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Information and photos on the event, the party,
the scene and the costumes.
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Bay to Breakers, San Francisco's
Biggest Party!
May 16 ,2010
tBay to Breakers is the Mardi Gras of the West Coast.
Kegs of beer in shopping carts being
pushed for seven miles.
Tiki
bars on wheels. Themed "floats" such as pirate ships, prisoners,
outdoor BBQs and beer pong tables. Bands playing on street corners.
Continuous block parties. And all part of an organized event.
Some 75,000 people walk, run, party, dance, party, walk, party...
This is Bay to Breakers, an annual festival of 75,000 people of free
expression, limited inhibitions and limitless alcohol (despite recent efforts to curb this portion of the event). It's quintessential
San Francisco, a gathering of gays and and straight people, of the clothed
and the not-clothed, of the drinking and the drunk, all joined together
for a day of drink-filled fun.
They come to walk through the streets of San Francisco in a fog. They
come to party in what is basically a morning Mardi Gras. They dress
up in costumes if, in fact, they dress at all.
The Vikings roared – and pillaged their beer supply..
Bay to Breakers is an example of what makes San Francisco one of this
country's greatest cities. The tolerance for freedom of expression is
a welcome change from the stoic Puritan overtones elsewhere in the United
States. It's also proof that people of all walks of life, from different
incomes and backgrounds, color, sexual preference and even varying political
beliefs can indeed all get along together in this world of ours. They
just need a big party to make it happen.
On a roll –
a keg in a shopping cart is SOOO Bay to Breakers.
To call Bay to Breakers a race is a bit misleading. A rolling street
party is more like it. The Mardi Gras of the West Coast. Covering 12K (7.46 miles), it rolls from the
Financial District through the city's distinctive neighborhoods and
into beautiful Golden Gate Park.
Organizers encourage costumes and even host a contest (win a fabulous
trip to exotic places like Phoenix, Orlando and Reno!). Technically,
the event has a registration fee but it is not mandatory in order to
run (just don't expect to win a trip to Reno). Officially, there are
something like 50,000 participants, but another 25,000 join the party.
A handstand and an upside-down beer bong.
2010 Party Report
The 99th running of the Bay to Breakers is now over, although many hangovers continue. The San Francisco fog was present, blocking the sun, but it provided a nice temperature for the run. The race itself was still a blast - tons of people dressed up with the usual festive tortillas flying at the start.
Despite repeated warnings on liquor, nudity and unregistered "floats" such as grocery carts, there was no real crackdown and the party raged on as usual.Naked people everywhere, most wearing the requisite neon hat and some thoughtfully carrying balloons this year. Grocery carts and bags of booze were still evident. Even the occasional IV rack full of Franzia.
We did see some beers being confiscated in the Panhandle area, but they were being paraded right under the cops' noses. So discretion is key with beverages. Camelbaks or sport drink bottles are probably the best way to go, or at least hanging out in the middle of the pack and away from the cops. If only people would learn not to drink so much at the start, though. One poor girl was already throwing up at 8:16 in the morning, less than a mile across the start line. Pace yourselves, people! It's a long race!
Bands were set up alongside the course - surf guitar, rap, Pink Floyd covers, heavy metal. Parties were everywhere, from little ones at intersections and near the bands, to numerous house parties along the Hayes Street Hill, the top of the Hill, and then along Divisadero and the Golden Gate Park Panhandle.
There were a couple of new features at the start this year. The floats had official starting areas and an early finish line, and were not allowed to start until after most or all of the runners and walkers. So although we saw Vikings and Pirates, a GoGo girl cage and more, none of them were permitted to start until after we had gone past (and we were back of the pack). Although we missed seeing them on the course, they were clearly having a good time as they were waiting to start.
The other new feature, which I did not realize until the end, was that the evangelists were missing! No fire and brimstone until a few diehards showed up further along the course.There were also more porta-potties this year, which was great, and really really necessary, as well as larger water stations.
Footstock was a disappointment this year, though. Rather than holding the large party in the polo fields (the traditional venue), they set up booths and a small beer garden along Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. Although there were miscellaneous vendors, a beer garden and food booths, there was no stage or bands, There was nowhere to sit down, except along the curb of the road. The beer garden had a bit of lawn area, but it had a huge line to get in and appeared to have no food.There was no "there" so we just passed on through. Hopefully they will move it back to the polo fields next year.
All in all the Bay to Breakers was still a blast, with partying, costumes, music and fun! And this was only the 99th Bay to Breakers. Next year the party will really be raging for the 100th anniversary.
