The year was 2019, it was in the heat of a San Francisco summer, and the weekend of Dore Alley. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the event, Up Your Alley Fair (or known to locals as Dore Alley) is a fair that takes place in San Francisco during the last weekend of July on Folsom Street. It is a fair, where fellow leather and fetish enthusiasts engage in Bondage and Discipline, Dominance and Submission, Sadism and Masochism (BDSM) play.
The weekend was filled with a lot of firsts. The first circuit party, the first of friends meeting, and the first of pictures.
Dore Alley has several ticketed events over the course of the weekend. The ones I attended were the Glamcocks and Ritual. Funnily enough, both events took place at the same space. Glamcocks is a burner party of sorts. It had several rooms, in which people enjoyed the artistic displays and enjoyed themselves.
Ritual on the other hand was a party for some of the most wondrous things to happen. It was an after hours event. We planned to meet up with everyone in our “gaggle” of friends at an infamous after hour club called. The End Up. It was a place where people partied on to the wee hours of the morning. The club usually closes at 6 am or on the weekend. The group was comprised of the squash player, the nurse, “The academic,” my partner, and my co-conspirator. We met up at the bar for drinks before Ritual, the event started at 4 am and went till 9 am. We danced a little and commented on each other’s outfit. Each person wore something different.
It was the first time the nurse met our friends and my partner. He showed up 10 minutes before the bar closed. I still remember chugging drinks with him in the bar as the clock struck 2 am. We stayed there for some time before heading over to the main event.
We made our way to the event but not before we stopped for some red bull and food. Once there we waited in line for about 45 minutes before waiting in another line to decloth (aka coat check).
The club was packed with various men of all shapes and sizes. The common theme was leather, harness, and some variation of underwear. After a much needed bathroom break, we regrouped and made our way to the main stange and bar. The room was filled with some of the same things from the night before but the vibe was different. Hotter (in temperature), more men, and different music. The music was much of a high caliber over others. Quicker beats and more people enjoying their time.
Soon after surveying the landscape the majority gathered to meet with our friend we call Molly. It was a new feeling for some and an old feeling for others. The hours before the bar opened again, at 6 am, was the time to dance our butts off… And we did. There was some point in the night that it was, “The Bear,” me, the squash player, and my partner, dancing in that order. Someone had taken a picture of us. Their comment was, “Oh I love that this is like a bear sandwich.”
It was truly a time where my partner and I could enjoy ourselves, without being together. Maybe it was the music or the friends, but that night was awesome in its own fashion. I know because I took 4 pictures total.
Hours had gone by, people had left, and we literally shut down the club. We saw some complimentary sunglasses left in a basket on a table. We each struggled to grab a pair and put on clothes. But in the midst of it all, we declothed once again to take a picture of the group. It was the blurriest but most memorable photo of the night.
After we opened the doors and saw that the sun was already out and shining, we proceeded to make our way to get food. There was a place 4 blocks up the road that had good yelp reviews and open. We waited a short amount of time before being seated and ordering food. Some of us had ordered mimosas, coffee and other drinks, while others stuck to water.
We had survived the night and were full of sustenance. We parted separate ways before we met up again at the Dore Alley festival. It was a festival to show some skin and explore certain fetishes. The group gathered for a bit before disbanding into their own ways. The majority of the group stayed together.
It was a monumental event because it was the first event that both the guy I was dating and my partner were in the same place. They had met before but not under these pretenses. I was happy to see them interact. It was also the first picture that the gaymer and I would take together. Coming from Asian origin, I valued such things.
There would be several other revealing photos to be taken throughout the festival, but unfortunately it had come to a close. The gaggle had decided to get dinner at a sushi restaurant around the corner. It was the closest restaurant that would soon open. We were its first customers of the evening. The staff was intrigued with the various outfits before showing us to our booth. It was a japanese booth, where shoes are taken off before sitting.
The meal was great. Some of us share a giant, 720 ml, bottle of Nigori (unfiltered sake). Other ordered dishes for themselves. In any case, it was a time to enjoy time with others. More pictures were taken to commemorate the occasion. Looking back on that moment, I was happy… Surrounded by friends, the guy I was dating, and my partner.
-Your Friendly Poly Guy 2
