What you need to know about Carnaval San Francisco

• Indigenous Nobel Prize winner Rigoberta Menchú Tum will lead the parade as grand marshal.

Context: Carnaval San Francisco is a free, two-day festival with a Grand Parade that spans 20 blocks in the Mission.

• It features beautifully adorned people and floats, and thousands of dancers, traditional African drummers and other live musicians.
• The festival portion will feature performances from Noel Torres, Pirulo y la Tribu, Franco, Banda Blanca and others.

Flashback: The first Carnaval took place in 1979 at Precita Park after a group of local musicians, artists and residents united for an event that showcased the spirit of Latin American and Caribbean culture.

• One of the original organizers, Adela Chu, was first exposed to Carnaval in Colón, Panama, in childhood, she told Found SF.
• Fast forward to adulthood in San Francisco, and she realized "a city like San Francisco without a Carnaval didn't make any sense" because all of the pieces — the spirit, the drummers and the dancers — were there, she said.

What's next: The festival portion of Carnaval begins Saturday at 11am and the parade begins Sunday at 9:30am.

• Harrison Street, from 16th to 24th streets, will be closed to cars all weekend, KQED reports.
• On Sunday, Mission Street will be closed between 15th and 24th streets.
• Expect parking in the area to be difficult, so public transit — specifically BART — will be your best bet.