The Dore Alley Street Fair in San Francisco on July 31, 2022.
The Washington Post/The Washington Post via Getty ImagesIf you find yourself in San Francisco’s South of Market neighborhood this Sunday, you may encounter many people wearing leather — if they’re wearing anything at all.
The 2023 Up Your Alley Fair, commonly referred to as Dore Alley, is slated to return to Dore Street between Folsom and 9th streets this Sunday. Known as “Folsom Street Fair’s dirty little brother,” the event draws about 10,000 kink and leather enthusiasts every year.
Up Your Alley began in 1985 as a response to the AIDS pandemic: Its first beneficiaries included the SF AIDS Fund, according to SFist. At the time, SoMa was home to a thriving BDSM and leather subculture, boasting dozens of kink-focused shops, bathhouses, bars and sex clubs, of which very few remain.
The event remains today what it began as: a kinky outdoor cruising party, one that is smaller and more locally focused than Folsom Street Fair, which tends to draw much larger crowds and a lot more tourists. Both events are run by Folsom Street, a local kink and leather arts nonprofit group.
Dore Alley didn’t actually take place on Dore Street until 1987. It first took place on Ringold Alley, and was called the Ringold Alley Fair. The alley was a popular leather cruising spot at the time.
The fair’s first iterations included kissing booths, “dunk-a-hunk” booths and pie throwing contests, all of which benefited local charity causes, according to SFist.
Now, the fair features shenanigans like a naked Twister stage and live BDSM demonstrations, along with retail vendors, DJs and STI testing. It takes place Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.