Support Our Cultural Arts & Health Education Program!

For more than 20 years, Carnaval San Francisco has empowered young people through arts, culture, movement, and community. Since launching our Cultural Arts & Health Education Program in 2002, we have partnered with schools across San Francisco to provide culturally rooted dance, drumming, music, and arts education to more than 9,000 students.

Our program brings professional teaching artists into schools and community spaces where students learn traditional dance, percussion, history, and cultural practices that celebrate the diverse communities of the Mission District and the Bay Area. Through these experiences, youth build confidence, strengthen their physical and emotional well-being, develop leadership skills, and deepen their connection to their cultural heritage.

Throughout the school year and during our summer programming, students participate in hands-on arts education, creative expression, and wellness activities that encourage teamwork, discipline, and pride in their identities. Many of our students culminate their experience by performing in the annual Carnaval San Francisco Grand Parade, sharing their talents with thousands of community members.

Together, we are preserving cultural traditions, investing in youth leadership, and strengthening our community for generations to come.

Cultura y Arte Nativa De Las Americas (CANA) is a 501c3 nonprofit organization. For over four decades, we have preserved and celebrated the many heritages through culturally and linguistically-relevant dance, music, art, and by creating spaces for community learning, school-based education, advocacy and human services. Carnaval San Francisco and the Mission Food Hub are projects of CANA.