Last September, the Upper Haight held its first-ever Haight Street Music and Merchants Festival. Organized by Alex Aquino of Black Scale as a benefit for local merchants, it was intended to offer fewer outside vendors than the Haight Street Fair, for which some local businesses don't even bother opening because their storefronts are blocked. Now, we've learned that the festival won't be returning this year, although it could be back in 2016.
2014's inaugural Merchants Fair was extremely well-attended; organizers, who were shooting for 10,000 attendees, wound up with an estimated 40,000. (The last-minute addition of Erykah Badu to the musical lineup likely contributed to the overflow.) Photos show that the neighborhood was pretty packed.
In the aftermath of the fair, reaction was mixed. In the comments on our recap, some were excited about the "fresh, hip" atmosphere, while others were upset by the non-family-friendly nature of the performances, the trash, and the noise. Multiple commenters said they were concerned about the Haight getting shut down for four festivals per year (the others being Bay to Breakers and 420).
For their part, SFPD Park Station was inundated with noise complaints and reports of public drunkenness, and expressed frustration at their officers being spread thin over a much bigger crowd than they'd anticipated.
Aquino tells us that he had planned to hold a second fair this year, but said that the ongoing and much-maligned Upper Haight infrastructure project has set him back. As a result, he's skipping a year, with plans to return next fall. "We will not be doing the festival this year, but will be at it next year, 2016," he said via email. "With all the construction with the street scheduled in September, this was a major issue with the festival's scheduling, etc. But again, we will be back next year!"
Are you sad or glad the festival won't be back this month? Take it to the comments.
