One of the biggest kink festivals in the world filled the streets of SoMa with whips, chains and public displays of BDSM.
Source: SFstandard.com
USA – SAN FRANCISCO – There’s leather, latex, hardware, puppy masks, leashes, fur-suits, and nude bodies as far as the eye can see. Dance music, chatter, and the sound of wrestlers slamming onto a stage fill the air. The aroma of street meat (no pun intended) mixes, at least at one venue, with the scent of piss.
It’s the Folsom Street Fair, one of the world’s largest kink festivals that on Sunday celebrated its 41st year since launching as a protest against gentrification.
At 11:30 a.m., the streets were still quiet but the music was already bumping. Onlookers in various states of nudity enjoyed the dance moves of four performers, two of whom were in cages, at the DJ & Gogo Stage.
Across Folsom Street at the Wrestle Stage, Eliza Hammer tangled with Beatrice “The Black Panther” Domino. The fighting spilled off the stage and onto the street, where Domino spanked Hammer against an orange barrier to uproarious cheering.
Sir David and Pup Enzo, visitors from Phoenix, were watching the match from the crowd. Sir David said they came out to see “a different side of the kink community.” The couple said it was their first fair, and they were excited to talk with other “pup play” enthusiasts.
Killer Bob, on the other hand, has been coming to Folsom for 25 years. The tattoo artist moved from California’s Inland Empire when he was 27 to join San Francisco’s gay community, and at one time lived in the Folsom fairgrounds. He fondly recalled hearing people set up stages before sunrise, and soundcheck at 8 a.m. The key, his friend Jeff said, is to get drunk enough the night before to sleep through it. But Killer Bob said it never bothered him.
“Some of the neighbors used to complain about the clubs,” he said, referring to the neighborhood’s famous leather bars like the SF Eagle. “But, you moved here. This was here long before you were.”
Other Folsom Street veterans include the adult content creator couple Mr. Milk and Milk Von Cakez, who were decked out in sexy religious garb. Mr. Milk said that his homemade “dick stick” — a cross scepter with a dildo swinging on the end — used to be too top-heavy, so he reinforced the handle with an iron bar. Von Cakez said her favorite part of the event was “being around people like us.”
Bay Area natives Tyler and Max, who asked to withhold their last names, said they’re into a bondage subgenre called “prison play.” Tyler dressed in red camouflage and a tactical vest, while Max wore a monochrome uniform that said “INMATE” in white letters on the back. It was Max’s first time at the fair. After getting permission to speak from Tyler, Max went on to describe how excited he was to browse vendors and meet people.
Outside the new Folsom Street location of Mr. S Leather, employee Chee told me that Mr. S makes all kinds of leather products: pants, vests, harnesses, bags, and more. Chee, who is originally from Wisconsin, said he loved that Folsom is weird.
“It’s not normal,” he said. “And I’m not a normal person.”
The store’s original location on Eighth Street is celebrating its 45th anniversary this year.
Meanwhile, 36-year-old Meatflap and his band of kinky jesters turned Kissling Street into Clown Alley, spanking volunteers on request. Meatflap said the crew met through a drag group called Palace of Trash. In addition to clown kink, the group was offering snacks and water. “It’s like the care center,” Meatflap said, extending a bag of Fritos to this reporter.
“I used to be scared of clowns,” Meatflap said, but that changed during the pandemic. “I had a lot of time by myself to just explore stuff, and I got more into it.”
As the afternoon grew hotter, guests coalesced around an inflatable pool, and some took the opportunity to cool down with a golden shower. David Hyman, of the kink group Yellow and Black, was offering masks for anyone who wanted to get in the “piss pool” but was shy about revealing their identity. Hyman has been coming to Folsom Street Fair since the ’80s.
“I was with the Rubber Men of San Francisco,” he recalled. “So when they disbanded, I took over the piss pool and started the Yellow and Black group to sponsor it. And we’ve been doing it ever since.”
Hyman was pleased with the day’s turnout.
“We’ve had about half a dozen people in the pool so far and probably 30 or 40 people using them,” he said.
When the party ends, the pool can have up to 20 gallons of urine in it, Hyman estimated. He used to just pour it down a storm drain, but now he and a few volunteers drag the pool over to a port-a-potty and use a bucket to bail the refuse into the toilet. Is that part still fun?
“It gets to be work,” Hyman said. “But you know, you have to kind of enjoy it a little bit. It’s the price we pay for being able to do this.”
After a sticky handshake, Hyman turned back to the waterworks.
