About How Weird
Join us for the start of San Francisco’s festival season with the 14th annual How Weird Street Faire. The theme this year is “Weirdi Gras”. It will be a spectacle of music, art, and motion unlike anything you’ve seen before, a carnival of peace in the Mardi Gras tradition.
There will be marching bands and parades, art and performances, 10 stages of electronic dance music, vendors from around the world, and thousands of people in colorful costumes dancing in the streets.
The How Weird Street Faire is centered at Howard and 2nd Streets, in the SoMa district of San Francisco. The faire takes place from Noon to 8pm. The main entrance is at Howard and New Montgomery Streets, a short walk to MUNI, BART, the Transbay Terminal, and Caltrain Station.
The center intersection will once again be a place to meet and relax. And Art Alley will be back with a block-long gallery of live and exhibited artwork. The faire is open to all ages.
The How Weird Street Faire is honored to be participating in National Dance Week this year. As a part of the festivities, there will be a special flash mob led by Barry Youngblood at 4pm at the brand new Marching Band and Performance Stage next to the center intersection. Come early to learn the dance. There will also be dance performances from around the world.
Traditionally, dance has been one of the primary expressions of human culture, used for communication, community building, social interaction, healing, and religious ceremonies throughout the world. Preceding the spoken and written word, dance is a global language, transcending barriers and differences. And so is music.
Music crosses all bridges, borders, and time zones. Music transcends all ideologies, politics, religions, languages, cultures, and wealth. Music is oblivious to race, gender, age, and appearance. Music connects us all and reminds us that we are human.
The How Weird Street Faire is a world-class music festival that takes place in the streets of downtown San Francisco, featuring a wide range of electronic dance music.
MUSIC STAGES!
This year’s faire features ten dance music stages by Symbiosis, Muti Music, World Famous Productions, Basscraft Soundsystem, Groove Garden, Enchanted Forest, Opel, Opulent Temple, Urge Productions, Pink Mammoth, SWAG, Temple Nightclub, SF House Music, Pulse SF, Space Shaping, PK Sound, The Boombox Affair, Party Babas, Psycircle, Red Marines, Happy Camp, and more.
To celebrate Weirdi Gras, there will be five great marching bands at the faire, including Blue Bone Express, Loyd Family Players, North Beach Brass Band, TrashKan Marchink Band, and Fanfare Zambaleta. They will be parading throughout the day and performing at the Marching Band Stage. Join them as they travel the realms of How Weird, and engage in next level weirdness.
MAGIC BEADS!
Instead of stickers this year there will be cool beads. For a $10 donation at the entrances to the faire, you get MAGIC BEADS, a collectible Weirdi Gras beaded necklace. The Magic Beads are worth many times their cost, with discounts and specials at vendors at the faire. The Magic Beads are how people can support the faire, while getting something back in return. The Magic Beads are available while supplies last, with a limit of 2 per person.
The How Weird vendors offer many unique and creative goods for sale, including designer clothing, jewelry, art, decorations, and more. And there will be plenty of tasty food and drinks at the faire, including New Orleans style Creole and Cajun cuisine.
COSTUMES!
This year everyone at the faire will be in costume. So come prepared. Go as yourself. Go as someone else. Go as something colorful, creative, fun, and weird. Weird is always in style.
At Weirdi Gras, everyone is king or queen for the day. Celebrate your individual creativity with fellow royalty from around the world, and let your true self shine.
WEIRDI GRAS!
Weirdi Gras means “Big Weird”, so the faire is taking weirdness to a new level this year. Weird is being different than what is normal or expected. Weird is creative, unique, exotic, and fresh. Weird is experimental, new, exciting, and fun.
Weird leads to discoveries, exploring new thoughts and ideas, going where no one has gone before. Weird are the inventors and visionaries, who have expanded our minds and our potential, and showed us a new world is possible. Weird is what happens outside the box.
Weird is dissolving boundaries. Weird is accepting and appreciating differences in others, and the uniqueness of each individual. Weird is peace.
These days, it is essential that we find creative solutions to our global problems. As Charles Darwin observed, it is not the strongest or most intelligent species that survives, it is the one that is the most adaptable to change. In order to improve our ability to change, we must always experiment. In other words, be weird.
The future belongs to the weird.
The How Weird Street Faire is a project of the non-profit
World Peace Through Technology Organization.
EVENT DETAILS:
The 14th annual How Weird Street Faire
“Weirdi Gras: A carnival of peace!”
Sunday April 28, 2013
Noon to 8pm
Howard & 2nd Streets, San Francisco, CA 94105
37°47’12.4″ N, 122°23’53.7″ W
$10 donation requested.
All ages welcome.
HowWeird.org