About us
Are you thinking of making friends and extend your social circle by going volunteering, learning things, or doing good together? You are looking at the right place.
If you dig deeper, you will find us actually a social org :). For volunteers, and working professionals.
The things we do are very simple, meaningful things in beautiful settings, so connections happen naturally, from shared purpose and experience.
Friendship through civic engagements and shared learnings. That is us - a volunteer community that runs events.
Send us your new in towns, the young professionals, the transplants, the job seekers, the singles, all those that could use new connections.
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So if there is a guild for volunteers that do so socially, excluding the court ordered and school requested ones, that would probably be us :). Yes, most of us are professionals active in their fields, and we take care of our volunteers, mostly from the social side as well. In doing so, we also take on organizing social for the general community as our duty.
We are active mostly in public community events, from huge city parades to suburb town festivals to professional conferences, down to neighborhood fairs, and even other meetups. Perfect occasions for you to join, go places & meet people, check things out, with a group.
We encourage active participation, you can volunteer not only for others' events, but act as hosts as well. We set the stage, you step up and shine.
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These are the main kinds of volunteering and social we do:
- Outdoor, with state parks and other nature orgs.
- Civic, with festivals, big community events etc.
- Professional, with conferences & expos
- Social, we organize community social as a service.
If you are a transplant, community involvement gives belonging. So if you are going through life stage changes, you could take good use of these activities, find your people, (re)build your network, and settle here as your new home base,
So these self-aid and community building is directly in proportion to your social engagement. The more you volunteer & host, the more chances of connection you will make. In hunger of more social chances? Participate and host.
There are different roles to play in helping with a social event, ranking up:
Guide: Be there, be seen
Connector: Talk with people, get people connected.
Host: Read the room, read group's energy. Facilitate others to step up.
Captain: Adapt & organize event series.
We started as festival volunteers organizing social, and we plan to stay true to our community roots. We believe people & social skills can be picked up, as we did. So no charisma required to participate and help yourself, then others. A warm heart, a willingness to try will do. Come to meet your fellow others that share a community heart.
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We cooperate with many orgs around town, so you may see our events posted in other places as well.
And our goal? A gateway to local community social, a connection layer to community events, a student activity center for post-college life, a social engine for connections, a town square for working professionals. Oh, have we mentioned some salt? :)
Join an event. Introduce yourself. Find your people. Build the belonging you have been waiting for.
At the end of day, we want to provide belonging, warmth, shared purpose, a human face that says "you're welcome here."
So, Welcome aboard :)
Visit us at: https://www.townflame.org
Upcoming events
19
Golden Hour over Mountain View: Downtown Concert, Stevens Creek Sunset
Starbucks 750 Castro St, 750 Castro St, Mt View, CA, USWe are having a Friday golden hour walk in Mountain View, also to greet and welcome new members.
The best hour of the week is Friday at sunset — the week's work is behind you, the light turns gold, and the whole weekend is still ahead. We're spending it the best way we know: live music on the plaza, a walk to the creek as the light comes down, sunset from the footbridges, and dinner downtown with new friends.
Come solo, leave with weekend plans.It so happens we are having a small team meeting at the time, so welcome new members to come take a look, and check us out. We would welcome your questions.
First edition with this format.
## The Plan
6:45 — The Meet. Starbucks, 750 Castro St, downtown Mountain View. Grab a coffee, say hello, meet the group.
7:10 — Concert on the Plaza. One block over, the city's free summer concert series is in full swing at Civic Center Plaza. We catch the last set from the lawn.
7:30 — The Golden Mile. Easy walk through downtown to the Stevens Creek Trail as the light goes gold. This is the talking stretch — we mix the line up so you meet more than one person.
8:00 — Footbridges & Sunset. The trail's footbridges over the creek, light coming sideways through the trees. We pick a spot and watch the sun go down together. Group photo here.
8:30 — The Return. Back toward downtown along Evelyn — flat, lit, and downhill into dinner.
