Folsom Street Fair

The Folsom Street Fair is an annual kink, leather, and alternative-sexuality street fair held on the last Sunday of September in San Francisco's South of Market district, closing out the city's Leather Pride Week. It began in 1984, growing out of the neighborhood's long-standing leather community and early efforts to protect SoMa from real-estate development. The fair has become the world's largest leather event and, by its own count, draws around 250,000 visitors, making it one of California's largest single-day street events. Beyond the spectacle of gear, vendors, and open self-expression, it raises substantial money for LGBTQ+ and HIV/AIDS charities, and it remains a landmark of sex-positive queer culture that has inspired sister events like Folsom Europe in Berlin.