Night of Ideas San Francisco

Due to overwhelming interest, pre-registration is now closed. Registration may reopen at the door later in the night depending on the turnout. We recommend to take your chance onsite!

Can our cities be community focused and globally connected while also smart, resilient, and infused with poetry and empathy? Through dialogue, how can we empower people of all ages, classes, and backgrounds? Is an innovative and inclusive city possible?

Discuss these questions, enjoy music and art, and sip French wine as the Main Library opens its doors for a free and festive night to exchange ideas in the heart of the city in the form of a 7-hour marathon of debates, discussions and performances.

The San Francisco Public Library, SFMOMA and the French Consulate in San Francisco, invite you to the first edition of Night of Ideas in San Francisco featuring top thinkers and change makers from the Bay Area and beyond in the theme of “Facing our Time: the City of the Future”.

Join us in San Francisco on February 2 to participate in the culmination of this international event series, which takes place in more than 120 cities, beginning in Paris on January 31.

Due to overwhelming interest, pre-registration is now closed.
Registration may reopen at the door later in the night depending on the turnout. Take your chance onsite!

Featuring diverse voices – including internationally recognized artist JR, Chef Dominique Crenn, Co-Founder of The Center for Humane Technology Tristan Harris, architect Nicola Delon, KQED Forum host Michael Krasny and many others, Night of Ideas anticipates thousands will join in the evening’s free exchange of ideas and creative dialogue. Multiple venues throughout the library will host concurrent panel discussions, keynote presentations, intimate dialogues, music, dance performances and more. Food, wine, art and yoga will be interspersed in the festivities!

Additional opportunities to engage include taking to the open mic stage to share your thoughts and ideas for tomorrow’s city and entering an onsite giveaway for a chance to win a round-trip ticket to Paris!

Celebrate shared imagination during Night of Ideas in San Francisco – a free, open to all festive night in the heart of the city.

Check the website for more speakers and artists.

Free, but registration is required on Eventbrite.

This event is co-presented by the San Francisco Public Library, the French Consulate in San Francisco, and SFMOMA in collaboration with media partner KQED and the City and County of San Francisco.

The event is made possible by the support of Friends of the San Francisco Public Library, 836M, the Cultural and Scientific Services of the French Embassy in the United States, French American Cultural Society, French Bee and Intercontinental San Francisco. La Nuit des Idées is a project of the Institut Français and Fondation de France.