Folsom Street Festival
annual Folsom Street Fair is
held on the last Sunday in September and
caps San Francisco's Leather Pride Week.
The Folsom Street Fair, sometimes simply referred to as Folsom,
is located on Folsom Street between 7th and 12th Streets,
in San Francisco's South of Market district.
It was started in 1984 and is California's third largest spectator event
and the world's largest leather event and showcase for S&M products and culture.
It has grown as a non-profit run and non-profit benefitting organization
with all donations at the gates going to charity groups as well as
numerous fundraising schemes within the festival including games,
beverage booths and even spanking for donations
to capitalize on the adult-themed exhibitionism.
=============================
Como es una de las pocas ocasiones en que algunas actividades BDSM son
promocionadas y practicadas en público, cada año atrae a un buen número de
curiosos y de gente que disfruta siendo el centro de atención de
cientos de fotógrafos y videografos.
Aunque los atuendos y actividades practicadas pueden ser un poco extremas,
el evento suele ser muy pacífico e inofensivo.
Los organizadores de la feria cuentan con la asistencia voluntaria de
muchos grupos y asociaciones muy conocidos en la ciudad de San Francisco,
tales com las Hermanas de Indulgencia Perpetua.
La metodología emula la de otras ferias callejeras como el Sábado Rosa
(Pink Saturday) de las Hermanas de la Indulgencia Perpetua,
la Feria de la Calle Castro y el Love Fest de San Francisco.
Las donaciones a la entrada de la calle alcanzaron los $300,000 en el año 2006.
La feria atrae anualmente a unos 400,000 visitantes incluyendo
fans del cuero de todo el mundo.
El dinero recogido cada año en la Feria de Folsom se destina a diversas organizaciones caritativas locales, sobre todo a las que trabajan con la problemática del Sida.
El evento genera unas ganancias de más de 250,000 cada año para estas organizaciones.
=================================
The History
Folsom Street had been the center of San Francisco's leather community since the 1960s. This community had been active in resisting the City's ambitious redevelopment program for the South of Market area throughout the 1970s. But as the AIDS epidemic unfolded in the 1980s, the ability of this community to stand up to downtown and City Hall were dramatically weakened. The crisis became an opportunity for the City (in the name of "public health") to close bathhouses and regulate bars---businesses that had been the cornerstone of the community's efforts to maintain a gay space in the South of Market neighborhood.
In 1984, as these spaces for gay community were rapidly closing, a coalition of housing activists and community organizers decided to start a street fair. The fair would enhance the visibility of the community at a time when people in City Hall and elsewhere were apt to think it had gone away, provide a means for much-needed fundraising, and create opportunities for members of the leather community to connect to services and vital information (e.g., regarding safer sex) which bathhouses and bars might otherwise have been ideally situated to distribute.
Thanks to the success of the first Folsom Street Fair, the organizers created the Up Your Alley Fair on Ringold Street in 1985. This fair moved to Dore Street ("Dore Alley") between Harrison and Folsom in 1987.
==========================
Atmosphere
As one of the few occasions when sadomasochistic activities are encouraged and performed in public, it attracts a considerable number of sightseers and those who enjoy the attention of onlookers as well as the hundreds of photographers and videographers. Although the costumes and activities can be eye-opening and transgressive, the event tends to be very peaceful and non-threatening.
The organizers have earned a great amount of trust from city officials as they have demonstrated not only an exceptional level of community and volunteer support but also have risen to be a role-model for other street fairs in San Francisco which have faced opposition from various neighborhood groups.
With the assistance of the high-profile Sisters of
Perpetual Indulgence the gate donations totalled
more than $300,000 in 2006 and the methodology
emulated at other street fairs like the Sisters' Pink Saturday,
the Castro Street Fair and San Francisco Lovefest.
The fair annually draws 400,000 visitors including kinky leather fans from around the world, and is the third largest street event in California, after the Tournament of Roses Parade and San Francisco Pride parade.
Each year all proceeds from the Folsom Street Fair,
including gate donations and beverage sales,
are given to qualified local charities.
These include AIDS charities and the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence
who lead the organizing effort at the gates themselves.
The event generates over $250,000 annually for charity.
