SF supervisors approve Castro Entertainment Zone

The Castro LGBTQ neighborhood is about to be able to bolster outdoor nighttime events by making it easier to drink alcohol on the street. The Castro Upper Market Entertainment Zone is one step closer to becoming a reality, as the San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved legislation April 8 establishing permissions for alcohol to be consumed outdoors during special events.

The ordinance will need a second and final vote April 15, according to Anh Ha, a legislative aide to gay Board of Supervisors President Rafael Mandelman, who introduced the legislation February 4, as the Bay Area Reporter previously reported.

Mandelman, who represents the Castro as the District 8 supervisor, stated that he is "grateful to my colleagues for their unanimous support of the Castro Upper Market Entertainment Zone. The EZ should be a significant benefit for neighborhood bars and restaurants, especially during night market events and this fall at the Castro Street Fair. Now more than ever we need to support our local businesses and show the world that our gayborhood remains the best in the world."

The San Francisco ordinance is possible because of state legislation for entertainment zones – Senate Bill 76 in 2023 and SB 969 in 2024 – allow local jurisdictions to designate outdoor areas where people can consume open containers of alcohol during special events, such as when streets are closed to traffic for street fairs or night markets. They were introduced by gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), a Castro resident.

Assembly Bill 342 introduced by Assemblymember Matt Haney (D-San Francisco) would allow cities that create hospitality zones to extend the last call for alcohol from 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. on Fridays, Saturdays, and state holidays. The legislation is different from entertainment zones and would also apply to music festivals such as Coachella.

“You definitely don't have to be a person who goes out until 3 a.m. to understand that it can be something that can help our cities and our state,” Haney, a straight ally, stated.

Andrea Aiello, a lesbian who is executive director of the Castro Community Benefit District, lent her support to the Castro legislation in a letter to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors dated March 1.

Aiello noted that special street closure events that might benefit from the legislation could include the annual Castro Street Fair, a long-standing event in October; and the semi-regular Castro Night Market, which was started by the Civic Joy Fund last year. The Civic Joy Fund puts on a number of outdoor nightlife events in San Francisco, including the popular Downtown First Thursdays, as the B.A.R. recently reported. These events have become a hallmark of the city’s post-COVID attempts to boost economic activity.

“The CBD board believes the entertainment zone will help Castro’s existing bars and restaurants by allowing them to sell drinks for people to take outside into the event,” Aiello stated in the letter. “Currently, alcohol sales during a street fair go to an outside, hired vendor. The entertainment zone designation allows bars and restaurants in the zone to benefit from the special event. Instead of an outside vendor, street fair participants will be able to walk into any bar in the footprint, purchase a drink and walk outside with it, still being part of the outdoor party.”

Manny Yekutiel, a gay man who is executive director of the Civic Joy Fund, stated to the B.A.R. April 8, "We’re thrilled to see the Board of Supervisors take this exciting step toward establishing the Castro as an official entertainment zone.”

“The Castro is already a hub of creativity, community, and celebration, and this new designation will make it even easier to bring people together in joyful, inclusive ways,” he stated. “Organizing the monthly Castro Night Market, we’ve seen firsthand how these kinds of public events energize the neighborhood – supporting small businesses, sparking new connections, and creating space for queer joy in the city.”

The next Castro night market is Friday, April 18, from 5 to 10 p.m.

Representatives of the Castro Street Fair and the Castro Merchants Association didn’t return requests for comment by press time April 8.

Another entertainment zone may come to leather district
On April 7, San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie announced new legislation establishing five more entertainment zones in the city, which was introduced during the April 8 meeting and is co-sponsored by District 3 Supervisor Danny Sauter, a straight ally; gay District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey; and queer District 9 Supervisor Jackie Fielder. If passed, the new zones will be located on Valencia Street, between 16th and 21st streets; at Pier 39; on Ellis Street, between Stockton and Powell streets; on Folsom Street, between Seventh and Eighth streets; and on Yerba Buena Lane between Market and Mission streets, and at Jessie Square. It will next be heard by the Rules Committee.

The Folsom Street entertainment zone would be in the heart of the city’s Leather and LGBTQ Cultural District.

“The zone was created to help support the SOMA nights events, which were created to help mitigate the effects of the construction on Folsom Street,” Robert Goldfarb, a gay man who is executive director of the leather district, told the B.A.R. in a phone call. “We are fully supportive of the SOMA nights events and having an entertainment zone there to support those.”

The next SOMA nights event is April 10. It also receives financial support from the Civic Joy Fund.

There are currently three entertainment zones in San Francisco – on Front Street in the Financial District, Thrive City by the Chase Center, and Cole Valley in District 8.

The mayor said the zones are a great idea.

“Our city’s recovery depends on neighborhoods, people, and bringing joy and life back to our streets – block by block. That’s what entertainment zones do, and that’s why we are excited to be creating five new ones,” Lurie stated in a news release. “From Cole Valley to Front Street, we’ve seen what happens when we open up our streets: Foot traffic goes up, local businesses get a boost, and neighbors come out to connect.”

Yekutiel’s eponymously-named cafe and event space Manny’s at Valencia and 16th streets would front the planned entertainment zone for the Valencia corridor. He told the B.A.R. in an April 8 phone call, “We have found that these night markets are the one tool we have actually found makes a real difference in the bottom line of the small business struggling in the city. We are proud the Civic Joy Fund is funding night markets in every corner of the city now.”

He said that the SOMA nights event began because the owner of Rocco’s Cafe on Folsom Street “expressed a lot of concerns about the Folsom Street [construction] project and how it’s been a real pain point for small businesses. He asked for support for a night market as a way to bring back much needed customers. We met a couple times and this is the result.”

Michael Rotella, a gay man who acquired Rocco’s a year and a half ago, said he built support with his fellow merchants on Folsom Street. As the B.A.R. has previously reported, the streetscape project aims to improve bicycle and pedestrian safety on Folsom and Howard streets in SOMA, with the Folsom Street portion of the project anticipated to finish in 2026, and Howard in 2029 per its website.

“In October, when the construction hit, my revenue dropped 60%. I kept putting pressure on the city and got dead ends,” he said. “I wasn’t alone. Every business on the block is down … and we’re all in a pretty difficult situation with the construction being a year and a half left.”

Rotella said the event has helped the beleaguered Folsom Street businesses.

Yekutiel said at present the event is every second and fourth Thursday of the month, but it may become monthly soon. It has been held twice.

“There’s outdoor entertainment, there’s a lot of the local brick-and-mortars selling their wares and also people are encouraged to go to the local small businesses – there’s almost a passport that can take you to different places,” he said.

Dorsey, who represents SOMA, stated that the zones are important.

“These new Entertainment Zones are about bringing joy, energy, and economic vitality back to our neighborhoods,” he stated. “From the heart of downtown on Yerba Buena Lane to the nightlife corridor of Folsom Street in SOMA, we’re creating welcoming spaces that support small businesses, celebrate our culture, and bring people together.”


Updated, 4/9/25: This article has been updated with comments from Board of Supervisors President Rafael Mandelman.