rewrite this content and keep HTML tags The How Weird Street Faire goes down annually on Howard Street and surrounding blocks where this year, nine stages of music brought crowds in droves to San Francisco’s South of Market District, Oct. 14, 2023.Kevin Kelleher & Emily TrinhIt’s 5 p.m. on a Saturday and there are no cars on 2nd Street in San Francisco. But the road isn’t exactly empty, either. A stage is planted squarely over the street’s double yellow lines, framed by stacks of speakers and subwoofers. The surrounding crowd is peppered with colored wigs, bug-eyed glasses, roller blades and cat ears. The DJ transitions from a hard techno track to a harder one, locking in on the four-on-the-floor beat. Two people wearing TVs on their heads dance in the bike lane. Off to the side, a naked man wearing Crocs leans against a store’s concrete facade, his body half-shaded by the surrounding buildings. If you look up, you can see the Salesforce Tower hanging over the scene. At the back of the crowd of dancers, someone holds up a picket sign: “What do we want? Time travel. When do we want it? It’s irrelevant!”AdvertisementArticle continues below this adDolly D Polly, left, and Carmen Engle of the Bayview upend the idea of traditional entertainment at San Francisco’s How Weird Street Faire in the SOMA District on Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023.Kevin Kelleher & Emily TrinhHow Weird Street Faire, which bills itself as “the longest-running dance festival on the West Coast,” is an annual event in San Francisco’s SoMa neighborhood. On the day of the event, organizers shut down the blocks surrounding 2nd and Howard streets, and from noon to after sunset more than half a dozen stages play techno, house and drum ‘n’ bass on streets. DJs tower over crowds in Burning Man-style art cars. In between the stages artists and vendors set up tents, where they sell prints, food, gifts and festival wear.How Weird is like a cross between Folsom Street Fair and Burning Man. The event draws fur suits, leather daddy caps, animal print fuzzy coats and bucket hats. This year’s How Weird was 1990s-themed, although festival goers interpreted the theme loosely with their costumes, if at all. (To be fair, it’s hard to distinguish ‘90s-themed costumes from standard ravewear, since the dominant rave style is steeped in ‘90s and early 2000s nostalgia: baggy jeans, chunky sneakers, sport sunglasses and so on). Pulling up to the How Weird Street Faire in an apropos fashion in San Francisco’s South of Market District on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2023.Kevin Kelleher & Emily TrinhAdvertisementArticle continues below this adEven if the event’s outfits don’t belong to the ‘90s, its undercurrent of optimism does. How Weird emerged at the turn of the millennium, at a time when techno-optimists were reviving ‘60s ideas of transformations in consciousness and applying them to new technologies and the rave movement. The event is organized by a group called the World Peace Through Technology Organization, whose stated mission is to “inspire peace through the benevolent uses of technology, and to raise human consciousness to the level of peace and understanding.”Being weird isn’t just meant to be fun. It’s also meant to be transformative.The Vau de Vire Society performs on Howard Street at the How Weird Street Faire in San Francisco’s SOMA District on Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023.Kevin Kelleher & Emily TrinhI asked six or seven people what How Weird was all about, and they all said variations of the same thing: How Weird is an event where you can be your true self. AdvertisementArticle continues below this adCat Baxter, 32, has been going to the street fair since she was 7 years old. She told SFGATE that How Weird is about “letting your freak flag fly.” “Come be yourself, come be who you want to be,” she said. “That’s what How Weird is.”Dressed and accessorized to the nines, Cat Baxter, left, and Sabrina Faye of Oakland get frisky and funky on the Howard Street dance floor amidst the How Weird Street Faire on Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023.Kevin Kelleher & Emily TrinhAmid the blasting music on Howard Street, dancers take a moment for a photo during San Francisco’s How Weird Street Faire on Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023.Kevin Kelleher & Emily TrinhAdvertisementArticle continues below this adDancer, circus performer, and personal trainer Maggie Powers of San Francisco strikes a pose after performing at the How Weird Street Faire on Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023.Kevin Kelleher & Emily TrinhWeird and Weirder catch up on the crowded streets of San Francisco’s How Weird Street Faire in the SOMA District on Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023.Kevin Kelleher & Emily TrinhStaying hella weird at San Francisco’s annual How Weird Street Faire, this party squad jumps in for a portrait on Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023.Kevin Kelleher & Emily TrinhOffbeat costumes, detailed accessories, and unique creativity shine at San Francisco’s annual How Weird Street Faire in the SOMA District, as seen on Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023.Kevin Kelleher & Emily TrinhAdvertisementArticle continues below this adOct. 14, 2023, the How Weird Street Faire brings banging, world-class electronic dance music annually to Howard Street in San Francisco’s SOMA District where it has been happening for 20 years.Kevin Kelleher & Emily TrinhMassive crowds show up for San Francisco’s annual How Weird Street Faire as seen facing north on 2nd Street from the Electroluxx stage on Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023,Kevin Kelleher & Emily TrinhDanielle Ferreira, left, and Kitty Bolshauser of San Francisco take a breather from the dance floor during the How Weird Street Faire in the SOMA District on Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023.Kevin Kelleher & Emily TrinhThese dudes expect to see you get weird at the 2024 How Weird Street Faire next year, as seen on Howard Street in San Francisco’s South of Market District on Saturday afternoon, Oct. 14, 2023.Kevin Kelleher & Emily TrinhAdvertisementArticle continues below this adOffbeat costumes, detailed accessories and unique creativity shine at San Francisco’s annual How Weird Street Faire in the SOMA District, as seen on Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023.Kevin Kelleher & Emily TrinhBusiness as usual continues well into the wee hours during the official after-party for San Francisco’s How Weird Street Faire at Temple Nightclub on Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023.Kevin Kelleher & Emily TrinhThe Vau de Vire Society performs on Howard Street at the How Weird Street Faire in San Francisco’s SOMA District on Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023.Kevin Kelleher & Emily TrinhBell Kunal of the SOMA District, left, and Luna Good of the Inner Sunset District, right, flank Anthony Duran of San Jose at San Francisco’s How Weird Street Faire on Saturday afternoon, Oct. 14, 2023.Kevin Kelleher & Emily TrinhAdvertisementArticle continues below this ad
How Weird Street Faire brings leather, fur and bass to SF streets
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