Dore Alley Street Fair

Like Disneyland for adults. Everyone is super-​friendly, had a great time, and met new friends. A great day.

crazy and weird but real fun to go experience

Better if you go with someone, unlike Folsom Fair where I went alone and had more fun.

Always a FUN time… Unfortunately I wasn’t able to spend a whole lot of time this year… Which was a big disappointment. I do have to say as the years go by so dose the rating drop from NC-​17 to MA. I think a couple of days of lust is okay, but that’s just me. I wish I could have stuck around longer. But Folsom is right around the corner, I’m looking forward to that

Now this is a truly «Only-​in-​SF» experience! I went with a few of my buddies who bat for the other team because none of us had ever been. Me… I took two hot chicks, because THAT is how I roll :-)
We arrived fashionably late (2ish). Made a $ 7 donation that got us a sticker for $ 2 off beers all day long. The donation goes towards local charities so that’s a plus. The beer discount helped also :-)
The beer booths had 12 or 16 ounce options. Always get the 16 oz and get two at a time because the beer lines are long!
If naked people offend you… then this is NOT the place for you!
If people having sex in public offends you… then this is NOT the place for you!
Oh, another reason to have a beer in your hand (at least for a hedro like me) is that you don’t want your hands hitting someone’s «junk» and possibly getting fluids on them (unless you’re into that).
Everyone in attendance was cool, respectful and totally polite. If you are into the leather/​bondage scene, this is definitely for you. If you don’t mind public sex, this is definitely the place you’ll see it. If you want to see the latest sexual trends, they’re here. If you want to buy leather goods and sexy corset’s you’ll find the finest quality here. Every vendor will let you try on or use the item before buying and the vendors are from across the country.
I saw things that I didn’t even know existed and some really different styles of leather goods. I even learned about what a «sounding rod» was. Google it, you’ll be shocked too! The «puppy» booth was something I had never seen… amusing though.
It was a fun and very different experience with good friends. I’d recommend it if your comfortable with your own and other people’s sexuality.
It gets really crowded by 3pm, so earlier might be better.

I was invited to help out in a booth here to benefit the Castro Country Club and I admit I was scared. I heard stories. People warned me. I asked past fair goers if I was too vanilla and they partially agreed. I almost flaked. Then I got over myself and waxed a few noses, backs and b-​holes.
This fair is great! Everyone is so open, free and comfortable with themselves and what they want. There was nothing I hadn’t really seen before. I agree to not wear flip flops and watch where your hands fly when you walk, but I wore jeans and I was totally fine. I’m not into the scene so I don’t think I’d go if I wasn’t volunteering, but if this is your thing, it’s probably the coolest fair around. So many HAWT guys. Wow. Eye candy all around!
Maybe I’m not as vanilla as I thought I was.

Sites to astound and shock! And 2 blocks away from our place!

This is my favorite street fair. Unlike the Folsom Street Fair, attendees are mostly local folks. And even though it’s in a slightly smaller space, it’s not packed with wall-​to-​wall people.
I like volunteering for various charities and when I am in a booth, I see lots of friends and meet new people. And I can let the «parade» go by me.
The weather is nearly always warm and sunny which makes for a great day outdoors.

* Whoever is responsible for placing the bareback DVDs booth next to the Stop Aids Project needs to be banished to the Phantom Zone.
* I can never tell who run the booths because they’re dressed like everybody else. You’d think the community that gave us the hanky code could have devised a system to tell people apart.
* If you can’t find food vendors with a wider vegetarian/​vegan menu, will you plz take this recipe for soy chorizo burritos and give it to someone who can make this dream come true for me?
* Mad props to the SF Suicide Prevention Hotline for thinking to give out lip balm. At first I was like «this has no connection to the flyers you are passing out» but after that minty vanilla hit my lips I was all «well, I’ll say, I feel less strongly about an individual’s right to end their own life than I did five minutes ago. Bravo, madams. Bravo». I talk like that when I don’t take my medication.
* To the guy at every leather fair who walks up to everyone in a police uniform and asks them if they’re «really a cop» while fondling himself: THIS IS WHY WE CAN’T HAVE NICE THINGS.
Still, I had a great time. Certified doubleplusgood.

