SAN FRANCISCO, CA, April 24, 2026 — SOMA Pilipinas, the City and State recognized Filipino Cultural Heritage District, marks a landmark ten years of community building, cultural preservation, and placemaking in San Francisco’s South of Market neighborhood. Under the banner of Dekada: Continuing a Decade of Community Arts, Activism, and Cultural Impact—SOMA Pilipinas reflects on ten years of hard-won victories while sounding the alarm on deepening threats of displacement and defunding that put the district’s future at risk.

APRIL 2, 2026, SAN FRANCISCO, CA - On Thursday, April 23, from 6-8 PM, SOMA Pilipinas, the City and State recognized Filipino Cultural Heritage District, will present “Gunitaan ng Pagtutuwid ng Kasaysayan - Site of Reclaiming and Rectifying History”, a free, outdoor performance at the Dewey Monument in Union Square. The procession begins at 6:30 PM at the East Entrance of Union Square Plaza, on the corner of Geary and Stockton. This performance is part of the San Francisco Arts Commission's Shaping Legacy Project, an initiative to critically examine and re-imagine the monuments and memorials in the city's Civic Art Collection. It has been developed with guidance from community historian MC Canlas and in partnership with the Filipino American National Historical Society (FANHS-SF Chapter), the League of Filipino Students at San Francisco State University, Anakbayan at City College, and the San Francisco Chapter of Malaya Movement.

San Francisco, CA — December 19, 2025 — MAKIBAKA: A Living Legacy, the groundbreaking exhibition presented by SOMA Pilipinas in collaboration with Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA), will conclude its run on Sunday, January 4, 2026, with a closing reception and celebration on Saturday, January 3. Since opening on August 1, 2025, the exhibition has drawn widespread attention for its bold celebration of Filipino art, activism, and the enduring presence of the Filipino community in the South of Market (SoMa) neighborhood and the Bay Area.

San Francisco, CA - November 7, 2025 - SOMA Pilipinas Filipino Cultural Heritage District in partnership with Filipino American Development Foundation presents their 23rd Annual Parol Lantern Festival on Saturday, December 13, 2025 at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA) from 3-8pm. This free, family-friendly festival continues the tradition of the parol lantern—a quintessential Filipino symbol of hope, peace, and community during the holiday season, and can be found lighting up windows in Filipino homes throughout the world. The festival’s theme this year is “MAKIBAKA: Ignite the Fight, Light Up Our Legacy”, a rallying call to fight, rise, and shine amidst hardship and harm, and is honored in MAKIBAKA: A Living Legacy exhibition at YBCA, open through January 4, 2026. 

San Francisco, CA - October 14, 2025 – SOMA Pilipinas Cultural Heritage District and the South of Market Community Action Network (SOMCAN) spearheaded a successful community initiative to designate the culturally and historically significant Mint Mall and Hall, located at 951-957 Mission St, as a city landmark. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the Mint Mall and Hall’s landmark designation on October 7th, 2025, just in time for Filipino American History Month (FAHM). The building’s landmark designation report will also be the first of its kind written in both English and Filipino languages.

By the end of this year, there will be over 40 pieces of public art in the cultural district

SOMA Pilipinas is on a mission to bring the streets of downtown San Francisco’s Filipino Cultural Heritage District alive with vibrant color—and soon they’ll unveil the most precious work in their growing collection of public art.

Johanna Poethig repaints a mural that depicts Filipino American history on the corner of Lapu Lapu and Bonifacio streets in San Francisco.

In this episode of Voices for Change, we celebrate the start of the summer Olympics. We honor the memory of Victoria Draves, the first Asian American to win a medal, and show you how her San Francisco roots are being remembered.

As San Francisco continues to rebound from the pandemic, SOMA Pilipinas is utilizing the mural and 40 other pieces of public art to draw visitors back to the area—and showcase the vibrancy of the Filipino community.

Filipinos around the world hold one Christmas symbol above the rest: the parol, a traditional ornamental lantern that adorns streets, homes, malls and buildings in the Philippines.

October is Philippine Indigenous People’s Month. KRON4 was joined by a special performance group that knows about the celebration of the culture.

Earlier this month, musical artist Toro y Moi handed over the keys to his car in front of Westfield Mall in San Francisco. But it wasn’t just any car: It was the jeepney that graces the cover of his 2022 album Mahal, and which became a recognizable symbol of his music.

Evelyn Shauf has lived at 42 Sycamore St. in the Mission for 38 years and is facing eviction.

After a two year hiatus due to Covid-19 restrictions, the parol festival returned to the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.

On its 20th year, the Parol Lantern Festival held a milestone celebration last Dec. 10 at the Yerba Buena Gardens, while rain did not deter Kapwa Garden’s second annual Halo Halo Holidays.