Southeast Asian Songkran Festival at Fulton Plaza

The Bamboo is scheduled to present the Southeast Asian New Year Celebration: Songkran Festival 2026 at Fulton Plaza in San Francisco’s Civic Center on Saturday, May 16, according to event listings on Eventbrite and Funcheap. The free festival is set to run from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and is billed as a public celebration of Songkran, the Southeast Asian New Year tradition associated most closely with Thailand. Organizers say the program will include a hands-on water blessing, Thai street food, live cultural performances and vendors. Eventbrite says RSVP is encouraged, though admission is free. ### Where and when is the festival happening? Saturday, May 16, is the listed date for the event, with both Eventbrite and Funcheap giving the same 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. schedule. The location is Fulton Plaza at Fulton and Larkin streets in Civic Center, a downtown public space that the city has also been using this spring for its Civic Center Soundtrack concert series. (sf.funcheap.com) Funcheap identifies The Bamboo as the organizer and describes the festival as open to the public at no charge. Eventbrite’s listing also says the event is for all ages and notes that paid parking is available nearby. ### What will people actually see if they show up? Eventbrite lists an opening parade with traditional Thai dance and long drums at 11 a.m., followed by an opening ceremony at 11:15 a.m. and a water blessing at 11:45 a.m. (sf.funcheap.com) The page says the rest of the afternoon will include cultural performances, a Vietnamese jazz set, a community pageant and a live concert finale from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Funcheap’s description is shorter but matches the main features, saying the event will center on a hands-on water blessing, Thai street food and live cultural performances. The listing also says artisan and community vendors will be on site and mentions “Miss Songkran SF” as part of the program. ### Who is backing the event? (eventbrite.com) Eventbrite says the festival is being held “with support from” the APA Heritage Foundation, the Royal Thai Consulate General, the Thai Association of Northern California, the Thai Cultural Councils of Berkeley and Fremont, and the Thai Census. The listing does not provide separate statements from those groups, but names them as supporting organizations. (sf.funcheap.com) May is also Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, a point highlighted in the Eventbrite description. The same listing calls Songkran an “UNESCO-recognized cultural tradition,” though it does not cite a separate source on the page for that description. ### Why is Fulton Plaza being used for this event? (eventbrite.com) April 6 marked Mayor Daniel Lurie’s announcement of a new season of free live music and food trucks at Fulton Plaza, part of the city’s effort to keep the Civic Center site active through October. The mayor’s office said the Civic Center Soundtrack series is funded and produced by Illuminate in partnership with the San Francisco Public Library, the Recreation and Park Department and the Civic Center Community Benefit District. (eventbrite.com) District 5 Supervisor Bilal Mahmood said in that city announcement that Fulton Plaza had been remade into a destination for “music, dance, games, and more.” The city statement did not mention the Songkran festival specifically, but it placed the plaza within a broader calendar of public events and performances in the area. (sf.gov) ### Do you need tickets, and where are the details? Admission is listed as free on both Eventbrite and Funcheap, with Eventbrite saying RSVP is encouraged for updates and schedule highlights. The Eventbrite page also says attendees should arrive before 11 a.m. to catch the parade. May 16 is the next scheduled date for the festival, and the latest public details are posted on the Eventbrite event page and Funcheap’s San Francisco listing. (sf.gov) Both pages list Fulton Plaza in Civic Center as the venue and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. as the event window. (sf.funcheap.com)