Bay Area Youth Climate Summit
Youth-led climate summits and workshops, BAYCS
calendar ↗
Queer Decarb Summit
Connecting LGBTQ+ climate leaders; 2026 West Coast summit near San Francisco, date to be announced
calendar ↗
SF Neo-Futurists — The Infinite Wrench
30 plays in 60 minutes, every Friday and Saturday, at 447 Minna
calendar ↗
Icon cloud — the season in 14 signs
One icon per theme, sized by how many gatherings carry it; tap an icon to filter the calendar to its theme.
🔮🍄🏛🌱🧭🔗🌿🧪🔭⏳🌅🪁📢🙌
The values cloud — the season read through solarpunk values

Twelve values from the Solarpunk Manifesto tradition, grouped as ecology, society, and technology with economy — after Solarpunker’s value index and A Solarpunk Manifesto. The relay’s own reading of each gathering; tap a value to navigate the season by what it stands for, and the calendar keeps only the gatherings that carry it.

A solarpunk and retro-futurist cartoon for ecology
ecology
A solarpunk and retro-futurist cartoon for society
society
A solarpunk and retro-futurist cartoon for technology and economy
technology and economy
The topic cloud — two words and a date

Every gathering in the season, held to two words and its date. Each chip opens the gathering’s own event page, so the cloud doubles as a quick index — scan for a mood, tap for the detail.

family archivenow art machinenow dream machinesnow art cosmosnow cultural conservation10 / 9 bright future10 / 9 bright future10 / 9 bright future10 / 10 indigenous futures10 / 10 wildfire prevention10 / 13 bright future10 / 13 consciousness10 / 14 contemplation10 / 14 patch bay10 / 14 shared origins10 / 17 science festival10 / 17 bright future10 / 17 living punx10 / 17 one ocean10 / 17 indigenous futures10 / 18 bright future10 / 20 bright future10 / 20 climate democracy10 / 21 bright future10 / 22 solarpunk circle10 / 22 AI choices10 / 28 scaling intelligence10 / 28 night museum10 / 29 flood resilience11 / 4 Butler parables11 / 4 bright future11 / 5 solarpunk11 / 5 noticing nature11 / 5 bright future11 / 7 indigenous futures11 / 7 open hackathon11 / 8 bright hike11 / 8 bright future11 / 10 multispecies music11 / 11 public domain11 / 12 AI science11 / 13 AI risk11 / 17 light art11 / 19 fungal futures11 / 19 living signals11 / 19 AI futures11 / 20 bright future11 / 20 lost landscapes12 / 1 housing futures12 / 2 solarpunk12 / 3 bright future12 / 6
Future fractals — the words that recur

The season’s own language, weighed by how often the events and their series use each word. Where a word repeats, a pattern repeats — the fractal edges of the future the Bay Area is gathering to build.

art gathering free san francisco science futures bay future black through tickets oakland monthly design climate institute solarpunk area summit view foresight now california public event series date tools long talk conference technology city live evening
Who is speaking — the index, with discovery

Every named speaker and exhibiting artist in the season, with their formal affiliation, one sourced quotation, and the pages they formally link to. Where talks are findable and verified, up to three are embedded for discovery — each embed checked against its own page before it carries. The index grows as programs publish their lineups.

Michael Pollan in conversation
Author, most recently of A World Appears: A Journey into Consciousness
“The study of consciousness is one of our greatest challenges, one in which the questions are as important as the answers.” — source
Christof Koch in conversation
Meritorious Investigator, Allen Institute
“Consciousness is what we can know best and explain least.” — source
Gül Dölen speaker
Professor and the Renee and Bob Parsons Endowed Chair, Department of Psychology, Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, and the Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics, UC Berkeley
“metaplasticity is what we think psychedelics are actually doing” — source
Emma Pierson speaker
Zhang Family Endowed Professor and assistant professor of computer science, UC Berkeley
At Berkeley AI Risk · Nov 17
“I am the Zhang Family Endowed professor and an assistant professor of computer science at Berkeley, affiliated with the Berkeley AI Research Lab, Computational Precision Health, and the Center for Human-Compatible AI.” — source
The artists of 250 Years, Indigenous Futures exhibiting
Haines Gallery at Fort Mason — Victoria Grace Canby, Jordan Ann Craig, Sky Hopinka, Brad Kahlhamer, Terran Last Gun, Jamie Okuma, Wendy Red Star, and Keith Secola
At 250 Years, Indigenous Futures · through Nov 7
Subscribe — carry the season with you

One click, Apple or Outlook Calendar. Subscribe to the live calendar feed — the tap opens your calendar app and adds Bright Future as its own calendar, refreshed whenever the relay reprints the season.

One click, Google Calendar. Add the feed to Google Calendar — signed in, confirm Add. If your device asks for the address instead, it is webcal://bright-future-bay-area.pplx.app/bright-future.ics (Google Calendar, Settings, Add calendar, From URL).

The email digest, daily or weekly. Get the daily digest · Get the weekly digest — one email a day (that evening's gatherings) or one a week (the week ahead), every ticket link included. Today's live editions: daily · weekly.

Or the import file. bright-future-calendar.csv (51 upcoming gatherings), for a one-time import into Google or Apple Calendar.

From the feeds — the organizers in their own words
Gray Area — The Grand Theater, home of Unseen Visions · view on Instagram ↗
Foresight Institute — Grants for AI-first science · view on Instagram ↗
Bioneers — The network that meets to turn vision into action · view on Instagram ↗
Mabuhay Gardens — The relay's own room, 435 Broadway · view on Instagram ↗