Southeast Asian Songkran Festival at Civic Center

The Bamboo Organization is set to stage a Southeast Asian New Year celebration at Fulton Plaza in San Francisco’s Civic Center on Saturday, May 16, according to listings on Funcheap and Eventbrite. The free event is billed as Songkran Festival 2026 and is scheduled to run from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Fulton and Larkin streets. (sf.funcheap.com) Organizers say the program will include a hands-on water blessing, Thai street food and live cultural performances. Event materials also describe the gathering as a public celebration of Songkran, the traditional New Year festival observed in Thailand and elsewhere in Southeast Asia. (eventbrite.com) ### When and where is the festival happening? Saturday, May 16, is the event date listed by both Funcheap and Eventbrite for the Songkran celebration at Fulton Plaza in Civic Center. (sf.funcheap.com) The posted hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., and the venue is identified as Fulton Plaza at Fulton and Larkin in San Francisco. Both listings say admission is free. Fulton Plaza appears in Funcheap’s Civic Center and venue listings as the site for the event. Those pages repeat the same time window and describe it as an outdoor festival in the Civic Center area. ### What will people find there besides the water blessing? Eventbrite says the festival will feature a parade, live music, performances, food and a traditional water blessing ceremony open to the public. (sf.funcheap.com) Funcheap’s event page highlights Thai street food and live cultural performances as central attractions. The Bamboo Organization’s own event page says a central stage will host cultural performances and that community leaders and elders are expected to take part in the blessing ceremony. About 20 vendor booths are planned, according to The Bamboo Organization’s page for prospective participants. That page says the mix is expected to include food sellers, artisans, small businesses and community organizations, along with an educational booth hosted by The Bamboo Voice. (sf.funcheap.com) ### Who is organizing the event? The Bamboo Organization is named as the organizer on Eventbrite. A separate page on bamboovoice.org says the group is inviting vendors and community organizations to participate in what it calls a one-day cultural celebration of the Southeast Asian New Year in San Francisco. Thai-language promotional material reproduced on third-party event pages says the festival is being presented with Thai community groups in Northern California and the San Francisco Bay Area. (eventbrite.com) Those pages also mention a Miss Songkran SF pageant and broader community programming, though the most directly sourced details come from Eventbrite, Funcheap and the organizer’s own site. (bamboovoice.org) ### How large do organizers expect the turnout to be? The Bamboo Organization’s promotional material, as reproduced on third-party listings, says organizers expect about 1,500 to 2,000 attendees from around the Bay Area. That estimate appears in vendor-facing outreach tied to the May 16 event. (eventbrite.com) Vendor pricing published on the same outreach materials ranged from $750 for prepared-food booths to $1,500 for food trucks, with lower early-bird rates listed for vendors who booked by March 31. Those prices were part of the organizer’s call for booths rather than attendee admission, which the public listings describe as free. ### Where can attendees confirm details before they go? (happeningnext.com) Funcheap and Eventbrite both carry public-facing event pages with the May 16 schedule, location and admission details. The organizer’s site also hosts a Songkran 2026 page with vendor information and a downloadable flyer. May 16 is the next dated milestone in the public listings, with the festival scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. at Fulton Plaza and continue until 6 p.m., according to Funcheap and Eventbrite. (stayhappening.com) (sf.funcheap.com) (bamboovoice.org)