Hundreds of thousands of people are about to descend on S.F. at once. How is the city preparing?
Decorations for the upcoming NBA All-Star Weekend are seen along Powell Street at the cable car turnaround.
You’ve seen the way San Francisco puts on its best face for a global audience.
Homeless people pushed under the Central Freeway to make way for Super Bowl 50. Entire blocks of downtown gated off for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference.
So why would this weekend be any different?
San Francisco is preparing to host not one but two major events this weekend: the NBA All-Star Game and the Chinese New Year Parade. The events are expected to draw hundreds of thousands of people to key neighborhoods in downtown San Francisco, including Union Square, Chinatown and Mission Bay — the home of the Golden State Warriors’ Chase Center.
Visitors wait for a cable car at the Powell Street turnaround in front of decorations for NBA All-Star Weekend in San Francisco on Tuesday.
In anticipation of the festivities, San Francisco police have canceled days off for officers to ensure a fully staffed police force. The city is also ramping up street and sidewalk cleaning in its busiest corridors. And empty storefronts along the struggling Powell Street corridor are being filled with NBA-themed pop-up shops to signify the occasion.
This weekend will mark the biggest events hosted in San Francisco since Mayor Daniel Lurie took office. Lurie is hoping to build off of last month’s success hosting the annual JPMorgan Healthcare Conference, bolster San Francisco’s struggling downtown core and shake-off the “doom loop” narrative that has dogged the city for years.
“We are a city that has proven it can clean up for APEC, for example,” Lurie told NBC Bay Area in a recent interview. “We just had the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference that went so incredibly well. We want to do the same for the NBA All-Star Game.”
It’s hard to miss the visible signs of street chaos in parts of downtown. The city has long struggled to get ahold of its twin crises of homelessness and drug addiction, often succeeding in clearing one block only for the problems to spread to another. In the past, city officials have tried to reduce signs of the crises while hosting major events on the national and global stage.
Workers decorate a pop-up space on Powell Street ahead of NBA All-Star Weekend in San Francisco.
Ahead of the 2016 Super Bowl, then-Mayor Ed Lee told homeless people that they would have to leave the streets and for the 2023 APEC summit, crews with the Department of Public Works cleared out certain hot spots in the Tenderloin and South of Market in anticipation of the high-profile gathering.
Sam Dodge, director of street response coordination, said the city does not plan to carry out major homeless sweeps near this weekend’s planned festivities because the areas are already largely clear of encampments. Mission Bay had only two tents when the city conducted its quarterly homeless tent and vehicle count last month, while none were recorded in Union Square or Chinatown.
This week’s planned sweeps are focused on the city’s larger hot spots for homelessness and open-air drug markets: the Mission, Tenderloin, Bayview and SoMa.
A current epicenter for the disorder is the Sixth Street corridor from Market to Howard streets in SoMa, not far from Union Square. But the city’s boosters say that San Francisco has much to offer, despite its problems.
Decorations for NBA All-Star Weekend are seen on Powell Street in San Francisco on Tuesday.
“Our city has its challenges,” said Alex Bastian, who heads the Hotel Council of San Francisco. “But we have made a lot of progress.”
While he could not provide specific numbers, Bastian said the weekend “looks good for the hotels.”
“What’s so great about this weekend is that the San Francisco Bay Area is going to have an opportunity to shine bright on the world stage,” Bastian said.
The NBA All-Star Game is just the first in a series of major sporting events to be hosted by the region that city officials are hoping will translate into a boon for the economy and tourism. Next year, Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara will host the Super Bowl as well as six FIFA World Cup matches. Lurie said the events could bring a combined economic impact of up to $4 billion to the region.
“I couldn’t be more excited,” Lurie told NBC Bay Area. “This is what we’re built for in San Francisco.”
This is the first time that the city will host the NBA All-Star Game, which is scheduled for Sunday evening at the Chase Center and will be preceded by a series of events beginning Friday in Oakland and San Francisco.
The NBA events will coincide with the Chinese New Year Parade, which traces back more than a century to 1851 and draws tens of thousands of people to San Francisco each year. The parade is the largest of its kind outside of Asia, according to organizers. It will kick off at 5 p.m. Saturday at Second and Market streets and end a few hours later at Kearny Street and Columbus Avenue.
Ahead of the parade, the city power-washed the Chinatown Dragon Gate, painted the decorative light poles along Grant Avenue and fixed potholes along the parade route, according to city officials.
A worker power-washes a bus stop on Geary Street in Union Square ahead of NBA All-Star Weekend in San Francisco.
Separately, crews could recently be seen turning the empty storefronts along Powell Street into pop-up shops for the big weekend ahead.
The former home of Rasputin Music, at the corner of Powell and Ellis streets, was turned into a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles-themed pizza parlor. The defunct Uniqlo space, half a block up Powell, is now an “Inside the NBA” experience presented by American Express.
