Haight Ashbury Street Fair
Category: Local Flavour Local Flavour [Edit]
Haight St between Masonic and StanyanSan Francisco, CA 94117
- Good for Kids:
- No
80 reviews for Haight Ashbury Street Fair
80 reviews in English
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Review from J H.
San Francisco, CA
This is now my 3rd year in a row attending HASF, which is based more on proximity than interest. The people watching is fun, but most of the crowd is 19 year olds looking to smoke some weed.
This is the type of festival that's fun to pass through, but I don't recommend making an afternoon of it. I do love the BBQ / garlic noodle booth, and sometimes the bands are entertaining, although there's nowhere to sit which negates that point. Many of the bars on Haight Street get ridiculously crowded, so if you're thinking of taking refuge in Martin Mack's or Hobson's Choice, forget about it. -
Review from Lee J.
Sacramento, CA
5/21/2012
Since I have a historical perspective(30 yrs of attending off and on), the S.F. crowd stopped coming here after the cops stopped alcohol use about 6 yrs. ago. It just made a difference getting this event to the party level. Now, it looks like budget gen Y tourist from out of town whom only dress in black. The original haight was very colorful with tie-die, flowers, beads, etc.
So, this event no longer represents the celebration of the history of the haight and since the quality of the music has slipped-- Its become just another non-descript street fair that doesn't even look like S.F. any more. Try the Fillmore Fair instead. -
Review from Madam A.
El Granada, CA
9/5/2011
Hmmm... I used to look forward to coming here every year and have been to Haight Street fair at least a dozen times. The last time I went is the last time I'll go.
Its was too claustrophobic for me and even walking on the sidewalk doesn't remedy this problem. The crowed is very mixed but always has the burn outs and beggars. Parking sucks and even if you do find some it's blocks and blocks away. It's like people who never cone to the city only come for this event. And a lot of the stuff they sell here is over priced crap.
Haight street was cool when I was 13 and even cool when I went to my first Haight Street fair at 17. I guess as the word has spread about it and that I'm now in my 30's this whole thing is lackluster for me.Listed in: Fairs & Festvals
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Review from Kara B.
Updated - 6/14/2011 4 photos
More of the same 'ol
Lions and tin men, and pits.
Toto up in smoke1 Previous Review:
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6/15/2009
Wafts of smoke permeate the air
Some of BBQ, some of Herb
Wafts of smoke really stunk up my hair
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Review from Diego D.
San Francisco, CA
6/13/2011
The complainers will never be happy, so they focus on petty stuff. I Come to the fair to support the community .
The bands that headlined the Masonic stage were 5 stars musically , the only problem I saw , was the ridiculous and unenforceable alcohol ban which, like all bans of that nature, are ridiculous and no one paid attention to it.
The fact that by 5 pm the fair was closing , was a let down...The fog breaks by 2pm , you got to let the party go on until 7 or 8 pm .
SFPD has nothing to complain about because everything was orderly and peaceful , something that cannot be said about the city as a whole. -
Review from Jessica T.
San Francisco, CA
7/3/2008
I went to the Haight Street Fair, two weeks after moving to San Francisco.
I didn't know many people at the time, so I wandered around alone.
Aimlessly finding open sidewalk curbs to sit and watch the wasted and stoned dance themselves into a stupor, as jam bands echoed down Haight Street. While immersed in the scene, some rando tried to get me to take photographs with him on Golden Gate Bridge. His seven dollar disposable camera in hand. I politely declined, stood up, shook out the wrinkles from my overalls, smiled and walked off.
Back then alcohol was allowed, so people brown bagged their stuff, and there were red cups everywhere.
There was inspiring spoken word on Masonic and Central.
Buena Vista and Golden Gate park reeked of patchouli and rainbow hemp attire.
The stalls were unique, the store owners would hang out outside their stores with toothy grins, people were laid back, and the bars after the fair closed were alive and full of raucous.
Now...
the magic has gone.
Red cups are nowhere. Brown bagged booze is sternly instructed by police to be emptied. The music is too loud and not very good. The crowd is different. The stalls are generic. I even purposefully walk on the side-streets to avoid the chaos and mediocrity that is Haight Ashbury Fair.
I guess all good things must come to an end... -
Review from Quinn S.
