Former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown was on hand to break San Francisco’s alleged “doom loop” in a ribbon cutting ceremony at the inaugural Love Fest SF, a community arts and music event in support of small businesses recovery taking place in San Francisco’s beleaguered Tenderloin Neighborhood on Saturday August 3rd. Thousands of people of all ages and backgrounds came to enjoy the all day festival.
Willie Brown’s take on the alleged “doom loop” popularized by national media outlets is that it’s all misrepresentation. Love Fest SF was the end of the line, the death of a false narrative targeting San Francisco, this “doom loop” described as a self-reinforcing cycle of negative feedback in which one negative event causes another, which worsens the first or leads to a third. He calls this nonsense. “We wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t interesting, attractive, fascinating,” Brown said during the ceremony “Please enjoy yourself here and help us say to the whole world: This is where you want to visit — if you can afford it.”
There were skeptics of the festival on Larkin Street between Eddy and O’Farrell, a notoriously rougher part of the city, but there were no reports of any negative incidents. It was a beautiful sunny day, with no appearance by Karl the Fog. Festival goers enjoyed an incredible free display of three stages featuring trending DJs and artists in direct support of small businesses. It was an experience to enjoy San Francisco’s offerings and rediscover the Tenderloin in a different light. “Just think of how much fun we could have,” Brown said. “And it should be replicated all over the city.”
Love Fest SF was created by the Tenderloin Merchants Association led by Rene Colorado, Value Culture, a local non profit organization developed by San Francisco native and event entrepreneur Adam Swig, and AW3 Technology’s William Schulz. The event was also supported by the Civic Joy Foundation and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA).
“When I travel abroad and say I’m from San Francisco people used to say to me that it’s the most amazing place and they want to visit. Now they just ask me if I’m ok,” said Adam Swig. “Love Fest SF is our message to the world that San Francisco is still amazing, we’re doing great, come visit. There is something for everyone. It’s not a city of doom, it’s a city of boom!”
World-class community events aren’t the only things booming in San Francisco; it is the capital for AI (artificial intelligence), the development of self-driving cars, a global leader for advancements in technology, and the most educated region in the country led by Stanford, UC Berkeley, Santa Clara University and the University of San Francisco. The downtown area is coming back with affordable office rentals, and a new generation is coming to San Francisco to work with more accessible residential options.
Many believe San Francisco is having its best summer ever with so many free civic activations like the South of Market Neighborhoods first Thursdays, Bhangra and Beats in the Financial District, the Chinatown and Sunset Night Markets, the Tenderloin Art Walk, Illuminate’s Laser Cannons, and free concerts like Crucial Reggae Sundays in Golden Gate Park, the Fred Again and Skrillex concert at San Francisco Civic Center, the Another Planet Dirtybird rave on the Embarcadero and the SF Live shows across the city and in Union Square. Love Fest SF is a meaningful grassroots civic activation that benefits and raises awareness for all things Tenderloin, one of the areas in the city it is most needed. It proclaims San Francisco isn’t back, it never left and is moving forward with this example for the rest of the world to give the gift of arts and culture for simultaneous recovery and growth, even in hard hit areas from the pandemic and the nation’s drug crisis.
Residents of the Tenderloin were thrilled that their neighborhood was also getting love. “We’re just living in this community where we need stuff like this out here. We need music, we need bringing community together,” said Kayley, who lives on Larkin Street. “I’m feelin’ the love at Love Fest, it’s a beautiful sight out here seeing everybody get together from different prospects of life, come together, see each other, and meet each other on the same level.”
Local merchants emerged as the biggest winners from the festival. Love Fest SF took place on Larkin Street in Little Saigon, home to some of the area’s most popular restaurants and shops, including Lers Ros Thai, Pho 2000, Los Yucatecos, Lapats Thai, Lee’s Sandwiches, Rainbow Market and Deli, J&D Hair Studio and Tilted Brim, the Tenderloins official clothier. Every business on the street reported more business than usual. Golden Lotus restaurant owner, Haung Hau says lately his business has been down 70%, due to all of the unhoused people living in the alley next to his restaurant, pushing customers away. Sweet Glory, a popular cake shop owned by women and immigrants, baked a special themed “doom loop” crepe cake that was cut at the ceremony to commemorate the event. Owner Ploy Sairsuwan said, “The Festival was wonderful. We sold out of everything because of it.”
