Paula West, Marcus Shelby among Yerba Buena Gardens Festival’s 2022 lineup

Jesús Díaz y su Habana Afro-Cuban Ensamble kicks off six months of weekly programming in music, dance, theater and more.

The Community Music Center Older Adult Choirs from the Bayview, Western Addition, and Ingleside neighborhoods perform at the Yerba Buena Gardens Festival in 2018.Photo: Liz Hafalia / The Chronicle 2018

Yerba Buena Gardens Festival, the 22-year-old free event series, is returning to its eponymous South of Market city park on May 7 with Cuba-born percussionist and singer Jesús Díaz y Su Habana Afro-Cuban Ensamble, which kicks off six months of weekly programming in music, dance, theater and more.

The outdoor event’s lineup, announced Wednesday, April 6, also includes Bay Area favorites such as veteran jazz contralto Paula West and San Francisco bassist and composer Marcus Shelby, along with a spate of world premieres.

The festival is proud to commission new musical and performance programs specifically designed for the Gardens,” Linda Lucero, the festival’s executive and artistic director, said in a statement.

Members of Duniya Dance and Drum Company perform during Night of Ideas, a free event at San Francisco Public Library co-presented by the French Consulate in San Francisco, KQED, SFMOMA and the San Francisco Public Library.Photo: Jana Asenbrennerova / Special to The Chronicle 2020

Among the four world premieres are “Sudamala,” to be performed by Berkeley Balinese music and dance company Gamelan Sekar Jaya on May 28, and Alleluia Panis’ “Nursing These Wounds” on Oct. 1. Joti Singh, the artistic director of Duniya Dance and Drum Company, which blends Punjabi and Guinean dance, is scheduled to perform “Ghadar Geet” on Sept. 10. Shelby plans to unveil “Blues in the City” with the Marcus Shelby New Orchestra on Sept. 3.

Circus Bella’s “Humorous” at DeFremery Park in Oakland.Photo: Santiago Mejia / The Chronicle 2021

Other highlights include 14-year-old San Francisco circus company Circus Bella, which presents “Flip * Flop * Fly” on June 25; San Francisco dance company Na Lei Hulu I Ka Wekiu, which specializes in traditional and contemporary Hawaiian dance, with “I Ola!” on June 18; and West’s performance along with AfroSolo Arts Festival on Aug. 6.

Paula West sings “My Funny Valentine” at the Castro Theater.Photo: Jana Asenbrennerova / Special to The Chronicle 2018

The Yerba Buena Gardens Festival also plans to have Salsa at Jessie, an outdoor dance party, on the third Thursday of each month from May to September, and the Children’s Garden Series, with puppets, circus and more on Fridays from June to August.

A Thursday Lunchtime Concert Series will be hosted “most Thursdays,” organizers said, May through September.

For a full roster of free events, visitwww.ybgfestival.org.

  • Lily Janiak
    Lily JaniakLily Janiak is The San Francisco Chronicle’s theater critic. Email: ljaniak@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @LilyJaniak