![]() ![]() I suspected that the staff (made up of bartender-actors hired by Hidden) would be dressed in costume, but I hadn’t realized the event included a performance. “This is really weird,” I whispered to Kevin, the photographer who’d tagged along with me.Ĭaptain Hook, as played by Oakland artist Ember Cobalt, interacts with the crowd during the Neverland Experience in the SoMa District of San Francisco on Wednesday night, May 25, 2022. Halfheartedly, I wrote down “Arr, Arr” on our whiteboard. It’s worth noting that while the event’s description states that “masks are compulsory,” zero of the staff or guests were wearing them (perhaps just an outdated decree, as masks are no longer required at restaurants or bars in San Francisco).Ĭaptain Hook, fully in character, handed us pirate flags and instructed us to choose a team name. Many guests immediately set about taking advantage of the Instagrammability of it all, while I sipped my beer out of a skull-shaped glass and adjusted to the sensory overload. Kevin Kelleher/Special to SFGATE Details of the decor at the Neverland Experience at 1123 Folsom Street as seen on Wednesday, May 25, 2022. We were greeted by Captain Hook, who offered us a welcome drink choice of beer or wine. Faux flower garlands, pirate flags and string lights hung from the ceiling, while a vine-covered cage took up one corner of the room. The private room Neverland had taken over wasn’t huge by any means, but the amount of whimsical decor was impressive. But right as the clock struck 5:30 p.m., a chipper person dressed in a Peter Pan costume popped out of a side door, and after checking my vaccine card, beckoned me inside. The bar looked totally normal inside - no signs of Neverland or fairy dust anywhere. Kevin Kelleher/Special to SFGATEĪrriving a little earlier than the event’s start time, I stood outside the entrance of Trademark confused. ![]() Peter Pan, as played by Oakland actress Wally Ajayi, hosts The Neverland Experience at 1123 Folsom Street as seen on Wednesday, May 25, 2022. The event listing promises "all kinds of magical cocktails sprinkled with faith and a little bit of pixie dust” and “challenges to complete and prizes to be won.” I attended a free media night preview, but tickets for the “Neverland Experience” go for $45. So when the latest Hidden event came to town - a Peter Pan-themed “Neverland” bar popping up at Trademark Bar on Folsom Street from now until August 7 - I decided to check it out. If this company is churning out this many events, can they actually be doing any of them well? A few less-than-stellar reviews and the heavy advertisement of a socially-distanced “ floating cinema” in the summer of 2020 that never happened made me wonder if this was all a scam. ![]() I’ve long been curious about the constant stream of “immersive experiences” the company has been unleashing on San Francisco over the past few years. ![]()
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