“So many visitors to our city make their way through this very important corridor, and we’re seeing what the future can hold for Powell Street,” said Marisa Rodriguez, CEO of the business improvement district Union Square Alliance.
Residents and visitors should expect a beefed up police presence.
“The San Francisco Police Department has canceled days off and will have all available officers working to keep the city safe,” the department said in a statement. “We are prepared to respond to any emergency in and around the event venues and parade route as well as the other districts throughout the city.”
The department earlier this month launched a new “hospitality zone task force” to more effectively cover the city’s major shopping and hotel corridors and improve the sense of safety of tourists and residents. Police Chief Bill Scott said the new unit would scale up staffing ahead of the NBA All-Star Weekend but that it was meant to be a permanent fixture that would make lasting improvements.
“These are some of the most traveled and the most visited streets and corridors in our city,” Scott said during a news conference last week. “It’s very important that we are pristine, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, not just for conventions, not just for conferences, not just for the NBA All-Stars, but every day.”
Reach Maggie Angst: maggie.angst@sfchronicle.com; X: @maggieangst; Bluesky: @maggieangst.bsky.social. Reach Michael Barba: michael.barba@sfchronicle.com
Michael Barba is a reporter covering government accountability and public safety for the Chronicle. He has covered San Francisco since 2015, first as a staff writer for the San Francisco Examiner and later as a senior reporter for the San Francisco Standard. During his time at the Standard, Barba’s reporting led to criminal charges against a building inspector who inspected his own home. He also revealed that Mayor London Breed secretly directed her appointees to sign undated resignation letters, spurring a new law barring the practice. In 2022, Barba was honored by the Northern California Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists with its Journalist of the Year award. He is a Los Angeles native and a graduate of San Francisco State University.
Maggie Angst covers homelessness, addiction and mental health for the San Francisco Chronicle’s city hall team.
Before joining the Chronicle in late 2023, she reported on California state politics for the Sacramento Bee. Maggie previously wrote for the Mercury News and East Bay Times, where she covered San Jose City Hall, reported from the front lines of California wildfires and exposed systemic deficiencies within an East Bay child welfare agency. She was awarded first place in local government reporting from the California News Publishers Association in 2021.
Maggie was born and raised outside of Chicago and earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri.
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Michael Barba is a reporter covering government accountability and public safety for the Chronicle. He has covered San Francisco since 2015, first as a staff writer for the San Francisco Examiner and later as a senior reporter for the San Francisco Standard. During his time at the Standard, Barba’s reporting led to criminal charges against a building inspector who inspected his own home. He also revealed that Mayor London Breed secretly directed her appointees to sign undated resignation letters, spurring a new law barring the practice. In 2022, Barba was honored by the Northern California Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists with its Journalist of the Year award. He is a Los Angeles native and a graduate of San Francisco State University.
Maggie Angst covers homelessness, addiction and mental health for the San Francisco Chronicle’s city hall team.
Before joining the Chronicle in late 2023, she reported on California state politics for the Sacramento Bee. Maggie previously wrote for the Mercury News and East Bay Times, where she covered San Jose City Hall, reported from the front lines of California wildfires and exposed systemic deficiencies within an East Bay child welfare agency. She was awarded first place in local government reporting from the California News Publishers Association in 2021.
Maggie was born and raised outside of Chicago and earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri.
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Raphael Saadiq, Dj Cassidy, E-40, Too $hort, Saweetie and En Vogue to lead musical tributes to Bay Area at NBA All-Star 2025
A star-studded lineup of musical performances will celebrate the Bay Area’s rich musical culture during All-Star Weekend.
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NEW YORK – The National Basketball Association today announced a star-studded lineup of musical performances celebrating the Bay Area’s rich musical culture as part of NBA All-Star 2025.
Renowned maestro, DJ Cassidy, will lead a special Bay Area edition of his “Pass The Mic Live!” starring award-winning artist and entrepreneur E-40, multi-platinum hip-hop artists Too $hort and Saweetie and multi-platinum vocal group En Vogue during the 2025 NBA All-Star Game, which will be played on Sunday, Feb. 16 at 8 p.m. ET on TNT, TruTV and MAX. The performance will take place at Chase Center in San Francisco, home of the Golden State Warriors, during the new NBA All-Star Game format.
Prior to tip-off, Oakland, Calif., native and three-time GRAMMY® Award-winning singer, songwriter and record producer Raphael Saadiq will deliver a special performance to welcome fans to the Bay Area and introduce the 2025 NBA All-Stars. Leading up to the event, Saadiq, joined by fellow Oakland native and nine-time NBA All-Star Damian Lillard of the Milwaukee Bucks, appeared in a promotional short film exploring how the Bay has shaped their lives and careers. The film is now streaming across @NBA platforms.
