'Folsom Street Fair' Returns With Street Closures, Muni Reroutes This Sunday

'Folsom Street Fair' Returns With Street Closures, Muni Reroutes This SundayPhotos: Shane Downing/Hoodline
Teresa Hammerl
Published on September 22, 2017

This Sunday, organizers expect 400,000 leather and fetish enthusiasts to visit the annual Folsom Street Fair in SoMa, the world's largest fetish event.

Spread out on 13 blocks between 8th and 13th streets, 200 exhibitor booths will showcase fetish gear and toys, while live performance stages promise top indie, electronic and alternative music acts.

Attendees should also expect bag checks and pat-downs, especially for those individuals wearing loose, oversized or bulky clothing, organizers said. Items such as weapons, knives, sharps, bottles or cans are not allowed in the event area.

The fair will be held from 11am to 6pm. SFMTA has released a list of anticipated street closures between 3am and 10pm on Sunday:

  • Folsom Street between 8th and 13th streets
  • 9th Street between Howard and Harrison streets
  • 10th Street between Howard and Harrison streets
  • 11th Street between Howard and Harrison streets
  • 12th Street between Howard and Harrison streets
  • All alleys and intersections bounded by 8th, Howard, 13th and Harrison streets

The following Muni routes will be affected as well:

  • 9-San Bruno
  • 12-Folsom/Pacific
  • 47-Van Ness

SFMTA expects traffic around the event area to be heavily congested. It recommends that motorists stay away from the event area and the areas where street closures will be enforced.

Drivers heading northbound should use Harrison Street and then travel to 13th Street and Duboce Avenue. Southbound drivers, on the other hand, should take Octavia Boulevard to get to the 101 South.

For pick-up and drop-off use only, SFMTA has created a limited number of temporary taxi stands for the event, on the northwest and southwest sections of 8th and Folsom streets.

For those who get tired of just walking around, the festival also comes with two dance areas: the Magnitude dance area on Folsom Street at 13th Street, and the Deviants dance area on Folsom Street at 8th Street.

There will also be three food courts and The Playground (on 9th Street between Howard and Folsom), a space for women and genderqueer folks, as well as the Erotic Artists’ Area (on 11th Street between Howard and Folsom), with visual artists and a live performance arts stage.

For those visitors who prefer to show just their latest leather accessories or even less, the organizers have good news.

"[Y]es, you can still be naked, so avail yourself of our coat and clothes check areas as well," they wrote.