Halloween in the Castro returns to SF, but without the chaos

On Saturday, Castro Street’s sidewalks filled with costumed people and local merchants, with a zombie flash mob in Jane Warner Plaza dancing to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” twice. 

Twin Peaks Tavern and Orphan Andy’s Restaurant were filled with revelers. Inside the Castro Theatre, thematic films screened from 1 p.m. to midnight, and the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence held a costume contest.

The event was a calmer reimagining of one of San Francisco’s most famous – and least manageable – traditions. In its heyday, Halloween in the Castro was legendary for its size and extravagance and, at its best, it was a flash of queer joy and self-expression. But throughout its history, the tradition was plagued by homophobia and violence. 

San Francisco’s early gay Halloween parties took place in Polk Gulch in the 1960s and ’70s. Even as San Francisco was becoming an LGBTQ+ haven, dressing outside of the norms of one’s assigned gender was illegal into the 1970s. The Polk Street event provided a safe place for queer people to dress up without fearing arrest. 

But the Polk Street parties also attracted bad actors: straight men looking for fights. Over the years, attendees were beaten and stabbed. The violence came to a head at a 1977 Halloween celebration, when somebody threw a tear gas canister into the crowd, causing a panic. That same night, a gay waiter was found dead in an apartment from a stab wound, still wearing the costume he wore on Polk Street.

After that, the party moved to the Castro. The neighborhood’s gay scene was growing, and it seemed like a more hospitable venue. At the time, the Castro was holding kids’ parades each year on Halloween and the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence eventually took over party planning. But as the new Castro party took root, the parade – and the ability to manage the crowds – fizzled out. 

Over the years, the party ballooned in size and once again violence and clashes broke out. 300,000 people attended in 1994 and the chaos spurred the Sisters to withdraw from event planning in 1995. A staggering half a million people showed up in 2002.

The street party met its sudden end in 2006 when a fight broke out and somebody fired a gun into the crowd; nine people were hit by bullets. Halloween at the Castro was over. The next year, the city sent 600 police officers to the area to prevent another gathering.

While it seemed for a while like the Castro’s Halloween tradition would be gone for good, Manny Yekutiel, owner of Manny’s and co-founder of San Francisco’s Civic Joy Fund, was behind the push to bring back the event this year, according to the Bay Area Reporter. The Civic Joy Fund pledged over $100,000 to reimburse merchants for hosting events, like parties and tarot readings. 

Here are some of the best photos from the event: