Exhibitor Registration
Arts and cultural groups of every description are welcome * Small organizations always pay just $25. (Late fee is $35 after SEPT. 1.)Volunteer
Runners, greeters, pre-event tech support, PR, writing/editing and more ... volunteering is a great way to meet people and get involved with the arts in the Bay Area.Support the Expo
Be an Expo sponsor
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What is the Expo?
The Expo on Laughing Squid: A marvelous trove of photos, stories and memories of this unique event! Read a concise definition of the Expo Watch video clips of Expo 2007, Expo 2005 and Expo 2000
Press Kit
Expo Home Page
WHAT IS THE EXPO? back to the topThe Expo is the Bay Area's only grassroots connection fair for independent arts, music & culture -- an all-day "Free Culture Fair" featuring more than 120 Bay Area arts organizations, free workshops, children's activities, our new Community Arts Showcase featuring local music and performance, and hundreds of local artists and musicians.
Attendees can meet local galleries, nonprofits, collectives and small businesses; present portfolios and music demos; and participate in workshops, seminars and skillshares on arts skills and methods, business and promotions, legal issues, community-building and more!
In 2005, after five years at Cellspace in the Mission, the Expo moved to the SomArts Cultural Center in the South of Market district.
It was the biggest, most colorful and most exciting Expo to date, with 124 arts groups exhibiting (a record number that included new groups from outside the Bay Area, from Sacramento to San Diego), approx. 1,000 individual attendees, and a new performance program -- the Community Arts Showcase -- that featured everything from Appalchian string-band dance music to North Indian Kathak dancing, even a Tuvan-style throat singer!
That trend continued in subsequent years, with plenty of surprises on the way.
In 2008, the Expo is moving to our first-ever outdoors venue -- Dolores Park. What new surprises and opportunities await? As we grow, the Expo remains firmly in the grassroots, and is dedicated to strengthening creative and cultural activity, participation and cross-pollination at the community level.