6/10/2007
I just walked off the set of the new Road Warrior sequel: Mad Max Beyond Woodstock. In this chapter, the few remaining survivors of post-apocalyptic Earth have been restricted to a half dozen blocks on Haight Street.
The tourists were the one aspect of this 4th installment that seemed out of place. From what I can tell, the only part of the world that wholly withstood the nuclear holocaust was Disney Land, and the day-trippers too were eventually confined to Haight with its street urchins, pickpockets and the rest of the decimated population.
Hawkers in booths sold scarce resources including medicinal herbs, precious metals, textiles and even water at exorbitant prices (4 bucks a bottle?!?), while thousands of drones paced shoulder to shoulder in lock step back and forth along the same path, finding nothing of value as they retraced their steps over and over again, but continuing to trudge for lack of any other diversion.
The last vegetarian holdouts from a generation long forgotten stumbled gagging from dense clouds of barbecued meat smoke, while roving bands of religious zealots marched chanting "Hari Hari" and ringing bells, and scantily clad, feral teenage girls wandered in a daze with bleary and bloodshot eyes.
The adherents of Master Blaster hoisted their midget-sized children onto their shoulders as they muscled through the crowds, elevated babies shouting directions to the nearest cotton candy and toy vendors. The elite stood in their windows and on their roofs, indulging with wanton abandon and jeering at the masses from their decrepit Victorian facades, shabby and dilapidated from neglect.
Pulsing rhythms entranced and disoriented the captives that tried to push past either end of the designated containment area, leaving them writhing and lurching in discord. The police officers leaned along the boarded up storefronts, watching the lawlessness ensue. They took action only to pick out those who thought they could circumvent the cruel restrictions placed on the parched populous and forced them to pour out what little liquid they were hording, discretely concealed within paper bags.
As sequels tend to drag on too long, I made my daring escape back to Cole Valley before the final battle between good and evil could ensue. Will the beasts of Commercialism subdue the spirit of the Summer of Love, or shall Peace overcome? Who cares.Listed in: My Hood (Cole Valley/Top of…
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Review from Stanley K.
San Francisco, CA
6/10/2008
I love fair, don't get me wrong. But what is it, am I suppose to enjoy?
The food? No.
The clothes? No.
The music? OK, maybe.
The Crowd? yes.
No drinking? aww...this kills everything.
The hippies? Hardly saw one and he was selling pipes. Awesome bro....
I enjoy community events, but this one is the only one I will stay for at least an hour. There seems to more vendors every year selling useless crap that I don't need. It's just a reason to need something but in reality, it's a waste of space, a waste to kill more trees, use natural resources to please ones need.
Dam it, this fair is suppose to be for hippies. Why can I see people playing Frisbee, hacky sack, and smoking it up, and listening to some 60's and 70's music wearing the peace, love, and harmony...Tye dye shirts and all, that's what I want to see.
Where did it all go? Will someone tell me? Will people tell me about peace? and the love. Together we as one. Peace out! -
Review from Caitlin M.
Oakland, CA
6/14/2010
What a ridiculous clusterfuck. It's not like there were more people here than at the Union St. fair last weekend, but somehow the setup made it absolutely impossible to move around. I hated EVERYTHING about 30 minutes into this fair.
Won't be back next year. -
Review from Lauren F.
Oakland, CA
6/11/2007
I had every intention on going to Haight Street Fair this past weekend and having a blast. I had every intention of shopping, listening to the bands, eating white corn with seasoning (as i do at ALL fairs), people watching and hanging out with friends. I got to do a few of those, but most were done away from the fair. I had a great day....but no thanks to Haight Street.
1) pre-party with friends, was able to listen to the music one block away from the fire-escape. Awesome. Thanks for being a gracious host Amir.
2) pre-party lasts longer than expected, and we get hungry...so we decide to go to the fair, maybe cruise around a bit and eat.
3) Walk the block to the food vendors...once I arrived at the fair i was overwhelmed by people. It was two lanes of traffic. The right side was heading towards the park, the left side away, and it didn't look like people could stop even if they wanted to. How are you supposed to stop for vendors if people are pushing up behind you?
4) Forgot to mention that the first person I even saw was this scary midget clown singing in the intersection of Clayton and Haight. Seriously frightening....and not a great first impression of the fair. The guy on the dijiridu was pretty cool...as was the organically formed drum circle, but i couldn't handle the crowds long enough to stand around and watch.
