Folsom street fair gay
The definitive guide to Folsom Street Fair and Parties
San Francisco’s Leather Week parties during the Folsom Highway Fair are some of the biggest productions of the year. From the fun strip shows by Baloney to the poignant Leather Walk to Eagle Square, there is a party and a type for every one!
From: Sep. 20.2025 - To: Sep. 20.2025
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From: Sep. 20.2025 - To: Sep. 20.2025
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The importance of Folsom Avenue Fair
I was wondering what you think about the Folsom Street Fair, the annual gay leather/fetish/BDSM avenue fair in San Francisco. Do you think it is still a socially relevant display? Or execute you think that in this time when we are fighting for civil rights and equality that it does more injure than good?
> Better Demonstrating San Francisco
I’m pretty sure that the Folsom Highway Fair remains socially relevant—and highly so—to folks in the leather/fetish/BDSM scene in San Francisco. It’s also relevant to anyone who believes in freedom of sexual expression. (For an idea of what Folsom looks like, and to see the scale of the thing, search for “Folsom Street Fair” on YouTube.)
And it’s important to emphasize that the Folsom Street Fair, which took place last weekend, isn’t exclusively gay. Thousands of straight kinksters attend every year. About the only difference between the vertical attendees and the homosexual ones is that no one claims that the kinky straight people at Folsom make all heterosexuals everywhere look like sex-crazed sadomasochists. (For the record: sex-crazed sadomasochists are my favourite kind of sadomasochists.)
Straight peopl
Folsom Street Fair 2025: Dates, Events and Dress Code
Folsom Street Fair 2025
The Folsom Street Fair is a world-renowned event celebrating the leather, kink, and alternative sexuality communities. Held annually in San Francisco, the event attracts thousands of kinksters. The fair also serves as a significant fundraiser for public health, human services, and arts organizations. Known for its electrifying (and cruisey) atmosphere, it's arguably the biggest gay fetish event in the USA.
What's the Dress Code?
The Folsom Street Unbiased in San Francisco has an open and inclusive dress code. Many attendees wear leather, fetish gear, body harnesses, jockstraps, or even opt for nudity, which is permitted within the event's boundaries (you might need a raincoat to get home safe!). Costumes with a kink twist are also well-liked, though casual attire is perfectly acceptable. Comfortable footwear is recommended, as the fair covers several blocks, and it's wise to consider the unpredictable San Francisco weather when planning your outfit.
History of Folsom Street Fair
The Folsom Road Fair began in 1984 in San Francisco, originally as a small event aimed at fostering comm
On Sunday, LGBT folk — though primarily gay men in the leather group — will take over the two blocks of Folsom Street on either side of Dore Lane, as well as the alley itself, for an afternoon of drinking, dancing, and open-air sexual deviance. Folsom Street Events bills the fair as “Folsom Street Fair’s dirty minuscule brother,” and indeed in recent years it has tended to be a bit more sexually explicit and less tourist-friendly than the much larger Folsom Street Fair in September. “Up Your Alley® is only for real players – and not for the faint of heart – where leather daddies rule the streets of San Francisco’s South of Market district,” the website reads.
Drawing about 15,000 people — compared to the 250,000 or more who attend Folsom — Dore Alley tends to experience like more of a community affair, and a (mostly) gay-male block party for both fetishists and local gawkers alike.
But the two fairs that occur eight weeks apart used to be two unaffiliated events, though Up Your Alley has always been the smaller and arguably dirtier of the two.
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