The Castro Street Fair Will Return For 2021

Image: mattymatt via Flickr

The first Sunday in October will be more like a normal first Sunday in October this year, or at least, it will on Castro Street between 17th and 19th Streets. The Bay Area Reporter has the news that the Castro Street Fair is back on for 2021, after it was cancelled last year just like everything else because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We are pleased to announce that planning has begun for this year’s Castro Street Fair,” organizers posted in a Friday night Facebook announcement. “Although it may look a little different pending potential guidance from SFDPH, we look forward to seeing you all in person on October 3, 2021.”

The Castro Street Fair was started by Harvey Milk himself back in 1974, and by the late 70s and early 80s, was drawing more than 70,000 attendees. Attendance has since dipped, especially when Hardly Strictly Bluegrass and Fleet Week were consistently held on the same weekend. SF Weekly reports that the fair almost died off in 2016, when it rained the day of the fair and so few people came. Castro Street Fair has since lined up more sponsors, but there may be capacity limits and distancing in effect for this year’s fair.

After being mothballed last year due to the #COVID19 pandemic, a festival launched in the 1970s by the late gay supervisor Harvey Milk to celebrate #SanFrancisco's #LGBTQ #Castrodistrict will return this fall. https://t.co/NIRP99Wvkr

— Matthew S. Bajko (@politicalnotes) July 21, 2021

You may feel it’s too soon to be holding events like this, and you may be right. But consider that by the time Sunday, October 3 rolls around, we will have already held How Weird Street Faire (Sept. 12), Dreamforce (Sept. 21-23), and the renamed Folsom Street Fair which this year will return to its original name Megahood (Sept. 26). Moreover, the large events Bearrison Street Fair (Oct. 23) and Outside Lands (Oct. 29-31) are scheduled in the following weeks, so this is just kind of the direction things are going now.

#ProudBoys Castro Street Fair, Harmodius and Hoti, August 1975Photography Daniel Nicoletta pic.twitter.com/A3POJicizi

— Steve Mounce🏳️‍🌈 (@bearbisquit) October 4, 2020

The only big remaining question on the autumn event calendar is whether Hardly Strictly Bluegrass will be scheduled. There has been no announcement from that festival, but FunCheap SF noticed last month that a June 8 Hardly Strictly Bluegrass email announcement said “Please check back on our site in the coming weeks as we will have updates on HSB 2021.”