9:00 — Land at Dinner. We take a table downtown for dinner and drinks. This is where the evening pays off — names get remembered, weekend plans get made, and if anyone's heading to something fun this weekend, this is where you find your people to go with.
About 2.5 easy miles total, no hills, sneakers fine.## Two Ways to Join
- The Full Evening — 6:45 at Starbucks. Concert, walk, sunset, dinner.
- Walk Only — join us at the plaza by 7:25 and peel off after the sunset. A complete evening on its own.
First time with us? Friday is built for that — most of the group each week is meeting each other for the first time, so nobody's the odd one out. Come alone; that's how most people arrive.
## Bring
- Sneakers or comfortable shoes
- A layer — it cools fast after sundown
- Appetite for 9pm
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## Why We Run This
We're the crew behind TownFlame's big-city outings events at the Chinese New Year Parade, SF Pride, the Fillmore Jazz Festival, and the produced festival walks in the city. Those are great days out, but they're once a month and an hour away. Our members asked for something closer to home, easier to make, and more often. This is it: a golden hour close to your door, ending at a dinner table.
The idea is simple — your weekend goes better when it opens with people. An evening like this is where "we should check out that festival" turns into an actual plan with actual company.
Interested in what's behind the curtain? Some of us stay late at dinner to talk about running community events — routes, hosting, what makes a good evening work. If organizing is your kind of fun, that end of the table is open. No signup, just sit down.
Join TownFlame, Make Life Happen.
Liability Waiver: Participation in TownFlame events is voluntary and involves social interaction in public spaces. Activities are designed to be inclusive and respectful. Participants assume all risks and release TownFlame, its organizers, volunteers, and affiliates from liability for injury, illness, or damages, except in cases of gross negligence or intentional misconduct.
By attending, participants acknowledge that photographs, audio, and video recordings may be taken during events, and grant TownFlame the right to use such media for promotional and marketing purposes, in any format or platform, without further consent or compensation.
16 attendees
Discover SF -- Road to Nihonmachi Fair, Japantown
Coffee Roastery, 2331 Chestnut St, San Francisco, CA, USWe observed that people tend to enjoy an event more after getting connected with fellow event attendees, so we come up with a matching design for people to do that along the way. Think of Road to Hana.
Japantown's Nihonmachi Street Fair turns 52 this year, beyond the usual Japan culture shows, this fair also includes the pan-asian programs, like Hawaiian dances, Chinese culture, Filipino and Korean performances etc.. The attendance is said to be around 50k per year, on par with Fillmore Jazz Festival.
https://www.nihonmachistreetfair.org/By our experience of organizing festival and parade events in SF for the past half year, we did notice that people prefer more interactions and connections. So we design this event to optimize that -- a scenic city hike over the Pacific Heights ridge landmarks, in interactive groups, with the road as the experience, the fair as the prize destination.
By our past volunteering experience, working in small groups together bonds people fast. And as you have seen, our walk column has leads and sweeps. We plan to open that to people willing trying, in small groups, to work together to guide the troop through different legs, in rotation. So willing people have chance to form closer bonds with each other.
Notice that this is a real walk — about 2.3 miles, including the Lyon Street Steps, one of SF's great stair climbs. The views are the point, so we have chances to stop, to chat, to appreciate the beauty of the city.
These are the legs we are going to cover:
- Palace of Fine Arts
- Lyon Street Steps
- Billionaire Row, Pacific Heights, then Alta Plaza Park
- St. Dominic's Church, on the road to Japan Town
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## The Day's Program
11:30 — The Handshake. Gather at Coffee Roastery (2331 Chestnut at Scott). Grab a coffee and a bite, get checked in, meet your walking pod. We roll at 12:00 sharp down Chestnut — the Marina's main street.
12:15 — Palace of Fine Arts. The rotunda and lagoon. Cameras out.
12:50 — The Climb. Lyon Street Steps: landscaped terraces, mansions on both sides, and a reveal at the top we won't spoil. We regroup at the garden landing — nobody gets left behind.