– PubClub.com Bay Area Party Correspondent Cathy S. |
Bay
to Breakers Photos
Elvis has not left the street.
There are frequent stops for beer bong hits all along the route.
More Bay
to Breakers Photos
Thanks to the toga
team for these photos!
See why PubClub.com calls this the "Mardi Gras of the West Coast!?"
And what a party. It is so intense, there is minimal pre- and post-Breakers
activity. Go out in the City the night before and one would be hard-pressed
to find anyone participating the next day. Afterward, only the steady
are ready to keep going much past the finish line.
Blame it on the early start. It begins at 8 a.m., though it moves at
such a casual pace it is entirely possible to arrive well after 9 and
not miss anything.
Bay to Breakers is not a race to reach the finish, but instead one
in which the trick is to delay the end as long as possible. The longer
it takes to complete the event, the more fun can be experienced along
the way. As a result, what is a slow walk to begin with turns into stop-and-start
activity, prompted by impromptu street parties. Hundreds stop to dance
together, hoist drinks with strangers and simply take in the incredible
scenes occurring all around them.
PubClub's roving party columnist, The Bartender, enjoys B2B.
There are several party stops along with way. Some are at house parties,
which residents throw all along the residential part of the route. One
sure stop is halfway up Hayes Hill on a street corner with a 60s hippie
band. Hayes itself is a hike up a huge hill that provides a great vantage
point to observe nearly all the participants and to pause for a moment
to see just how incredible this large number of people looks packed
into a city's street.
Here, one can begin to soak up the all the costumes and floats (as
well as a cocktail!). The tiki bar – a huge thatched-themed
mobile Jimmy
Buffett party – is a standard. It has a fully-functioning
bar, fun music and bartenders in grass skirts pouring beer from a half-dozen
taps and mixing up blenders full of margaritas. Not surprisingly, the
tiki bar attracts several hundred "groupies" who accompany
it on its slow-moving journey. (We usually party with those fine folks
but it 2004 it zipped past us on Hayes hill, never to be seen again.)
Current themes are a big part of the party.In 2006, there were members
of the "Dick Cheyney Hunting Club" and F.E.M.A "rescue"
teams (For Emergences, Move Away). In 2004, there was a float celebrating
the Athens Summer Olympic Games. It was more like a wild party in the
Greek Islands than the Games, with a lively "crew of Olympians"
and that pumping Euro dance music so prevalent in places like Mykonos
and Santorini.
The popularity of NASCAR has become evident even in Bay to Breakers;
in '04 there were a half -dozen "race cars." The craziest
was the pit crew dressed in all yellow who would stop periodically to
race around their nearly full-sized car.
Ho-Catraz provided an interesting take on San Francisco's infamous
prision, but in this case the guards were sexy female cops and the inmates
ran the asylum. The "cellmates" gone wild drank from large
straws out of, get this, a toilet from inside it's mobile jail cell.
How the Mississippi Riverboat made it to the end, we haven't a clue;
people were walking with this huge boat strapped around them.
People float creative
ideas for their floats.
The floats of '04: Ho-Catraz, the tiki bar, a riverboat and NASCAR pit
crew.
Band in the background – entertainment in Golden Gate Park.
Residents all along
the route have house parties.
A live "performance"
by The Village People band brings the event to a standstill.
Nudity is always part of the package, and even before the 2004 event,
organizers acknowledged there's really nothing they can do about it.
Police, however, vowed to ticket anyone crossing the finish line in
the buff. During the race it's okay, afterward it's not. Of course,
there's good nudity and bad nudity and B2B always seems to bring out
much more of the latter.
Eventually, all good things must come to an end.The finish line is
the end for some but others attend a festival of food and live music
called Footstock. It's mainly a place to get something to eat and, for
some, pass out on the huge lawn.
When it's finally time to go, be prepared for a long wait. Buses go
from Golden Gate Park to the start ($6) but by the end of the day are
as popular as a cold beer was earlier. Taxis, for some reason, are almost
nonexistent. We advise waiting until Footstock winds down at about 3
p.m..
Those few hearty souls standing at the end and still ready to party
either head to Pier 23, an indoor/outdoor bar near the race's
starting point or across the Golden Gate Bridge to Sam's in Tiberon
(ferrys also depart from Fisherman's Wharf). Sam's is a sun-drenched
outdoor patio on the water in Marin County with well-poured drinks and
a very good crowd.
The traditional date for Bay to Breakers is the third Sunday of May.
THE END!
 Bay
to Breakers Photo Album
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