Monthly night market set to open in SoMa's Old Mint building

FILE – Pedestrians pass the Old Mint building at 5th and Mission Streets in San Francisco in this file photo from Monday, Nov. 21, 2016. The Mint will be the location of a new Filipino-themed monthly night market that's set to launch in August. less FILE – Pedestrians pass the Old Mint building at 5th and Mission Streets in San Francisco in this file photo from Monday, Nov. 21, 2016. The Mint will be the location of a new Filipino-themed monthly night ... more Photo: Noah Berger, Special To The Chronicle Photo: Noah Berger, Special To The Chronicle Image 1 of / 9 Caption Close Monthly night market set to open in SoMa's Old Mint building 1 / 9 Back to Gallery

A monthly Filipino-themed night market festival called Undiscovered SF is set to open in the Old Mint building on Fifth Street in SoMa.

The event, which will happen on the third Friday of each month, will highlight Filipino American companies, music, and food. It is slated to kick off Aug. 18 from 6 p.m. to 12 a.m., according to the event producers, Kultivate Labs.

Kultivate Labs bills itself as a "conscious community non-profit business accelerator" and was spearheaded by the Filipino American Development Foundation, which grew out of SoMa Pilipinas, an organization designated as a California Cultural district in April 2016. Desi Danganan, executive producer of Kultivate Labs, told SFGATE in an email that Undiscovered SF is about "rediscovering the soul and flavor of San Francisco thru the lens of the Filipino diaspora."

"In Asia, night markets are a vibrant social scene that brings people together from all walks of life to eat, shop, and socialize. We wanted to bring this energy to San Francisco and add a Filipino-American twist to it so we have a new monthly cultural showcase for SoMA Pilipinas," he said.

For Danganan, the rest of the event producers at Kultivate Labs and SoMa Pilipinas, the ultimate goal for the event series is economic development and empowerment. He said the market will serve as an incubator for fledgling and growing ventures from the Filipino community.

"We're also gonna cherry pick the best concepts in the night market and invite them to our business accelerator and invest more resources to prepare them for long-term opportunities in the cultural district," Danganan said. "We also want the night markets to act as a new pathway for our local residents to explore other careers in food and retail by encouraging them to hire locally."

The market, which will have space for 100 retail vendors and 12 or more food vendors, is not exclusively Filipino American, but members of that community are highly encouraged to participate. Two thirds of the vendors signed on for Undiscovered SF are Filipino, according to Danganan.

SoMa Pilipinas is raising funds for Undiscovered SF on Indiegogo in an effort to keep the event free of charge.

The first edition of Undiscovered SF will feature the Bay Area rapper Lyrics Born and Los Angeles-based musician Low Leaf. Several other performers have been announced for the event series, including singer Joyo Velarde, the Bay Area-based DJ Umami and the dance crews Young Skull Club and the Chapkis Dance Family, which was featured on NBC's "World of Dance."