Founded in 2002, SFIAF celebrates the arts by bringing together a global community of artists and audiences. We present innovative projects that focus on increasing awareness and understanding within and across cultures.

Our core values are based on principles of cultural and economic equity and coordinating the shared resources of multiple organizations in order to reach mutually beneficial goals. In addition to working with larger institutions, we place a high priority on the participation of smaller, culturally diverse entities whose communities have been left out of the prevailing American narrative. Supporting relationships between such organizations and artists is a primary commitment of SFIAF.

With these principles in mind, SFIAF returned to the Mission District in 2023 and now focuses its programming in the neighborhood. The Mission is a metaphor writ large for the San Francisco of yore; a scrappy but vital creative melting pot brimming with energy, talent and revolutionary ideas. Our Festival's return to this neighborhood brought a renewed determination to celebrate all that is brilliant about this diverse, dynamic and remarkable part of the city.