5 Great Reasons to Party in San Francisco

You aren’t getting your full San Francisco party experience if you aren’t trying something quirky, eccentric, or quintessentially Bay Area.

While the rest of the country (cough East Coast cough) slowly learns to let loose, San Francisco, the city known for its counterculture and hippie movements, is far ahead of the curve when it comes to getting crazy in the most outlandish ways possible. If you’re in the Bay Area, here are 5 great reasons to stay and party.

No one does Gay Pride Week like SF, and as the famed week (June 29) celebrating all things LGBTQ draws near, the Castro District, one of the first gay neighborhoods in the United States, amps up. Pink Saturday is one of the biggest block parties of the year, with crowds of people in various states of undress or wildly colorful get-ups. SF Badlands, an extremely popular gay video dance club, is a must. Regardless of your sexual orientation or plans for the night, just showing up to The Castro will guarantee you a good time. Be ready for your eyes to be hit with color everywhere.

Bootie SF is THE dance event to shake your ass off at. An exclusive Saturday night dance marathon located at the SoMa’s DNA Lounge, Bootie SF features live DJs and themed parties for some of the best dance floors in SF. Bootie has become so popular over the years that on most nights, the joint is overcrowded. However, there’s no need to fret over the masses—it can be a tight squeeze in there, but when everyone is dancing and having a great time, there’s nothing to do but lose yourself completely to the crowd.

Wednesday nights would otherwise be a tame wine night for staying in with a couple of girlfriends, but when you have the Cat Club’s Bondage-A-Go-Go, there’s no reason to be passively sitting at home. If you’re down to explore and get adventurous, Bondage-A-Go-Go offers a burlesque show, a BDSM play space, and lots of leather. You can grab a table with a couple friends and watch, or you can lightly engage in the play space. And don’t worry—even though this is a club night centered around sex, the club goes the extra mile to make sure everyone is safe. Safe sex sure as hell beats a quiet Wednesday.

Some of the greatest parties in San Francisco take place at its renowned music festivals. Outside Lands is perhaps the most famous one, often compared or rivaled to Southern California’s Coachella. However, it costs a fortune to attend Outside Lands, and while it’s a great time, there are more affordable options for experiencing fantastic live music. Alice’s Summerthing and Hardly Strictly Bluegrass are both completely free outdoor music festivals that take place at Golden Gate Park over the summer. You can find everything from families picnicking on the grass to a full bus of hippies pulling up to lounge. Leave the dancing to the nightclubs, but when it come to actual music, be sure to mark your calendar for SF’s free festivals.

Some of the more notable draws may mostly be in San Francisco, but it’s impossible to miss SF’s neighbor across the Bay. On the first Friday of every month, Hoodslam takes place. In a warehouse in West Oakland, folks gather to scream and yell their heads off at an amateur wrestling event, replete with live commentary, recurring characters, and vivid costumes. Crowd pleasers like Drugz Bunny or Juiced Lee have full storylines that play out over the months and whip the crowd into a frenzy around the ring. This is an eccentric and insanely fun event. And it’s so Bay.