5) Found the food...had to walk an extra few blocks in the sea of people to find my desired corn. AND it was yellow, AND they didn't have the seasoning i desired. I'm about ready to JUST review the corn. 3 stars. I ate it...it was only $3, and that's as much as i spent the entire 15 minutes i actually spent at the fair.
6) After-party on another friends rooftop. That was pretty sweet. Thanks Jennifer's friend for your hospitality as well. It was a little windy, and a little scary seeing so many people close to the edge ready to blow away, but what a view of the fair. It was PACKED...and i was super excited to be on the roof and not in the middle of the chaos.
I'm bummed. I expected more from my beloved Haight Street...or i guess less would have been better (at least with attendees). These fairs just seem to be getting TOO big to be any good.
I'm sure bar hopping yesterday might have been fun...but realistically, we can do that any day on Haight street. it doesn't require a fair. -
Review from David D.
6/10/2007
Novel ideas revealed in the sellers' tents: 0
Band stands: 2
Bands playing: 1/2
Cost of a Polish dog: $7
Number of Polish dogs actually purchased: 0
Wild and crazy people: 0
Offers to purchase illegal substances: 0
Uniformed police officers: 8
I could hardly believe this was Haight-Ashbury. America has become ultra-conservative. The street fairs are dying.Listed in: Events
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Review from michaelangela v.
San Francisco, CA
6/12/2007
The crown jewel of meaningless hippie gatherings in SF. In a word: suckfest.
Ahhhhhhhhh: breathe in the enticing aromas of taxicab incense, lowgrade meat cooking on filthy grills, B.O. of street urchins and B&T kids who forgot how hot it was going to be...
Gaze over the sea of indian/nepalese junk, free chiropractic exams and body piercers.
Summer of love, I pose a question: IS THIS WHAT YOU HAD IN MIND??? I think not. -
Review from Thomas B.
San Francisco, CA
6/11/2007
So I woke up Sunday morning with two guests from Paris staying in my extra room, and suddenly realized that the Haight Ashbury Street Fair was going down later that day. So, seeing as they had never been to San Francisco (and Helenie had never even been to the United States), I figured hey! What the hell, let's go on over and check the shit out. I figured on sausages, beer in plastic cups, lots and lots and lots of pot, and some halfway decent live music and DJ's on a beautiful Sunday afternoon.
I was spot on about the $7.00 sausages. Everything else that I have come to expect from a street festival was woefully amiss.
What kind of fair doesn't sell beer? Jiminy Fuckin' Christmas, mate -- this is supposed to go without saying, but there was NO. FUCKING. BEER. What the hell? Minus TWO stars for that mind-blowing decision some jackass fuddy-duddy made somewhere down the line in some bureaucratic haze. You suck, whoever you are. I ended up buying some of those Foster's oil cans at 5 bucks a pop and brown-bagging them, but due to the rather saturated police officer presence, they didn't last too long.
Cop (Reaching for my bounty): Gimme those.
Me: Oh, I'm so sorry, officer.
Cop: You should know better.
Me: Oh well, can't win 'em all, I reckon.
Cop: (Couldn't see his eyes 'cos of his dark glasses) ***
Frankly, a festival without beer booths is like a cafe without WiFi. I mean, WTF?
BUT, my guests had their socks charmed off, and it was sort of amusing to stroll slowly through the crowd past the Virtual Tea Parties, the oodles of glass pipe purveyors, the henna artistes, the psychics, the Haight-Ashbury memorabilia peddlers, the drifting smoke from all those grills hashing out over-priced grub, the occasionally amusing stinky hippies, and those ridiculous faux-ones. All in all, it was a pretty day, so that was something. But no beer booths? That's just WRONG.
Ended up having a couple of pints at MILK, at which the DJ was spinning some respectable reggae. Then we crossed Stanyan (after a lit up a spliff on the sidewalk and almost sat in some guys pee -- yikes!) and we wandered through some of Golden Gate Park. That was the highlight, if you ask me.
All in all, a crap festival. -
Review from Grace Y.
8/22/2008
While I like any excuse to dress up as a weirdo and roam the streets of San Francisco, I don't really see the point of this street fair. It's the same tents from any other fair selling shirts, fried zucchini, pupusas, and garlic fries.
