Thursday, August 9th 2007
No Halloween in San Francisco
From The San Francisco Chronicle, the City of San Francisco will not be holding its traditional Halloween party in Castro or any other part of town. Plans to hold a concert near AT&T Park recently fell through when the promoter pulled out. After the shooting of nine people at the Castro street event last year, things are being done to stop any party there. From the Chronicle story:
To quell the Castro event, which draws several hundred thousand people, no roads will be closed, no barriers will be erected and no portable bathrooms will be set up, Dufty said. Police will be out in numbers akin to last Halloween, but they will be patrolling with “zero tolerance” for anyone breaking the law, he said.
It is unfortunate there will be no big Halloween event in San Francisco. It was a tradition for large numbers of students to visit Castro for the Mardi Gras style event. Now, none of the incoming freshman will have the chance to go to the party on the 31st with a cross-dressing RA who buys them alcohol.
I have heard the Castro party has become crazier and more out of control in recent years. As I only went there in 2004 and 2005, I can’t compare it to earlier times, but what I saw was on the verge of a braking point. It was a time for the aggressive and troublemaking elements of the city to come out and play. As a result, the event was taken away for a lack of responsible attendance and management.
The Castro party used to be fun when it was just a gay thing. Gays have always considered Halloween as their holiday. When the str8 gawkers started coming (because gays throw the best parties) it went downhill. The party wasn’t intended to be a freak show for outsiders. And then last year, guns were fired, people were shot, and no one was safe.
That’s when it reached the breaking (not “braking”) point.
Comment by Sherman — 8/9/2007 @ 3:32 pm