On Saturday, Feb. 15, Academy Award® winner, five-time Grammy Award-winning artist and Vallejo, Calif. native H.E.R. will welcome fans to State Farm® All-Star Saturday Night alongside National Basketball Players Association Executive Director and four-time NBA champion with the Golden State Warriors Andre Iguodala. Additionally, Def Jam Recording artist LiAngelo “GELO” Ball will make his live televised debut, performing his hit single “Tweaker” ahead of the STARRY 3-Point Contest. The track, which debuted at No. 29 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became the #1 Rap song of 2025, topped the TikTok Top 50 Viral Chart and the Apple Music Hip-Hop Chart, among others. Coverage begins at 8 p.m. ET on TNT, truTV and MAX.
Bay Area rapper LaRussell will take the stage to perform an original song to introduce the 2025 Castrol® Rising Stars, which will take place on Friday, Feb. 14 at 9 p.m. ET on TNT, truTV and MAX.
As previously announced, multi-platinum singer-songwriter Noah Kahan, GRAMMY Award-winning artists The Chainsmokers, Zedd and 2 Chainz, and multi-platinum artist Flo Rida will perform throughout the weekend at Pier 48 as part of the NBA All-Star Concert Series. Tickets for the Concert Series are available at NBAEvents.com.
The U.S. national anthem before the NBA All-Star Game will feature a tribute to the Los Angeles area in the wake of the devastating wildfires. The performance will be led by Los Angeles firefighter and paramedic Dennis R. Rodriguez, accompanied by a presentation of the colors by fellow LAFD firefighters. GRAMMY Award-winning singer Alessia Cara will perform the Canadian national anthem.
On Saturday, five-time GRAMMY Award-winning musician and Morehouse alumnus PJ Morton will perform the U.S. national anthem before Morehouse College and Tuskegee University meet in the fourth annual NBA HBCU Classic presented by AT&T, which tips off at 5 p.m. ET on ESPN+, NBA TV and TruTV. Morton will also join Oakland native and singer-songwriter Goapele to perform the Black national anthem, “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”
A longtime friend of the NBA and four-time NBA All-Star Celebrity Game MVP, Hart will bring his signature humor and energy to the All-Star Game.
Get more information about the artists and entertainers who will be appearing at NBA All-Star 2025 in the Bay Area.
The 3-day concert series will take place at San Francisco’s historic Pier 48.
A guide to NBA All-Star 2025 in the San Francisco Bay Area on Feb. 14-16 2025.
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The NBA All-Star Game and Chinese New Year festivities should make for a spectacular weekend in San Francisco, with celebrities descending in droves.
While the Chinese New Year Festival and Parade happen annually, this is the first time the All-Star Game will be played in the city. It arrives after a head-spinning trade deadline for the NBA, which sent Luka Doncic to the Lakers and Jimmy Butler to the Warriors.
But with A-list stars come an array of transit changes and road closures. Here’s what San Franciscans need to know to survive the week.
The Chinese New Year Community Street Fair will take place Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. in Chinatown. The 1.3-mile parade Saturday will start at 5 p.m. at Market and Second streets.
NBA festivities run Friday through Sunday. Tickets are available for individual events and for day- or weekend-long experiences. One-day tickets for the weekend-long NBA Crossover Event at Moscone Center — which will feature exclusive merchandise, player appearances, and other interactive experiences — start at $50, and can be purchased here.
There’s also a music festival at Pier 48 headlined by Noah Kahan, Zedd, and the Chainsmokers (one-day passes start at $75; three-day passes start at $250) and a host of other events throughout the weekend, including Friday’s big game.
While BART will make no changes to its routes for the week, several Muni routes will be affected, with many rerouting prior to reaching downtown. Routes on Market Street will instead operate on Mission Street.
SFMTA is offering free Muni rides across the city Saturday and Sunday, with the exception of cable cars. BART will also be running longer trains to expand capacity, and Muni is adding 9 trains to lower wait times.
Here are the affected routes:
In addition, Muni will be offering the 78X 16th Street Arena Express from Friday through Sunday, 2 to 11 p.m., to bring visitors to and from Chase Center via the 16th and Mission BART Station.
The Lunar New Year parade route, which starts at Market and Second streets and goes through Union Square and Chinatown, will cause road closures before, during, and after Saturday’s event. The Community Street Fair, which will span Chinatown, will lead to closures Saturday and Sunday.
Around Moscone Center, the following streets will have closures from 6 a.m. Friday to 9 p.m. Sunday, according to the SFMTA.
Additionally, Minna Street between New Montgomery and Third streets will be closed to cars from 6 a.m. Friday to 12 p.m. Sunday.
Around Pier 48, directly south of Oracle Park, the following streets will be closed from 6 a.m. Thursday to 2 a.m. Monday:
These are the closures around Chase Center, where the most popular All-Star events are set to take place:
Several streets in the Financial District will be closed for the Chinese New Year parade Saturday from 2 p.m. to approximately 9:30 p.m.
Additionally, a number of streets in Chinatown will be closed from 11 p.m. Friday to 11 p.m. Sunday for the Community Street Fair:
Ezra Wallach can be reached at ewallach@sfstandard.com
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