Summer Street Fair Season is fast approaching and because nothing drives us to drink quite like a crowd of people slowly waddling past miles of vendors, we bring you our brief guide to the next month of free festivals and street fairs: more ›

with readings from the book, music, and a special Bloomsday feast at the Mechanics' Institute. 57 Post Street (x Market), $15, saloon opens 6:30, readings begin at 7:30. more ›

Did anything happen at all in the San Francisco Bay Area today? All we've been doing is monitoring the Paris Hilton back to jail news! MOOOOOOM!!!!! more ›

--As you may have heard in the comments to the latest Oh No, Ed Jew! column, MUNI is thinking about having the N go out to the Caltrain station again. Yay! We may cover this again on SFist later too. more ›

This year, the Street Fair in trouble is the Haight Street Fair. The reason why it's in trouble is for the usual reasons-- too much drunkeness with a debate on booths thrown in for good measure. Not mentioned, however, were those magic medicinal brownies SFist once bought that made little leprechauns dance around our heads while singing Frankie Goes to Hollywood's "Relax." The Interdepartmental Staff Committee on Traffic and Transportation recently put a permit that was requested by fair organizers on hold for two weeks so they can figure out what to do. more ›

-- From Lynn/At the North Beach Festival more ›

Since we wrote so much about the Great Booze Brouhaha of '06, we decided to check things out for ourselves. So we grabbed a few friends, watched the epic US/Italy game at Gino & Carlos, and then headed off to check out the Precious Cheese North Beach Festival. First off, we would like to report that getting booze was not a problem. Not a problem at all. We, in fact, quote a friend of ours who we ran into: "mumble...mumble...mumble...I'm so heated!" We can also report that the bars were buzzing, the liquor stores selling, and the drunks drinking. In fact, according to the Examiner, the liquor stores made out like bandits as everyone took the proposed liquor ban as an excuse to BYOB the thing (no link to the article due to excessive suckage on part of the Examiner's Web site). Which probably explains all the people drinking in places they supposedly weren't supposed to be drinking. But we can't really say that Gavin's Great Compromise really worked out. more ›

Saturday: Head to the The Exploratorium (3601 Lyon Street) for the Physics of Toys: Ride Like The Wind! At 11 a.m. ­or 3 p.m, you'll have the chance to make your own kites, sail-carts, and pinwheels. Shut up, it sounds fun. That night, at 7:30, we're hitting Project ARTAUD (450 Florida Street between 17th and Mariposa) for Every Little Movement: a benefit for Remy Charlip. Charlip, an acclaimed dancer, recently suffered a stroke, and proceeds from this event are intended to help with medical expenses and hasten his recovery. more ›

Okay, so we admit to confusion on our end about all of this. Hell, we admit that everyone appears slightly confused about this too as every story we've read says different things. Regardless, the compromise that was reached to keep the North Beach Jazz Festival knee-deep in booze, or at least knee-deep in booze only in special sections, also includes this weekend's North Beach Festival. Err, we mean the Precious Cheese North Beach Festival as that is it's official name, being selected over other choices such as the "Precocious Cheese Festival," the "Better than the Average Bear Gnocchi Fest" and-- our fave-- the "Persnickety Garlic Romp." more ›

It looks like there will be booze at the North Beach Jazz Festival. Which means there will be a North Beach Jazz Festival. Over the weekend, a compromise was reached in that people who wanted to drink booze inside Washington Square Park, where the music could be heard, can. It's just that they'll be cordoned off in a special "Booze Section" so the hoi polloi don't have to mix with all the drunks and alcoholics. more ›

Who knows if animals have souls? But in weighty matters such as these, better to error on the side of caution and luckily for us in San Francisco, every year our dogs can get blessed at Assisi Animal Blessing as part of the North Beach Festival. This year you can take your critter down to National Shrine of St. Francis of Assisi, the patron saint of animals, at 610 Vallejo St. at 2 p.m. on June 17 & 18. At best, you and Max are reunited in the afterlife and at worst, well, at least you got off the couch and took your pet to the North Beach Festival. more ›

Two stories from last week are still being stories this week, so we thought we'd update everyone on what the latest has been. First up, North Beach, where yet another big, fun festival has had the fun taken out of it. This time it's the North Beach Jazz Festival which also got it's liquor license revoked by the Parks & Rec Department. That means no booze will be allowed. Once again, it's at the bequest of the Telegraph Hill Dwellers and their Errand Boy, Aaron Peskin who are upset about the possibility of the peasants running around all drunk and ruining their jazz music & wine drinking. The vote had the usual not-quite-on-the-up-and-up shenanigans and suspicions that Peskin is sticking it to Marsha Garland of the North Beach Chamber of Commerce again. Organizers of the Jazz Fesitval are claiming that they'll have to close up shop because most of their money comes from booze sales. more ›

We saw movies, and more movies, and famous people, and more movies, and kinda porny movies, and French movies, and political movies, and locally produced movies. Movies! more ›

With the sun finally appearing, it's time to think about our favorite springtime city activities. Like street fairs. Our favorite street fair? The North Beach Festival. Nothing we love more than hanging out in Washington Square Park, downing some brews, then drunkenly stumbling into the maelstrom for more food, booze, and White Boy Blues. Man, what fun. Oh wait, there's going to be no booze allowed this year? Nevermind. more ›