Events
Alemany Markets
Fresh produce, vintage goods
Hosting SF's original, biggest and lowest-priced farmer's market on Saturdays and the city's largest flea market on Sundays - 100 Alemany packs a punch from the backside of Bernal. Nestled against the 101/280 freeway interchange, the urban local is also quite accessible to surrounding areas.
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Bay to Breakers
Putting the fun in run
Nominally a 7+ mile road race► from the "Bay" to "Breakers" exudes San Francisco spirit in concentrated form - outrageous costumes mixed with a well-poured party► with nearly a hundred thousand participants - bands, costumes galore, floats, lots of drinking and overall merriment in a unique and thrilling "anything goes" atmosphere.
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Burning Man
Reality will return after these brief messages
No longer held in San Francisco, or even California (Nevada), the Burning Man festival is a big part of San Francisco life for many residents. The event is a week long and held on a dried lake bed - attracting upwards of 50,000 people► annually and otherwise defying brief description.
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Concourse Exhibition Center
Indie convention center
The smaller, hipper sibling of the massive Moscone Center, the Concourse Exhibition Center hosts a variety of quirky events throughout the year.
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Critical Mass
Political mayhem party's greatest hit
San Francisco's urban traffic take-down brake-down inspired 300+ others around the world. Hard to describe, always lively, and mostly legal - the crew roams free the last Friday of every month at 5:30pm (at Justin Herman Plaza). Costumes encouraged (especially for the extra special Halloween/October ride!►) and any human-powered vehicle is good to go.
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Fleet Week
How I learned to stop worrying and love the bombers
The Blue Angels ("F/A 18 Hornets") provide the main attraction and maneuver with eye-popping precision at ear-popping speeds►, in addition to a variety of older aircraft, stunt planes, lumbering transport plane ("Fat Albert"►), etc.
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Folsom Street Fair
Tour or Terror?
The last Sunday of September brings the world's largest S&M/leather event (with 400,000 attendees) to SOMA, replacing the usual car traffic with a sea of skin and black-leather.
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Fort Mason
Real wars to Robot "games"
Originally built during the Civil War by the Union Army to defend against (feared) attacks and sympathizers of the Confederacy, Fort Mason now serves a wide collection of civilian interests - robot "games" (pssst... wars!), oyster festivals, improvisational theater, professional oller derby, Norway Day - the calendar is busy and the broad!
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Gay Pride Weekend
World's finest "political party"
Often referred to simply as "Pride" and possibly the biggest annual party in San Francisco - Gay Pride makes other "political parties" seem pasty and gray, and the transcendence of oppression into a massive for-anyone great-vibes party is simply remarkable.
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Hardly Strictly Bluegrass
Who let the strings out?
Founded in 2001 by the late private equity entrepreneur Warren Hellman, and combining an A-list of acoustic musicians and no admission (thanks Warren!) Hardly Strictly is a major musical event! More than a half million folks attend during the three day weekend.
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LovEvolution
Get your love on!
SF's largest pure-dance event (formerly "Lovefest") spices up the early fall and has been a hit since it's inaugural run in 2004. An offshoot of the Berlin based Love Parade, the event starts with a dance downtown parade (with dancing beforehand), and follows up with a dance party outside City Hall.
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Maker Faire
Do. It. Yourself.
Organized by "Make:technology on your time" magazine and advertising itself as "The World's Largest DIY Festival", the faire is worth a visit for anyone who loves to make things or is inspired by the creative works► of others.
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Mavericks
Will the real maverick please stand up
A secret until Surfer Magazine published it in 1990, Mavericks hosts California's only big-wave surf► competition :)
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Moscone Center
A city in itself...
With 700,000+ square feet of space, the Moscone Center is (by far!) the largest exhibition space in SF. Most events on the convention calendar are professional and/or academic - both specific and expensive - there are notable exceptions like WonderCon and the SF International Auto Show.
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Santarchy
No force on earth can stop one hundred Santas!
Join Santa & Mrs Claus in a not-entirely-sober celebration► of Christmas - plus elves, grinches and dreidels!
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Stern Grove Festival
Not as stern as it sounds
The longest running free concert in the United States, the festival is a great way to spend a summer Sunday afternoon. There are a lot of other folks who think so too, and arriving early is the name of the game for getting good seats.
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Trannyshack
Larger than life!
The inimitable► Heklina runs SF's best-known and longest-running drag show and still rocks her stilettos for a great performance!
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