To my utter dismay, the tents, stalls, and crowd block access to the stores on the Haight, and cause some of them to close early to prevent shenanigans from occurring. Their garlic fries weren't as good as the ones from love parade. I was very disappointed.
Shame on you garlic fries. Shame.Listed in: Why the hell is this even on…
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Review from Neal A.
Alameda, CA
6/14/2009
Laurie's good friend Dawn mentioned that she was going to have a booth at the Haight Ashbury Street Fair (she has a company called Lucky Bands (she makes bracelets or you can make 'em, something like that) so it seemed like a good way to get the family out. When we woke up this morning everyone who was on board with going to the fair was suddenly cool on the idea. Still sleepy I guess. I pressed on. Daddy was definitely going. They decided to go with me. I love street fairs. Yeah, you get the usual food and trinket vendors but I figured this might be something a bit different since it was going to be in the Haight.
We got there just before 11 and parked at the Kezar lot for $8. It beat driving around trying to find parking. The fair was just waking up at that point so it wasn't too crowded yet. We took a lap and scoped out the food spots. Initially we grabbed some papusas and falafels. The papusas were just OK, the falafel's better. After we ate I saw the Yat's booth! I grabbed a crawfish po' boy. Daaaaammmmn it was good! I actually said that out loud while I was standing in front of the booth. I think it either scared some folks or brought them more business. I had Yat's on my list of places to visit when in SF. It has moved up a few more notches.
The fair was fun for me because I enjoy people watching and there were plenty. Lots of dogs. One young lady apparently named her dog "Evil". He kept trying to get to the food as it was being grilled. She kept yelling, "C'mon Evil!" I'm not sure Evil was listening. But I somehow I didn't expect him to.
I don't really buy much at street fairs. The only thing I bought were some CDs at Amoeba and the food we ate. There was live music at each end of the fair which I did hear a bit of. One band I liked but couldn't tell you who they were, they were at the Stanyan stage. Our friend Dawn had a successful day. Laurie and the kids seemed to enjoy themselves. So, it was a good day. As we were leaving the crowd was thick with folks and there seemed to be plenty more heading into the Haight from all angles. Glad we got there early. -
Review from Johnny C.
San Francisco, CA
6/9/2006
Summing it up: Small bands, bigger bands, bands at either end of the street, no Big Band, food booths, craft booths, big crowds, "spare change" crowd, Jerry crowd, Ben & Jerry's crowd, crowd crowd...... otherwise it's one big urine sample.
2 duckets for being a neighborhood spectacle that can be relied upon to happen every year.Listed in: Dirty Martinis & Dirty Dancin'
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Review from Tahd F.
San Francisco, CA
7/16/2006
I declare this event... an unfortunate yearly occasion to leave the neighborhood."
Goods-- There are so many people, you can't really look
Food-- smoky and meaty
People-- drunk, stoned, wasted, annoying, falling down, smelly, irritable and pushy
Yeah yeah... I know it's not very nice to give a fair a single star, but I hate this thing.
To be "fair,"-- pun stupidly intended-- it's probably not so bad during the first hour or two when it's just the artists, crafts-people and the people wanting to look at their wares. But after a little while everyone and their hippy relatives show up and soon after that all the drugs and booze kick in and it degenerates into a hellish nightmare of shoulder to shoulder nudging and pushing.
But that doesn't stop anyone from showing up to this thing, so what the heck do I know? -
Review from Erika C.
San Francisco, CA
6/9/2008
What better way to spend a sunny Sunday afternoon than surrounded by kabbob stands, hipster elite and live music. I think I fell in love about 15 times, mostly with the RayBan rocking, Keffiyah loving, skinny jeaned hipster boys that were running around. *sigh*
Even though every year I feel like the majority of the vendor stands are food related, and the throngs of crowds were at times unbearable, nothing can sour the fact that it was so lovely out and that the people watching is the best. Go Haight Street! -
Review from Adam P.
6/14/2010
Yet another 3* review of the fair.
The food at *most* of the booths was pretty hum-drum; Nothing special. there were few decent deals at the retail stall, but to my mind, that is not really a Fair, is it?
The real value was the people watching, and that earned all 3 stars. There was the usually motley collection of freaks, attention whores, the unfortunately unattractive sporting poor clothing choices, and the segment of jaw dropping pretty people: Boys with no shirts, and gals with very little clothing between the outside world and boobies.