1:10 — The Ridge. Broadway's Billionaires' Row, then an easy walk along the crest to Alta Plaza.
1:30 — Friend Circle @ Alta Plaza Park. Our signature stop, on the terraces with the whole city as the backdrop — a quick structured round so you leave knowing the people you walked with. Group photo on the terrace steps. Then downhill all the way.
1:45 — St Dominic's Church. Gothic Architecture appreciation.
2:00 — Nihonmachi west gate (Post & Fillmore). Welcome to the fair.
2:00 onward — the Fair. Split into groups and enjoy the festival, and everyone gets the plan for the evening before we split.
~5:30 — Break Bread. Post-shift dinner in Japantown for whoever's in. Location announced in the group chat day-of.
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## Different Ways to Join (pick your distance)
- The Full Hike — 11:30 AM, Coffee Roastery, 2331 Chestnut St. The whole arc: Palace, stairs, ridge, park, fair.
- Middle & late -Join — At all the landmarks we stop. The steps, the ridge, the park and the church.
- Fair Gate — 2:00 PM, the fair's west entrance at Post & Fillmore. Join for the fair, the volunteer table, and the evening.
The Palace of Fine Arts & the Steps are the process to bind the group together. Don't miss that if you are new.
One rule so the day runs on time: the group won't be able to wait long at stops — if you're running late, just meet us at the next join point. Someone from our crew will be watching for you at each one.
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## Getting There
From Caltrain (4th & Townsend): the 30-Stockton bus is a one-seat ride from Caltrain's front door to our staging corner — board at 4th & Townsend, ride ~40–45 min through Chinatown and North Beach, get off at Chestnut & Scott. You're standing in front of the cafe. South Bay folks: take a train arriving SF by ~10:40 to make staging comfortably.
From BART: exit at Montgomery, walk 5 min to Stockton & Sutter, board the same 30-Stockton northbound (~35 min) to Chestnut & Scott.
Rideshare: ~15–20 min from Caltrain/downtown.
Driving: Marina street parking on a Saturday is a blood sport — transit recommended.
Getting home: after dinner, the 38-Geary runs from two blocks south of Japantown straight back downtown to BART/Caltrain connections.***
## Bring
- Comfortable walking shoes (stairs!)
- Water bottle
- Layers — the Marina starts foggy, Japantown ends sunny
- Eat before you come, or grab a bite at staging — the shift starts right when we arrive at 2, so your 11:30 coffee stop is also lunch. (Fair food awaits as your post-shift reward.)
- Sunscreen, and a hat if you burn
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The fair has volunteering, yet as we contacted the organizer, it isn't clear that the roles available are the booth type that our people prefer. So we won't actively organize for that this time.
---- Side Note -----
The Nihonmachi Street Fair is one of the Bay Area's longest-running cultural festivals, and one of the largest annual events in San Francisco's Japantown.The festival spans two days and features:
- 🥁 Taiko drumming
- 🎶 Live music
- 💃 Traditional and contemporary dance
- 🍱 Japanese food
- 🍡 Cultural demonstrations
- 🎨 Arts and crafts
- 🤝 Community nonprofit booths
- 👨👩👧 Children's activities
- 🛍️ Local vendors
Join TownFlame, Make Life Happen.
Liability Waiver: Participation in TownFlame events is voluntary and involves social interaction in public spaces. Activities are designed to be inclusive and respectful. Participants assume all risks and release TownFlame, its organizers, volunteers, and affiliates from liability for injury, illness, or damages, except in cases of gross negligence or intentional misconduct.
By attending, participants acknowledge that photographs, audio, and video recordings may be taken during events, and grant TownFlame the right to use such media for promotional and marketing purposes, in any format or platform, without further consent or compensation.
28 attendees
Discover SF -- Filipino Pistahan Parade and Festival
Paris Cafe, 142 McAllister St, San Francisco, CA, US33rd Pistahan Parade & Festival
https://www.pistahan.net/Most people watch a parade from one spot on the curb. We're doing it the better way: walking with it.
