The Symposium (Presented by Big Brain and DFT) | Jan 1, 2026

THE SYMPOSIUM at DFT
🧠 🪩 Presented by and

________________________________________________________________________________

Take a break from big beats in the streets during DFT, with Big Brain at The Symposium —a space for minds to connect, learn, and explore cool topics.
🎟️ RSVP Required for Entry!
This is a FREE ticketed event with limited capacity. Tickets are required for entry, and space is available on a first-come, first-served basis. A ticket does not guarantee entry. Doors open at 7PM.

WHERE: Temple SF (21+ venue)
WHEN: 7-9PM

Jan 1st Featured Speaker:
"The Circular City: How Vintage Shapes Our Future"
with (cultural entrepreneur and founder of San Francisco Vintage, HAVE, and SF Vintage Maps.
What if San Francisco’s future isn’t something we invent—but something we rediscover?
Join us for a New Year’s Day lecture with Krystyl Baldwin,
As we step into a new year, new lens, Krystyl reveals a powerful truth about the city: San Francisco has always reinvented itself through cycles of reuse, repair, and creative reinterpretation. Vintage objects—from machine-age drafting tools to midcentury home goods—become clues to how community, craft, and technology have shaped the city’s identity.
She then shows how today’s artists, technologists, and curators are reviving this legacy in a new circular era, where reuse becomes storytelling and innovation loops back to history.
Attendees will leave seeing SF not as a blank canvas, but as a city whose future is already hidden in the objects and stories we choose to carry forward.
What's a "Symposium?"
a: A friendly party (as after a banquet in ancient Greece) with music and conversation
b: A social gathering at which there is free interchange of ideas
c: A really cool drop in with drinks and fun people; part lecture, part party with smarties.

__

Follow us on Instagram and Facebook at: @bigbrainsf, @dftsanfrancico

__
About Big Brain:
Big Brain is a lecture series hosted in SF's coolest spaces. Welcome to the nerd club.
__

DFT is presented by Into The Streets and Civic Joy Fund in partnership The East Cut CBD, Yerba Buena Partnership, Natoma Cabana, and 111 Minna Gallery.

__
By registering for and attending this event, you authorize Big Brain SF & DFT to use any photographs or video recordings of your participation in this event for any and all purposes.
By registering for this event, you agree to opt-in to communications from Into The Streets, Civic Joy Fund, and Big Brain.

DFT’s 2026 is presented by Into The Streets and Civic Joy Fund, with support from San Francisco Downtown Development Corporation.

DFT is presented in partnership with The East Cut Community Benefit District, Yerba Buena Partnership, Natoma Cabana, and 111 Minna Gallery.

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

Get App

Host or Publisher Downtown First Thursdays