And the weather REALLY cooperated. Sunny and warm, slight breeze.
Getting back to my flat kinda sucked, as expected. -
Review from ACE A.
San Francisco, CA
6/9/2008
The 31st Annual HASF was a resounding success, with great weather, great music, good times and cool people.
JETBOY (my good friends) were the long-overdue headliners who showed the kids (and some old-school scenesters) how it's done in a shortened set (more on that later), and A Band Called Pain delivered on their moniker, blasting their soulful metal so hard, they popped some of the low-end bass speakers.
No, really! I saw the shredded cone, which simply couldn't handle the intense amount of low-end ABCP put out. Amazing...
Also kicking things off in classic fashion were Ringchildren, who turned in a cosmic stoner-rock set that led off with a searing cover of Pink Floyd's "Breathe". The Ethel Mermen Experience put on a fab show with insane covers of all kinds of classic and modern rock hits, including a rousing "Smells Like Teen Spirit", all done with an Ethel Memen Broadway Musical rave up vocal style. A must-see for those who haven't as yet! Another cool band was Apside, who, along with Ringchildren, were 2 bands I featured at my Sushi Sunday Showcases, which happened right next door to the mainstage at Milk a few years back.
Over on the Masonic/Groundscore stage, The Grannies showed that even Grandma can rock...another must-see for fans of Punk!
The day itself was relatively free of incident, and the weather was awesome.
One or two exceptions:
1. My neighbor Chris, who is a pretty big dude and also is a doorman/security guy around town, was jumped by some fratboys who made a gay slur at him (he made the mistake of responding when outnumbered heavily). He's not gay, but that doesn't matter. He got pounded and was looking a lot like Rocky Balboa--literally.
It shows that there's still ignorant fools out there.
2. Jetboy was scheduled for a 45 min. set, but things ran a bit late. Still, we normally end the festivities at 5:30 pm or so, which meant Jetboy should have been able to do almost their entire set.
Not this time. Why?
Because all over town, there is a small but vocal minority of individuals who don't like Street Fairs. Too noisy, too messy, too much intoxication, blah, blah, blah. They show up at hearings around town--and they cry, bitch and moan. They want the Fairs stopped for their own selfish reasons, and the wring unreasonable concessions from Organizers and The City when they can't get the whole thing shut down. Remember the flap over the Fair in North Beach? Same crap.
What I don't get is--what purpose is served to have things end 15 mins. earlier on a nice, sunny day in the afternoon? On a larger scale, why do these people want Street Fairs shut down or so curtailed it's not worth it to put them on?
Because they are petty, mean, selfish whiners.
Go live in the woods if a lot of people in one place having fun and getting a little nutty bugs you. Or go see somebody to figure out why there's no joy in your life.
The Street Fairs in SF bring 10's of thousands--sometimes more--of people who come and have a great time. Their silent approval should carry some weight, except they have lives, and don't spend them complaining... -
Review from LaSha G.
Oakland, CA
6/10/2007
Is it just me or does this fair suck a little bit?
I just spent an hour and a half browsing and now I smell like a barbecue pit. Plus, dry fairs are boring...I much prefer being entertained by bafoons who have had too much to drink and therefore think they have magical powers to INSERT CRAZY THING HERE. I mean the drunken escapades distinguish one neighborhood fair from the next. Sure I might get a little vomit on my clothes, but isn't vomit the spice of life? ...or something like that?
There's only one music stage (that I saw). Boooo...
And I can hear the music from my apartment and it hasn't been good all day.
Am I getting old? or what?
Oh yeah--I hate you if you brought a child in a baby stroller to the fair and then got annoyed because people were in the way. I really hate you. -
Review from Atish M.
San Francisco, CA
6/11/2007
There was some good music, some fun-to-watch breakdancers, interesting art exhibits, and funny people...Anyone see that fat guy drop his pants then get arrested by the police?
True, it was crowded, and a lot of the stuff was overpriced, but come on, it's free, and something out of the ordinary. Every couple minutes I'd turn my head and see something funny or unusual...I had fun - and I was sober the whole time too -
Review from Dana S.
San Francisco, CA
6/21/2011 1 Check-in Here
Eh.. How Weird kicks Haight Ashbury Street Fairs ass.
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Review from Lynn C.
