​​Maskless smiling faces decked out in sunglasses and hats filled the surrounding grassy area of John F. Shelley Drive, the designated race track. The sound of cheering and clapping trickled down from the starting line at the top of the hill to the finish line. Anxiety animated the crowd as they waited for the next motorless vehicle — what’s known as a soapbox — to race down the steep drive.

San Francisco’s Museum of Modern Art brought back its Soapbox Derby in McLaren Park after 44 years and attracted over 4,000 attendees, at a time when San Francisco has its least restrictive COVID safety measures but highest cases in the state. It was evident that people were ready to return to pre-pandemic normalcy.