Sunset After Dark event brings unity to divided San Francisco neighborhood

By Andrea Nakano

A busy Friday night unfolded in San Francisco’s Sunset District, as a new event brought residents together.

The community is dealing with division that’s been brought on by the creation of the Sunset Dunes Park and the recall of Supervisor Joel Engardio.

Sunset After Dark took up several blocks of Irving Street on Friday night. With the former night market being canceled this year due to delayed funding and overwhelming growth, residents were glad to see this event happen.

“We were all so bummed because we had so much fun last year, but whoever organized this, we just have a massive thanks,” said resident Austin Olson.

This was organized by a grassroots group called Dear Community. It took just two months to find sponsors and the support of local merchants to put on the event. The Sunset still does not have a supervisor after the recent recall, and many community members are still divided about the Great Highway being closed to create a park.

“It’s amazing to have this event to bring people together,” said Rob Aiavao with

Dear Community. “Especially after something that was divisive. I’m almost viewing this as a palette cleanser. A way for all of us to come together to support our businesses, vendors and local schools.”

Mayor Daniel Lurie was at the event, mingling with residents and talking with business owners.

“We have so much more that we agree on than we disagree on,” said Mayor Lurie. “What they all agree on is let’s drive more people to the Sunset.”

He says he is still interviewing people to take over for former Supervisor Joel Engardio.

“I’m looking for somebody to represent the district really well,” he said. “Who is willing to work with the other 10 supervisors and work with the mayor. I’m not looking for a short-term thing. I’m looking for somebody who wants to represent for the duration and who wants to run again.”

Mayor Lurie feels events like these are bringing life back into San Francisco and many of the businesses agree. KISS of Matcha just opened its third location on Irving Street and loves seeing the foot traffic the event brings.

“I think it will be very helpful because this is the first day opening in this location,” said Michael Liang with Kiss of Matcha. “Even though people just walk by, they see our logo. It’s like a great promotion.”

And for small vendors like Hot Boi Chili Oil, it’s a chance to share its product and story with the community.

“The recipe came to me in a dream during Covid,” said co-owner Alex Nguyen.

Nguyen says he spent countless hours trying to perfect his chili oil recipe.

“It turned out to be really nasty and I said, ‘You know what, I’m going to take a nap for like 20 minutes.’ In those 20 minutes, I saw clouds and fried garlic and shallots on top of those clouds. I woke up immediately, went straight to the kitchen. Started experimenting and here we are today,” he said.

Those we talked with say they are noticing that San Francisco is seeing signs of economic growth. Businesses and residents couldn’t be happier to see a shift in the perception of the city.

“We’re just so happy to see San Francisco,” said Olson. “It seems like it’s going into the stratosphere. It’s doing great so very excited about what’s to come in the next few years.”