LovEvolution

I am sooo sad that this event doesn’t happen anymore, but I am so glad that I went for the last two years that Love Fest happend (at least that was what it was called before it turned into Love Evolution). It was awesome to see world class acts like Armin Van Burren, ATB, Deadmau5, and Above and Beyond for free during the day party parade. Spundae hella came through with those acts. It was so much fun to get stupid wild crazy in the streets of SF, especially in front of City Hall. Crazy shenanigans in the streets of SF and SFPD would just be chillin smoking cigars making sure there wasn’t fighting. Hopefully one day this event will come back to the streets of SF.

The one and only. that started it all for me. Wish it was back!

I went to Lovevolution in ‘o8 & o9. LOVE LOVE LOVE it! Soooo very much fun and I love it that it’s outside where you can actually breathe cause it raves that are indoors such as in the Bill Graham & Cow Palace– it’s suffocating humid. It’s THE event to see people in costumes, in almost nude, and just great floats with electronic music. :D
I’m soo bummed out that it didn’t happen this year. :(
I really really hope it will happen in ’11.

Festivals and fairs are so difficult to review. The enjoyment factor varies from year-​to-​year, so for a late Unilocaler like myself, who has been to more than one year of festivities, I’m not certain on whether I should rate the event based on the most current year, or average out the stars between all the years.
I’ll start off by averaging the stars between the years. I can always update my rating, right?
In 2008, I didn’t make a plan to attend the event, named «Love Fest» at the time. I’m not big on techno and house and such. I could hear the bass blasting from Civic Center waaay over in my apartment by Union Square. I headed over towards the event around the last hours and was surprised by how much I got into it. The bass was thumping and the crowd was jumping. I went alone and had a great time. FOUR stars for 2008 for the music and energy of the people.
GF loves house music… good house music. I’m not familiar with the genre so I don’t really know what’s good. I was excited to take GF to the 2009 event, renamed «LovEvolution». The parade was fun. The costumes, the floats, the creativity of it all. But then they tried to charge ten bucks to get in to the festival part. We ended up sneaking in… shhhhh! I’m glad we did because I would have been PISSED if I spent even a dollar to get into that place. It sucked! It was loud, but the music didn’t have the same drum and bass that I experienced the year before. We walked all around several times, just looking for a float that played decent music. The crowd was rowdy, but not in a good way. I witnessed the destruction of city property… which is upsetting to watch on any day, but on a day of music and fun, I was disgusted. If I could give them ZERO stars for 2009, I would. The minimum rating is ONE star so I guess I gotta give it to them.
Date of Event:
Parade and Daytime Party: First Saturday of October
Other Related Festivities: First Weekend of October

Pros:
–Alcohol
–People
–Electronic Music
–San Francisco
–Rave
Cons:
You weren’t there

This was my second year for Lovefest. I would say it’s another good experiences for me to have a chance to see naked, drunk, or people in different cool costumes. (after Burning man) It was incredibly, good love energy from people all over around.
Parking: Better to take Muni
Good for Kid: NO
Good for group: Hell Yeah!
Drinks: Lovin’ it
Restroom: Acceptable

The BART ride into the city was packed with crazy costumes and elaborate outfits. It was awesome! This was my first year and I can’t wait to go next year. $ 10 was totally worth it btw to get in.
SF gets transformed into this crazy, huge rave and it’s lots of fun. If you’re down to have a good time and see lots of crazy things, come back next year.
The cell phones didn’t work at all this year because everyone and their mothers were trying to make calls. I was supposed to meet up with some friends and were never able to because my calls never went through. Note to self: plan a little better next year to meet up with friends.
It’s such a fun experience! I highly recommend it at least once.

100,000+ partiers who are blitzed out of their minds, half naked, some fully naked dancing in the streets of SF’s Civic Center, and the cops won’t do a THING! That’s what I call crazy!
That’s right, my yearly journey up north to LovEvolution gets crazier and crazier. This was my 5^th year attending and it was just a mad house.
Admission/​entrance was very organized. The $ 10 cover is totally justifiable. Don’t be cheap folks, for an event like this anywhere else in the world, you’d be lucky if you were charged less than $ 80-​$ 100. There were 6 – 7 floats/​stages. Tons of food vendors .mmm.garlic fries! and just crazy people.
This year didn’t have as many naked older men this year (thank god).
I only found one dude selling weed brownies. =(
I will admit though, like many things in life, when they get popular and mainstream, people get of control. Party fouls left and right. Learn to handle your shit kids! Roll your eyes back, take that stupid pacifier out of your mouth and please for the love of god, why the fawk would you wear glasses with no lenses?!?
Rather than ending at 9PM years before, it went till about 7PM. I caught deadmau5’s set and boy did the kiddies love him. Overall, the party was great, a bit windy (that’s SF for you) but still an awesome time.
I recommend this to hardcore Electronic music lovers or people that don’t give a fawk what is going on around them. If you’re not use to the «scene», you probably won’t have a good time.