6/16/2011
lots of booths, but not much to buy.
lots of people, but not much to see.
lots of food, but not much to like.
however, it is awesome to be walking down this busy street among hundreds of people in the sun. always fun to check it out for the first time, but gets old pretty fast. -
Review from Darrien A.
San Francisco, CA
12/18/2009
Given how much I can enjoy strolling through Haight-Ashbury on a normal afternoon, I expected more from this fair.
It didn't feel like the Haight-Ashbury had come alive as much as a large number of people who didn't live there were visiting and they'd rolled out a market to accommodate them.
There was very little offered in terms of food or art that you couldn't already purchase in the surrounding shops at a better price and/or higher quality.
I still love the area, but I'll remember to avoid the fair next year. -
Review from Caroline C.
San Francisco, CA
6/16/2008
It wasn't as awesome as I had expected it to be.
So crowded that it was on par with outdoor musical festivals within 20 feet of the stage, and while a few booths were interesting and worthwhile it was overall the same stuff I see at every street fair/farmer's market/etc-- hippy clothes, henna booths, crappy overpriced food (with the exception of the hot dogs my manly boyfriend could not stop talking about even though he had just eaten), smelly people and "bike parking."
Call me a hater, but I just don't see the point of coming out of your way for this. I live within walking distance, and aside from that, the only redeeming factor was the little booth with the pretty hair flower clips and the fact that I ran into four people I knew and didn't expect to see. -
Review from Laura F.
San Francisco, CA
6/11/2007
Haight Street 364 days out of the year is one of my least favorite streets in SF. Exceptionally dirty and littered with pushy stuck up hipsters/hippies/punks that are too drunk and/or high to know a dreadlock from a sausage. (?)
But the 365th day takes my Haight Street misery to a new level. Multiply a typical day by a thousand, add some bbq meat, 10 times as many uniformed po-po, and a stage with horrible music, and you've got Haight Street Fair 2007.
Ick, ick, ick. -
Review from Lisa W.
San Francisco, CA
6/16/2009
The fair was filled with interesting people and...smells. Jam-packed full of hipsters and hippies, I found myself holding my hand in front of my face the whole time. And may I ask, where the hell was the booze?! I swear I drank here 2 years ago...me no see no beer = me no likey.
Food was overpriced (OF COURSE, I mean, this is a festival) but I had fun nevertheless. Note to self, next year, skip the Haight St. Fest and head over to the North Beach Fest instead.
Oh yeah, a stop at Cha Cha Cha's made this day a whole lot better :) -
Review from MakeUp M.
San Francisco, CA
6/11/2007
I think this fair would be fun if I were a teenager and getting wasted in public was a taboo thrill.
I was born nowhere near the time of the Summer of Love but it seems that we've come a long way...and not for the better. Yaay...my hair smells like smoked meat and patchouli!
One good thing though, was the fact that the '71' bus actually came pretty frequently, which is usually NEVER the case. I've stood waiting for the bus for over a half hour in some occasions after needing to get my musical fix (Amoeba...sweet Amoeba...). -
Review from Matt G.
7/12/2006
After rating and seeing stars!
Got Meth? -
Review from Marz W.
San Francisco, CA
6/14/2006
It was the same fair its been year after year.
Loud music
Greasy food
Greasy food smoke
Pot smoke
Cigarette smoke
Beer
Drunks
People selling stuff.
I always feel kinda bad for the store owners. Many participate because they feel they have no choice.
But its the same fun fair its always been. -
Review from Alys D.
San Francisco, CA
6/14/2009
Overheard at the entrance to this fair at Haight & Stanyan -
Out-of-towner young man to his nicely-dressed GF: "I hope that they're giving out free pot."
Maybe this would garner four stars if that was true. I'm all for any excuse to hang out on Haight, but I'd rather do so on other days than during this fair. You'll get your typical fair foodstands along with booths hawking the usual jewelry, t-shirts, etc. At least it's a good outlet for some neat nonprofits that can get the word out here.
The street gets crowded with bodies so that it's hard to move around. Police are present on each block, a plus for safety I suppose. There were plenty of bathrooms this year, so props for that.
Conclusion: It's worth checking out if the weather is nice ('twas gorgeous outside for this year's), but is nothing special.Listed in: Bummers
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Review from Saunders C.