“This festival was the spark that the neighborhood needed, and this signaled that the Tenderloin is open and on the up and up,” said Rene Colorado, Executive Director of the Tenderloin Merchants Association and organizer of Love Fest SF. It’s true new businesses are popping up all over, and former ones are being reopened. Colorado has a strong emotional connection to the challenges facing the tenderloin as he himself experienced homelessness.“This was a true community festival as it benefited the local business, the residents, and even the unhoused. It’s very important to get people safely off of the streets and rehabilitated from addictions, but we still must lead with compassion. This is not just a San Francisco issue, it’s a national one that needs to be addressed humanely.” said Rene Colorado.
Love Fest SF did not ignore the struggles of the area and organized a “Pizza Party” serving 100 extra large pizzas on Willow St. immediately adjacent to the festival site for people in need with another community nonprofit, Dear Community. Governor Gavin Newsom just recently issued an executive order to address the homeless crisis in the state while respecting the dignity and well-being of all Californians. “This executive order directs state agencies to move urgently to address dangerous encampments while supporting and assisting the individuals living in them.” wrote Governor Gavin Newsom.
To attract people to the Tenderloin festival, organizers brought in more than 20 DJs showcasing EDM mashups via multiple funktion-one sound systems that were attached to 3 pop-up stages at the block festival. The stages included the “banh mi boiler room” at Lee’s Sandwiches, where attendees enjoyed beats and, at one point, free banh mi Vietnamese sandwiches to 50 lucky patrons. Another stage, “The Eddy,” was a nautical theme tribute to San Francisco Bay and the street against which the stage rested. The “Love Parade” stage was built on a parade float in tribute to the former Love Parade that took place in San Francisco from 2004-2009. The festival got the blessings from the founders to do Love Fest SF. “I loved it. I flew in from Ibiza for this!” said model and DJ Angelica Streetman, who performed.
The Love Parade stage was designed by San Francisco’s Parade Guys and Midwayvilles Scott Levkoff and featured 15-foot flag art soaring into the sky from the Afterlife Project, an art collaborative that showcases works of POC and queer artists to shed a different light on death, through black light. “We create large-scale, luminescent, and immersive installations to promote joy and celebration through the mythical realm,” said Afterlife artist Blitzy. “We hope our art will promote understanding, appreciation, respect, and celebration of various cultures’ practices, rites, and rituals. The afterlife celebrates cultures from Asian subcultures (Tibetan, Taois, Cambodian, Japanese, Balinese, Malaysian) to Indigenous Indian and Mesoamerican cultures.”
Performing DJs included a blend of popular DJs from different nightlife scenes in San Francisco all coming together for the cause, including Twitch founder Justin Kan, Chocolate Sushi, Galen (Sunset Sound System), Sailor Beast, Chill Bill, Izik (Cloud 9), DJ Sep, Kenny Cordeiro, Jay Ev, Bisi, Via and Iris, Ol!v!a, Source Zero1, DJ Angelica Streetman, Brunch Life, and the artist Miss Conception who fittingly played first opening the festival.
Performance and visual arts were on display, like Dark Events SF aerialist Dragonessa and DAM Circuses Luna Finn, as well as Six artists “live painting,” including San Francisco-based artist Matt Milano and Bay Area artist Ahkeem Raheem, “This is what San Francisco’s all about. Love Fest SF shows San Francisco’s vibrance and that the Tenderloin can be amazing,” said Milano. “I wheeled my materials in a cart from my house through the hood to complete the experience.” The festival was not just for adults. San Francisco dog influencer Brixton at Large, a golden retriever, offered cuddles at a booth that also had a prize wheel for kids.
Popular Turkish DJ Borak and Israeli DJ Izik closed out the festival, performing together with a special set that ignited the crowd’s applause and love for their collaboration, the complete opposite of the current political situation between their two home countries. Borak said he “needed this” with all the love he felt and was elated upon learning how much Love Fest SF helped the area.
“We need to lead with love. I hope more businesses and individuals that are able to will get involved in backing programs and nonprofits around arts and culture doing the rewarding work that benefits the needs of their city and builds community,” said William Schulz of AW3 and an organizer and supporter of Love Fest SF. “This is why me and my businesses are in San Francisco. It’s happening here, it’s a boom loop.”
