Every year, the throb of drums and partying wakes Mission District residents along Harrison Street at the tender hour of 10 a.m. You can be a baby about it, and roll over and try to go back to sleep, or you can join the throng of revelers dancing through the streets at this year’s San Francisco Carnaval Festival. Which option sounds like more fun? Outside, find kids dancing alongside adults in outrageous costumes and ostentatious headdresses commingling with the heady smells wafting out of food vendor booths. A parade, led by grand marshals Peter and Benjamin Bratt (yes, that Benjamin Bratt), wends through the neighborhood and spills out into the festival grounds. These days, it seems you can’t attend an outdoor event without stumbling upon a “green” pocket, and Carnaval is no exception. Zona Verde (the Green Zone), between 20th and 22nd streets on Harrison, features things like eco fashion, organic cooking demos, and gardening tips. After you’ve gotten a massage in Zona Verde’s holistic healing section, you can sign up for salsa lessons at the Havana Village Dance Pavilion or, if you’re familiar with the Cuban tradition, enter a salsa competition. You can sleep when the dancing is done.
May 29-30, 10 a.m., 2010
