One of the city’s most popular fairs is turning 50 this year (uh oh, darling, time to dye your roots): It’s the wild and celebratory, absolutely San Francisco at its finest, Castro Street Fair. The joint starts jumping on Sunday, October 6, with community, rainbow-colored love and support for the restaurants, bars, cafes, shops and even a theater that make this neighborhood the creative sanctuary that it is. The fair promises “literal dancing in the streets” and a place to “show up authentically and feel at home no matter who you are, how you identify or who you love.”
The Castro itself is a reason many people live in San Francisco, and every year, the first Sunday in October presents a way to express appreciation. Part of your suggested donation of $10 to 20 goes to the Castro Merchants Association to maintain the enormous Gay Pride Flag in Harvey Milk Plaza and to give back to community nonprofits. Harvey Milk founded the Casto Street Fair in 1974 to attract more business to the neighborhood; the first openly gay man to gain public office in California (he was a San Francisco supervisor), Milk was tragically assassinated in 1978 with San Francisco Mayor George Moscone.
The fair happens 11am to 6pm at Castro and Market and surrounding areas (see below for street closures). You can expect multiple stages with live performances, dance areas with DJs and hundreds of craftspeople and vendors exhibiting their wars. There will be interactive activities and, of course, food and beverage stations.
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Love the poster and other branding? It’s designed by San Francisco artist Serge Gay, Jr. Check out his amazing work—we adore it—at his website. There’s lots of wonderful merch around the 50th anniversary this year; you deserve a trucker hat!
What streets are closed for the fair?
As of this writing, the following streets are planned to be closed. You can keep updated by checking the website or the fair’s Instagram page.
- Market Street from Noe to Castro
- Castro Street from Market to 19th Street
- 18th Street from Diamond to Noe
- 17th Street from Castro to Noe