San Francisco, CA
6/13/2011
Don't shower before you go, because when you walk out of this street fair, you'll smell like one of two things: ganja or bbq.
I didn't realize this thing was going on today until I tried driving down and saw the streets were closed off. I decided to walk on down and check it out. Luckily, the fog was just breaking overhead, so it wasn't too cold and occasionally sunny. There were a TON of people. Not for strollers or loitering. You just go with the flow of the massive crowd. The fair itself is bookended by two music stages. On the Stanyan side, there was some... folk/punk band? Does that even exist? On the other end there was a blues singer. Yeah, I don't know, if you really need to know, go ask someone that works at Amoeba Records. The booths that are set up here run the gamut of new age healing to farm animals' rights, to hemp jewelry. The emphasis being on the crafts and such. A lot of colorful characters walking through the fair, although less tie-dye than I expected. Truth be told, in this increasingly materialistic and capitalistic nation of ours, the carefree spirit of this neighborhood seems like little more than a dying sentimentality. I guess some of it gets repackaged in the green movement, but you see these hippie souls getting pushed towards the margins of society.
Anyways... the food booths looked damn good. Smoked turkey legs? Check. Spinach and potato knishes? You bet. Even three twins ice cream had a stand. All sorts of bbq to be had.
The crowd seemed fairly mixed, with the old mixed with the young. Definitely a fun place to step off to the side and watch the masses float by.
I also got a cool print from this guy: https://kevineslinger....
A fun way to spend a couple of hours on a Sunday. -
Review from Kristen B.
San Francisco, CA
6/10/2007
Ditto Matthew S.
There were some high points :
1) Gabe Leonard had a booth. http://www.gabeleonard...
2) ummm....actually, that's about it.
I can handle shirtless ylang-ylang hippie dudes attacking my back with mini-massagers randomly.....but what really pissed me off was seeing all these young parents with their babies listening to the crap punk/trance bands. YOUR CHILD NEEDS HEADPHONES YOU STUPID IDIOT!!!!!
I saw about 3 different women holding kids under the age of 5 with no ear protection while they watched the bands. Grrr...this still burns me up just to write it. -
Review from Will S.
Berkeley, CA
6/11/2007
I talk a lot of shit on hippies but I don't really hate them and in fact they were one of the best things about the Fair as they were mostly polite and didn't get in the way too much.
I talk a lot of shit on bros and other forms of frat boys but I don't hate them, in fact I liked the fact they they were having a good time and were maintaining their self control.
What I do hate is the entire city crammed onto a four block stretch of city street where nobody can walk and cops taking drinks away from responsible adults.Listed in: Ridickens
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Review from brian j.
San Francisco, CA
6/11/2008
Too effin' crowded,
Cop politely took my beer,
And threw it away. -
Review from Cynthia B.
San Francisco, CA
7/17/2007
A good place for straight San Franciscans to get drunk in a big crowd. Not gay enough for me personally. Wow I am jaded, huh? lol
I used to enjoy going to this street fair when I was younger, but now it is sort of annoying. I don't like to deal with the crowd. A lot of people come here from other cities.
It's still a great event, I hope it lasts forever. I wish people would worry more about the environment at these sorts of events and do more to recycle, etc. A lot of trash leftover after the day is through. -
Review from Sarah M.
Brooklyn, NY
6/16/2009
This was by far. the best .day. ever.
Weather was great. Food was great. thrift shopping, people watching, and immersing in the craziness that is SF, hippies, hipsters, Homeless, Food and Music.
P.S. In NY there is a no open container rule- The Answer is? Change your container. Or pregame. Was an awesome day all around.
p.p.s. The ppl with signs on top of Ben and Jerry's- You guys were hysterical.
Also ferocious few, impromptu street band on the corner of H and A, Ahmazing.
I love you all. -
Review from Regina B.
San Mateo, CA
6/16/2009
WAAAAAAAAAAAAAY too crowded for me this year. Half of the food booths didn't even have water.. WTF??? water is an essential to humans!
I was disappointed.. 2 years in a row. :( -
Review from Elle P.
San Francisco, CA
6/13/2010
This is a cool little Haight Street Fair..Today was a beautiful day to be out.
I like coming to Haight but today i was turned up so lots of folks come out. The streets are packed with booths with something for everyone. Most Haight merchants are closed probably to avoid the chaos. There's some free music-but its aighte.