Please young girl wearing naught but fairy wings and rainbow gloves, I’d appreciate you not directing your extasy induced vomit my way. That goes for you too guy wearing the Gumby outfit, I saw you actually take the joint inside your costume’s head and I really don’t want you stumbling on me when you start on fire.
This party is 3 blocks from my house, and frankly since my walls are already rattling I figure why not. Each year it feels like the memo has reached a little bit further that this is a safe haven for drugged up teenagers and I’m thinkin’ this was my last year attending. I dig house music and some drum and bass, but not when I’m surrounded by youngins who can’t handle their drugs.
Sure, a lot in the crowd are really cool, lots of friendly peeps having a good time and dancing it up, it is certainly a party to behold. But I dunno, some folks just ruin it for me. Like a house party and there is just ONE drunk dude who’s knocking shit over, grabbing your girl’s ass, and vomiting in your fish tank.
One kid actually fell out of a tree a mere 5 feet away from me. Wtf was he doing in the tree? Does music sound better from the canopy of a tree? The acid induced unicorn vision told him to do it?
I dunno, take it as you will. If you like a party vibe with thousands upon thousands of people stacked up on top of each other, nothing is going to beat Love Fest or LovEvolution or whatever they’ll call it next. It’s now $ 10 entry which is lame and beer is way too expensive, I’d go flask if I were you. But if your patience runs thin for kids that don’t know how to contain their partying without possibly screwing yours up, be warned.

I was hoping Lovefest would be just as awesome this year as it was last. And I think it was, besides the added security and the 10 dollar entrance fee, the vibe was pretty much the same as last year.
I try to explain to people how fantastically awesome this event is, but apparently I suck at it. But I’ll give it one more try on my Unilocal review:
— Hundreds of people partying outside the City Hall building
— Good looking girls and guys dressed up or not dressed at all
— Happy friendly people to chat with in line for the bathroom
— Awesome electronic beats, a bunch of stages, great DJs
— Huge mobs of people dancing and having a great time
So next year… Take a few shots, and grab a red bull and go for it.

The overall experience was a decent one.
On one hand, I’m really not a fan of celebrations involving large scale masses celebrating in public spaces a.k.a. Pride, Folsom Street Fair, LovEvolution, Outside Lands, Strictly Blue Grass, etc. because I get seriously claustrophobic.
But on the other hand, events like these are a great opportunity for people to let their hair down with friends or on their own, just have a good time and truly experience freedom of expression in every way, regardless of whatever demographic you might belong to.
So, for those into events like this, more power to you if its something that gets you going and you enjoy — I totally respect that.
That being said, here’s my take on it.
THE GOOD:
— The usual beer, meat on a stick, teriyaki on rice, fair food
— Great opportunity to people watch and see some great costumes and moves that put Pride to shame!
— Great music
— Great sunny weather
— Some cool souvenir booths
— Good energy all around
— Met some fun people whom I had never met before
— Somehow I felt more comfortable walking here than I do walking Pride
THE BAD:
— Charging $ 10 to get in
— The masses having to literally squish through an entrance the width of a room door to get in and then pay and get a bracelet
— Standing in line to get beer to only find out when its your turn that you have to get in another line first to get a 21 and over bracelet for alcoholic purchases… LAME
— The folks who did not have the above stated bracelet and started bullying those who did to score beers for them
— The event was so packed, it was hard to find space to even dance
THE UGLY:
— In the two hours that we were there, we must have easily spent an hour and a half just trying to get from one part of the event to another
— Seeing paramedics carry out attendees on 6 ocassions who were either high off their asses, dehydrated or severely coming down… kids! if you must do drugs, be smart about how you do them!
— The folks making out in the porto-​potties… not the most hygenic place to do that, people!
But in the end, everyone seemed to be having a good time, which is what matters. I personally would not go again and I’m glad I gave it a shot. Just not my cup of tea.
So, if you like crowds, rave music, dancing in the open, beer, fair food and all the aspects that go with events like these, then I’ll say LovEvolution is worth checking out!
Peace out!

so basicallly… thanks to BART malfunctioning and being delayed for seemed like hours, i made it to the day parade… at 7pm.
they STILL charged me $ 10 to get in.
by the time i found will call (which no one knew where it was), the parade was pretty much over and my $ 10 pretty much went down the drain.
however, i did help the lady working at the booth selling rings catch tis guy who was trying to steal a ring and she gave me a discount on my purchase wooo!
i can only write about the after party.
security and management gets a big fat F! they only had THREE doors open to let in tens of thousands of people in. no one knew where the «line» started or ended so people were roaming around in 30 degree weather wearing nothing more than a bikini and fuzzy leg warmers.
there were no backpacks allowed in! so we could either get out of this fatass of a line to put it in our car/​hotel OR check it in to the bag check area. sketch as fuckkk.
i had a tiny little ladybug backpack and i ended up tying it around my waist like a fannypack and they let me in. nobody even searched me or patted me down. i didn’t have to open my bag.
that shows how well managed everything was…
but asides from crappy security, everything was amazing. i met the most amazing people, heard the most amazing music, nearly started crying from happiness during Deadmau5’s set because he’s so amazing, saw some amazing light shows, received amazing massages from strangers in the crowd, and basically had the most amazing time.
this weekend was amazing. AMAZING.

