Another Planet and SF Rec & Park bring back the free, all-ages Daytime Disco to Union Square on Sunday, September 20, 1–5 p.m. — Poolside plus surprise electronic guests. It's free but you need to RSVP.

Union Square gets turned into a free, open-air dance floor on Sunday, September 20, when Poolside brings its Daytime Disco party back downtown from 1 to 5 p.m. The show is free, all ages, and outdoors in the plaza at Geary and Powell — but it is RSVP-required, so handle that before you show up. You reserve a free ticket at laylo.com/poolside/daytimedisco (external source, opens in a new tab).

This is the second year of the thing. Promoter Another Planet Entertainment, in partnership with the San Francisco Recreation & Park Department (external source, opens in a new tab), debuted Daytime Disco in Union Square in 2025 and is running it back for 2026. The bill is Poolside "and other special electronic guests," per the event listing (external source, opens in a new tab) — Another Planet isn't naming the surprise acts yet, so treat the lineup as Poolside plus a question mark.

If you don't know the name: Poolside is the project of Jeffrey Paradise, and "Daytime Disco" is literally his coinage — the sunny, low-BPM, built-for-an-afternoon sound he started making in a converted L.A. pool house in 2011. The SF connection isn't a stretch, either. Paradise is an SF State alum who cut his teeth here as a DJ and promoter of the long-running Blow Up parties before Poolside toured Coachella and Outside Lands. Five albums deep, this is closer to a hometown set than a touring stop.

The reason it's happening in the middle of Union Square at all is civic. This slots into a run of free downtown shows the promoter and the city have thrown over the past year — country and rock names at Civic Center, a house-music bill down at Embarcadero — all part of the push to give people a reason to come back downtown. That's the pitch; the practical read is that a free, central, all-ages afternoon party is one of the easier good decisions on the September calendar.

The logistics that matter: it's free but capped by RSVP, so the earlier you claim a ticket the better. Don't drive — Union Square parking on a Sunday is its own tax, and you're two blocks from Powell Street BART/Muni and standing on top of the Powell cable car turnaround. It's a plaza show, so it's standing-and-dancing, not seated; bring layers, because 1-to-5 in the square can flip from sun to wind fast. As of this writing Another Planet hadn't announced the surprise guests or a rain plan — check the event page in the days before if either matters to you.

If you've only got two hours: get there closer to 2 or 3, once the plaza's full and the set's warmed up, RSVP already done on your phone, and treat it as a free afternoon in the middle of the city instead of a headliner countdown. That's the whole point of a daytime disco.