Kafana Balkan

Name: Kafana Balkan
Start: 2025-10-18T08:30:00-07:00
Location: Rickshaw Stop

Schedule

Sat, 18 Oct, 2025 at 08:30 am

UTC-07:00

Location

Rickshaw Stop | San Francisco, CA

Kafana Balkan presents the bombastic Balkan Brass Band Inspector Gadje, Zedan & Osman (Syrian Traditional Music), Chantal, Alia Saeed (Belly Dance) & DJ Željko. The dance floor will be hopping!
See footage here

where a line formed around the block, incited an all-night sweat soaked dance party, and ecstatic memories still resonating with those lucky enough to have been there.
INSPECTOR GADJE brings a big sound to the beautiful and bumpin' brass band music of the Balkans. With 14 musicians sharing the stage, Inspector Gadje is an acoustic dance machine that makes the party move! A "... RIP ROARING MAD BALKAN BRASS BEDLAM" (KPFA'S Stephen Kent, “Music of the World”) and an "instant party atmosphere” (The SF Chronicle).
ZEDAN
Faisal is a renowned Arabic percussionist, born in Lebanon and raised in Syria, with a lifelong dedication to preserving and teaching the rich traditions of Arabic music and drumming.
His extensive repertoire encompasses a wide range of Arabic music genres, including classical, regional, and belly dance music. Additionally, his versatility as a percussionist extends to Greek, Balkan, and Eastern European musical traditions.
Throughout his career, Faisal has collaborated with numerous local and international artists, contributing to the global exchange of cultural traditions.
OSMAN : Osman is a Kurdish composer and master tembür/tambour musician from Al-Hasaka, Syria. He's a self-taught musician who began playing at the age of 10.
He started composing at the age of 15 and began developing his own style of playing tambour. He has performed at a variety of venues, including the Damascus Opera House, and several cultural centers. Raman currently lives in Northern California where he performs Kurdish music and music from the Middle
East as a solo artist as well as with arlists from various world musie traditions.
ALIA SAEED
CHANTAL:
Influenced by modern and vintage belly dancers alike, Chantal is a graceful and enchanting performer described as "liquid gold", "luscious" and "a skillful and enigmatic catalyst between the music and the audience." She is based out of Oakland, CA where she teaches and performs Raqs Sharqi, Turkish Roman, and Fusion Bellydance.
About the presenters: Kafana Balkan was the first ongoing Balkan dance party in San Francisco and is the only one of its kind organized by DJ Željko Petković in the Bay Area. Željko hails from Serbia by way of Frankfurt, and, lucky for us, he now calls San Francisco home. DJ Željko has discriminating taste, a seemingly endless collection of great Balkan albums, and love and joy for his music, a crowd-pleasing, danceable Balkan brass sound. Željko promotes Balkan music and culture by producing Kafana Balkan roughly four times a year.
Since February 2015, he's joined by Marco Peris Coppola, Creative Co Strategist and Co Booker, who is helping Kafana Balkan grow.
There will be Rakija -delectible Serbian plum brandy. Warning! Drink at your own risk
More on Inspector Gadje - https://www.inspectorgadje.com
More on Kafana Balkan -www.facebook.com/kafana.balkan