One word for this-​CRAZY! But I guess that is what is expected at San Francisco festivals and fairs. I was pretty bummed that there was a $ 10 admission when last year it was FREE. But, that is a fair price, especially the way people trash the city-​littering and throwing things with no regard for the people who have to come clean all that crap up in the end.
However, outfits were out of this world! And I feel like there were even more people than last year, which is nuts because it was way crowded last time. There is NO way you can try and meet up with someone here on purpose because so many people are trying to call out/​text that your phone doesn’t even function.
If you are not looking to run into a million teenagers tripping on acid and ecstasy avoid Lovefest. or «LovEvolution.» BUT, the floats and music are amazing and sooo good to get down to – dancing wise that is :)
Kudos to SF for putting this on every year and letting a bunch of crazies gather on its streets.

The floats were a blast. It was really cool to see everyone having such a great time. I could have totally done without the place being THAT packed. It was way too crowded for me. I felt really old walking through event. Of course people came out with the best costumes. Some were not so creative and just came out in their bras. I probably should have come out earlier in the day. I got there at 3pm By then, it was starting to get a little chilly, all the youngins were totally trashed and stumbling and people were starting to get rude.
If it werent for dnb, I wouldn’t have gone at all.
The other drag was that there was so much going on that my cell phone didn’t work.

«Whoah Bitch, Yeahhh»
— best random stoned surfer convo fragment overheard at event sumarizing the scene

Funnest time everrrrrr!
Driving around for almost a hour looking for parking, irritated as hell, finally found a spot, threw on our wigs, masks, wings, TRANSFORMATION COMPLETE!, and after getting in those gates my whole mood just changed & I was having the time of my life.
I never danced to techno before, but became pro in a matter of minutes lol ahhhhhhhh I loooove it!
SO freakin’ fun! Loved all the outfits, everyone was real cool, no drama, good music, and bacon wrapped hot dogs? I coulda mistaken this for a dream.
We drove home still dancing to ANY & EVERY song that came on the radio, sore & tired as hell, but all soooo worth it!
Back to reality *sigh*

PLUR
HELL THE F*CK YES!
Another year, another high school reunion in the sun!
The best way to commune with my fellow high beat audiophiles and more than likely the only reunion I will ever attend in my lifetime. Though I did have to pay $ 10 to get in. or rather I had my way paid for me… everything was great! I met up with some familia, ran into some old furry friends, took in the sights, and danced myself into a mild sunburn. Curse of being fair skinned!
*le sigh
–here’s the run down of the day–
The weather was warm…
the girls wore less…
the beats were visceral…
the girls wore paint…
the flame thrower was eye catching…
the girls wore fur…
the plethora of dj floats was exhilarating…
the girls were dancing…
the gyrating crowd lapping at bass like the tide…
the girls were drinking…
utterly embracing the culture that is house…
the girls were dj’ing…
happy happy joy joy…
girls girls girls!!!
Did I mention that there were girls?
Bear in mind though that with every good thing there was some taint to the day with under aged population being exposed to mature themes, party goers succumbing to intoxication, and people hasslin’ me for my picture… sad to say but it is what it is and regardless I’ll keep coming back year after year till I can dance no more.
Feel the love!
;D

The LovEvolution parade, formerly known as the The Love Fest, does not disappoint! We watched it from Market/​Powell — my eyes oh my eyes! ;D It was zanier than ever (lots of pink and tons of tutus, nudity, butt cheeks, etc. hanging out), and I spent most of the time with my mouth hanging open from the shock of the debauchery, but it’s all in fun full of humor and good times!
We didn’t go to the end event at the Civic Center because it’s not our scene, but the parade is definitely a spectacle not to be missed! ‘Til next year!

I could not help but feel overwhelmed with joy as I looked around at all the freaks. This truly is the party people’s PRIDE festival! LoveEvolution was a lot different than the SF Love Parade. I was amazed at how many attendees arrived this year! I preferred the event when it was smaller, and there were cooler vendors, but I had a blast. The food was awesome! You can’t go wrong with the 2 for $ 8 chicken skewers.
I saw a lot of really interesting costumes, including every color of the
rainbow in Chewbaca boots. The standard outfit seemed to be gold booty shorts and a bikini or tank. I noticed that a lot of boys paired angel wings with their booty shorts.
We spent most of our time going between the Triple Crown float, and the Listed float. The Listed float was insane! People were literally hiking up the speakers! My favorite moment, was when Danny Howells played Donna Summer’s, «I feel love», at sunset. It was hard to choose between all the after parties, but we had a blast. I can’t remember the last time I had so much fun. We did not get home until 7:00 AM, and the party was still going on. Gotta love that!
Until next year sunshine people!

Date & Time: Saturday October 3, 2009 @ 1pm
Company: Michael & Jack
Crowd: Cute Teens & 20-​Somethings Dropping E in Bright Colorful Skimpy American Apparel or Boy Shorts w/​Furry Knee-​High Boots
Vibe: Love & Happiness
Music: Dance
Décor: Block Party @ City Hall Park w/​Floats & DJ’s
Imbibe: Orange Juice
Admission: $ 10