Several gay pornographic studios conduct
casting calls at Folsom Fair events like Treasure Island Media.
annual Folsom Street Fair is
held on the last Sunday in September and
caps San Francisco's Leather Pride Week.
The Folsom Street Fair, sometimes simply referred to as Folsom,
is located on Folsom Street between 7th and 12th Streets,
in San Francisco's South of Market district.
It was started in 1984 and is California's third largest spectator event
and the world's largest leather event and showcase for S&M products and culture.
It has grown as a non-profit run and non-profit benefitting organization
with all donations at the gates going to charity groups as well as
numerous fundraising schemes within the festival including games,
beverage booths and even spanking for donations
to capitalize on the adult-themed exhibitionism.
=============================
Como es una de las pocas ocasiones en que algunas actividades BDSM son
promocionadas y practicadas en público, cada año atrae a un buen número de
curiosos y de gente que disfruta siendo el centro de atención de
cientos de fotógrafos y videografos.
Aunque los atuendos y actividades practicadas pueden ser un poco extremas,
el evento suele ser muy pacífico e inofensivo.
Los organizadores de la feria cuentan con la asistencia voluntaria de
muchos grupos y asociaciones muy conocidos en la ciudad de San Francisco,
tales com las Hermanas de Indulgencia Perpetua.
La metodología emula la de otras ferias callejeras como el Sábado Rosa
(Pink Saturday) de las Hermanas de la Indulgencia Perpetua,
la Feria de la Calle Castro y el Love Fest de San Francisco.
Las donaciones a la entrada de la calle alcanzaron los $300,000 en el año 2006.
La feria atrae anualmente a unos 400,000 visitantes incluyendo
fans del cuero de todo el mundo.
El dinero recogido cada año en la Feria de Folsom se destina a diversas organizaciones caritativas locales, sobre todo a las que trabajan con la problemática del Sida.
El evento genera unas ganancias de más de 250,000 cada año para estas organizaciones.
=================================
The History
Folsom Street had been the center of San Francisco's leather community since the 1960s. This community had been active in resisting the City's ambitious redevelopment program for the South of Market area throughout the 1970s. But as the AIDS epidemic unfolded in the 1980s, the ability of this community to stand up to downtown and City Hall were dramatically weakened. The crisis became an opportunity for the City (in the name of "public health") to close bathhouses and regulate bars---businesses that had been the cornerstone of the community's efforts to maintain a gay space in the South of Market neighborhood.
In 1984, as these spaces for gay community were rapidly closing, a coalition of housing activists and community organizers decided to start a street fair. The fair would enhance the visibility of the community at a time when people in City Hall and elsewhere were apt to think it had gone away, provide a means for much-needed fundraising, and create opportunities for members of the leather community to connect to services and vital information (e.g., regarding safer sex) which bathhouses and bars might otherwise have been ideally situated to distribute.
Thanks to the success of the first Folsom Street Fair, the organizers created the Up Your Alley Fair on Ringold Street in 1985. This fair moved to Dore Street ("Dore Alley") between Harrison and Folsom in 1987.
==========================
Atmosphere
As one of the few occasions when sadomasochistic activities are encouraged and performed in public, it attracts a considerable number of sightseers and those who enjoy the attention of onlookers as well as the hundreds of photographers and videographers. Although the costumes and activities can be eye-opening and transgressive, the event tends to be very peaceful and non-threatening.
The organizers have earned a great amount of trust from city officials as they have demonstrated not only an exceptional level of community and volunteer support but also have risen to be a role-model for other street fairs in San Francisco which have faced opposition from various neighborhood groups.
With the assistance of the high-profile Sisters of
Perpetual Indulgence the gate donations totalled
more than $300,000 in 2006 and the methodology
emulated at other street fairs like the Sisters' Pink Saturday,
the Castro Street Fair and San Francisco Lovefest.
The fair annually draws 400,000 visitors including kinky leather fans from around the world, and is the third largest street event in California, after the Tournament of Roses Parade and San Francisco Pride parade.
Each year all proceeds from the Folsom Street Fair,
including gate donations and beverage sales,
are given to qualified local charities.
These include AIDS charities and the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence
who lead the organizing effort at the gates themselves.
The event generates over $250,000 annually for charity.
Several gay pornographic studios conduct
casting calls at Folsom Fair events like Treasure Island Media.
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