| Mission Creek Music and Arts Festival | |
|---|---|
| Location | San Francisco, California, USA |
| Official website | |
Mission Creek Music & Arts Festival (MCMAF or “Mission Creek”) is a week long volunteer-driven music festival in the San Francisco Bay Area. It features local, experimental and contemporary artists who have made an impact on the scene.
The festival takes a hard stance against corporate sponsorship. Andre Perry, one of the festival's producers sums up the their position saying, "Basically, we're not interested in companies without any responsibility or connection to the local community."[1] The festival takes its name from the Mission Creek watershed that once flourished in the neighborhood.[2]
The project began in 1996, when San Francisco musician Jeff Ray decided to showcase eight Bay Area independent musicians in a one-day event at El Rio bar and called it a festival.[3]
The festival prides itself on showcasing fledging musicians and artists who go on to headline their own shows. Producer John Fellman was the first person in San Francisco to book harpist Joanna Newsom. Former Mission Creek acts include Devendra Banhart, Deerhoof, Erase Errata, The Oh Sees, Kelly Stoltz, Rogue Wave, and Vetiver, all of whom developed national followings. The producers also have an eye for talented visual artists. Among the local artists who have design posters for the festival is Jo Jackson, a key artist in the "Mission School".
In 2009 and 2010, the festival has hosted free one-day outdoor concerts attended by 1,200 people in beautiful McLaren Park, the second largest park in San Francisco.