Pistahan is the largest Filipino parade on the West Coast — floats, dance troupes, drumlines, and marchers in full color, rolling down Market Street from Civic Center to Yerba Buena Gardens, where a two-day festival with eight cultural pavilions is waiting. Our plan: meet for coffee, catch the parade lineup at its most photogenic, then walk the whole route alongside the parade — music the entire mile — and arrive at the festival together, right as it opens up.
Come solo — most of us do. You'll have company from the first handshake.## The Plan — Saturday, August 8
10:00 — The Meet. Paris Cafe, 142 McAllister St — a spacious, welcoming cafe two blocks from the parade start. Coffee, pastries, hellos, meet your walking crew. We roll at 10:40 sharp.
10:45 — The Lineup. Two blocks and we're at Civic Center Plaza as the parade assembles — honestly one of the best parts: floats up close, performers warming up, everyone in costume and in a great mood. Group photo here.
11:00 — The Parade Walk. The parade steps off and so do we — down Market Street on the sidewalk, keeping pace with the floats. About a mile of music, dance, and color. We mix up the walking pairs along the way so you meet more than one person.
12:15 — The Festival. We arrive at Yerba Buena Gardens with the parade itself. First stop: the Filipino food court — lunch together is the plan, and it's some of the best festival food in the city. Then we hit two of the eight pavilions (our members who know Pistahan best are picking which ones).
1:30 — Friend Circle. We gather on the Great Lawn for our signature close — the part where the faces you've been walking with become names you'll remember, and weekend plans get made.
~2:00 — Release. Stay and enjoy the festival as long as you like — some of us usually keep exploring together, and there's talk of a halo-halo dessert run.
Flat, easy walking — about 1.5 miles total. The parade sets the pace.## Three Ways to Join
- Full Road — 10:00 at The Grove. Coffee, lineup, parade walk, festival, Friend Circle.
- Parade Gate — meet us at Civic Center Plaza by 10:50 (look for our group near the plaza's Market Street corner — someone will be watching for you).
- Festival Gate — join us at Yerba Buena Gardens at 12:15 for lunch, pavilions, and the Friend Circle.
First time with us? Perfect event for it — the parade does half the conversation work for you.
## Getting There
- BART / Muni: Civic Center Station — Paris Cafe is a 3-minute walk from the station (exit toward McAllister St).
- Caltrain from the South Bay: Take a train arriving SF by ~9:30, then Muni or a 15-minute walk. Ask in the comments — a group of us usually rides up together.
- Festival end point (Yerba Buena Gardens) is 1 block from Powell Station for an easy trip home.
## Bring
- Comfortable shoes and a water bottle
- Sun layer or hat — Market Street at noon in August
- Lunch appetite and a few dollars for the food court
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## Who We Are
We're TownFlame — the crew behind festival outings at the Chinese New Year Parade, Cheery Blossom, SF Pride, the North Beach Festival, and the Fillmore Jazz Festival, plus festivals and outdoor group volunteerings in the South Bay. We turn the Bay Area's best community events into the easiest place to meet people: show up solo, walk with a crew, leave with friends and weekend plans.
Want to try hosting? Our Co-hosting with TownFlame program lets you guest host an event with full support from our team — ask any of us at the Friend Circle.
Join TownFlame, Make Life Happen.
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Liability Waiver: Participation in TownFlame events is voluntary and involves social interaction in public spaces. Activities are designed to be inclusive and respectful. Participants assume all risks and release TownFlame, its organizers, volunteers, and affiliates from liability for injury, illness, or damages, except in cases of gross negligence or intentional misconduct.
By attending, participants acknowledge that photographs, audio, and video recordings may be taken during events, and grant TownFlame the right to use such media for promotional and marketing purposes, in any format or platform, without further consent or compensation.
11 attendees
Past events
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