A Local’s Guide to Folsom St Fair Weekend in San Francisco

The Folsom Street Fair (FSF) is the ultimate BDSM holiday, often gathering over 400,000 kinky folks to 13 city blocks of San Francisco’s SOMA neighborhood for a glorious day of flogging, tying, spanking, and slutting their stuff outside on the city streets. From the Folsom Street Events website: “The only in San Francisco event returns to the streets to blow your mind once again! The world’s largest event centering kink/leather/alternative sexualities, Folsom Street Fair has something for every consenting adult. We’re well into our daddy/mommy phase so be good for us and come in all your gear or none at all as we take the streets with our deliciously weird and wonderful fair!” If you’d like some fair history, this article by Broke Ass Stuart gives some great background.

There’s a lot to know about the fair itself – and I’ll get there! – but like many holidays, the run-up is a massive part of the fun. The days and weeks before the Fair have lots of amazing opportunities. For broader kink event listings, check out the calendar at Erobay; AndyMatic posts a great event primer and event listings, as well! If you want to mix some vanilla sightseeing and events with your Folsom fun, the calendar at FunCheap is surprisingly good. Also popular in San Francisco is the Plura app, an inclusive social and dating platform designed to help people connect at events.

If you fancy some kink education to kick off Folsom month, opportunities abound! Wicked Grounds features a fantastic mix of in-person and online education – check out the list here! If you’re looking for rope-focused events, check out the schedule at VoxBody Studios

If you’re in town the weekend before the Folsom Street Fair, you can catch the LeatherWalk by the Leather & LGBTQ Cultural District on September 21st– the traditional launch to San Francisco’s Leather Week. This walk starts at City Hall, pauses at favorite neighborhood spots and watering holes, and culminates with the Leather Pride Fest at Eagle Plaza. Looking to shop before hitting up the vendors at the Fair itself? Options include Mr. S Leather and Good Vibrations.

The Wednesday before Folsom (and every Wednesday!), join the party with Play-X-Land at the Cat Club, located right in SOMA. Featuring dark tunes, sultry dancing, and an introductory dungeon space for many levels of play, this nightclub and bar has dance platforms and two full bars! The dungeon gets busy, so be sure to check in with the Dungeon Monitor (DM) if you’d like to play, and keep it PG-13 because there are liquor laws to follow (and lots of time to get XXX later).

If you’re looking for play parties, there are September events (and classes) at StopGap/AfterDark Events and Transform 1060 in San Francisco. Mission Control and Bonobo Network are amazing membership organizations also hosting events across the weekend – see their websites for details on joining (Mission Control offers a trial membership). Twisted Windows also has a pre-Folsom Pajama Party Rope Lab on the Thursday before Folsom weekend!

The Friday of Folsom weekend is when events really kick into gear! Twisted Windows has Folsom Foreplay on Friday and our traditional performance gala at SOMArts, a spacious art and cultural space right in San Francisco’s Leather and LGBTQ Cultural District, on Saturday. There are tons of details about these events here! And of course, there are many other options, including numerous events that are primarily for men. As the guide by AndyMatic states, you can go to those events as a not-gay-man, just know that: “Most of the events…are intended for and produced primarily by gay men seeking to meet and dance and do whatever with other gay men. You might not be the target audience for many of these partes. It’s our space – it’s great you feel safe here, too – but we built this.” We’d note that Twisted Windows ends on the earlier side on Saturday (midnight), making it a perfect first stop in your party night!

Of course, Sunday is the main event of the Folsom Street Fair! Even if you were up late partying on Saturday, it behooves you to arrive at the fair early. Earlier in the day tends to be less crowded, and also cooler. Weather can change quickly, so remember to bring layers. Parking around the fair is quite challenging – if you don’t mind walking 5+ blocks, you may be able to find a free street spot on the Brannan St side of the fair. Avoid getting stuck in congested traffic by not taking your car too close to the closed streets – if you get within a couple blocks, turn around. Taking the BART is a better bet than driving. The Civic Center stop is only a few blocks away, just exit and walk south toward the numbered streets. 

Remember that there are multiple entrances to the Fair, and the major ones on Folsom St (especially at 8th and Folsom) can have longer lines. If you go a couple of blocks along the outer edges of the fair, you can usually avoid the lines and just walk into the smaller side entrances! There is an optional donation requested at the entry – Folsom Street Events is a 501(c)3 non-profit arts and culture organization that unites the leather, kink, and alt sex communities with safe, consent-focused spaces for self expression and exciting entertainment – they very sincerely appreciate your donations!

Once you’re at the fair, apply (and re-apply) lots of sunscreen and remember to hydrate! In addition to the vendors and exhibitors, there are multipe stages, including the bondage stage, wrestling stage, live music, DJ/GoGo, and more! There will be a detailed map and schedules, with QR codes around the fair. Take it all in, be present in the moment, and enjoy this incomparable event.

Of course, the party doesn’t stop when the fair closes at 6pm – there are always lots of afterparties going late into the night!

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