Leather dads and their pups, body chains, open-​ended leather pants, doggie hoods and leashes… what an interesting time to spend Sunday.
Keep it hard… stand by the corner… move…but keep it hard. That seemed to be the goal for the day to a few of the naked men.
Loved the sounds of the paddle, cute and pretty boys demoing in booths. Some were, well… overly tinged with an orange tan, but some were perfectly shaped and shaded in their harnesses.
There were a few girls fighting for a cause… with the statement over their heads «i love boobies.» Of course, my friends and I donated to their cause — it was part of our cause too :-).
Oh, and loved the music…

I never knew a few pair of ass-​less chaps could so easily fuck up my Costco shopping plans. Apparently just one lotsa leather & lewd acts street fair on Folsom is not enough to satisfy. This is the smaller, and dare I say, gentler, version of the Folsom Street Fair, but don’t be fooled. It stops just as much traffic, but sadly, without nearly as much gusto.

Naked gay men kissing just steps away from me = my idea of an awesome time.
Naked Twister. Naked guy barking in a dog mask. Naked floggings.
Naked naked naked.
Naked.
The only drawback to this fine, fine event was the crowd, made even worse by my stupid decision to bring a big-​ass bag with me. And following from the crowded nakedness, I kept having to remind myself to keep my arms crossed — there were definitely things within touching distance that I did NOT care to touch.
HOWEVER, if you actually would *like* to touch some major wang, the crowd would probably make it a hawt 5 stars.

Wow, this place was really «up my alley»!
I had such a blast here yesterday! Nothing like drinking riesling and looking at hot men in leather! I will be coming back next year!
Totally worth the sunburn on my face!

As with everything, you will have to decide what is for you.
But in any case, it’s a great SF tradition with a lot of spirit and character.
And if you have adventurous things in your closet, this is probably the only time it is acceptable to wear A LOT of leather.

Over the top.
But, everyone should go once! Just do it.

I was a tit-​bit disappointed.
All the hype around this event was surely obstructed by something. Some say the weather, and I’ll buy it. But I wonder if I was underwhelmed by how much this street fair resembled Folsom Street Fair, just on a smaller scale… I thought there would be more heterocentric activities to diversify the crowd, and I didn’t notice much beyond random vendors that appeared to be the same as FSF.
This year was my first year perusing the pleasures, and I’ve only been frequenting Folsom for 4 years so I’ll have to look forward to next year for a better judgment.

Better than Folsom.
And the best place to have your boyfriend publicly flogged. He loved it. (And so did I!)

Just got home. Maybe it was the weather, but there was no sex. Very tame. Boring snoozefest aside from a few guys with their dicks out. I hope this is not a sign of the effect assimilationist gay marriage campaigns have had on our sexual liberation. Ugh.

«Brazen» is about the jist of this over the top event. I’ve gone eight or nine times and always enjoy the show.
Drinkin’ beer w/​a couple thousand homos and other assorted «libertines» on a sunny afternoon is always A Good Time, no matter what I personally feel about the various acts, scenes or theatre going on around me or, more importantly, their fashion choices. Mixing army fatigues and navy shirts, or brown boots and black motorcycle jackets are a real No-​No (a lesson learned long ago in the age of 70s gay dress-​up). But the truly hot are always given dispensation on this minor point.
So I don’t want to get flogged in public, or show off a new tatt on my butt? Probably activities for the Curtdude simply to AVOID — but I fully support every freakin’ person out there who wants to do it and everything else I’ve witnessed at Dore. I see it as a yearly reminder to be tolerant and not so damned bossy.
Certainly less touristy than Folsom, this scene is NOT for the conventional. Public nudity just everywhere and lots of shock value on the body art/​modification (s). It’s a celebration of kink and extreme sexuality. A real mind bender for sure.
The only truly annoying aspect are those who go (hopefully not under any duress from their masters or mistresses) and then loudly complain about their delicate sensibilities being grossed out. Well, I don’t like stupid wars, bad hair, crappy-​paying jobs, mismatched table patterns or selfish creeps on the Muni who won’t freakin’ move to the back of the bus, so screw you and lighten up. I mean, it’s a gay leather street fair, not a Promise Keepers meeting.

One of my favorite street fairs (Folsom, too big, Castro, too vanilla) — it makes me realize what I love (homosexuals, good weather, deviant behavior) and what I dislike (homosexuals, deviant behavior) about the City.
This is small potatoes compared to Folsom Street Fair, but boy does it pack a lot of bang for the buck.
Urinating, public sex, flogging, naked men and women… Oh, and don’t forget about the multitude of cameras capturing every second.
Who could ask for anything more?