SF's Pink Saturday Event Is Canceled

San Francisco's often tumultuous Pink Saturday street party, held on the day before the Pride parade, has been canceled for this year. Via press release from the Sisters Of Perpetual Indulgence:

Pink Saturday has had a history of great joy for the community over the years. During the time it has been produced by the Sisters it has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for community non-profits. Pink Saturday has been a very successful event and has grown immensely since the early 90s. Unfortunately with that growth comes an increase in challenges. “Pink Saturday has been increasingly difficult to produce in recent years,” says Sister Selma Soul, coordinator of the event for the years 2012, 2013 and 2014. “An escalation in violence associated with the event convinced us last summer that the event needed to significantly change if we were to produce it again.”

After months of meetings with community members, Supervisor Scott Wiener, the SFPD, and various city agencies, no clear vision for the event has been developed that addresses the concerns of the community, our volunteers and our members. Without a clear vision this close to Pride Weekend, The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence have voted to suspend planning for 2015 and will not be applying for a street closure in the Castro for Saturday, June 27, 2015. The Sisters may explore new manifestations of “Pink Saturday” in future years, but at this time we are suspending production. As a group composed solely of volunteers with no paid staff, the challenges that have grown with the event are simply too great for our organization to address.

Pink Saturday has long been criticized for its unruly crowds. Last year two Sisters were assaulted  and two women were attacked by a group of six men. In 2013 a woman was brutally beaten and robbed during the event. Her attacker was later sentenced to six years in prison. In 2010, three people were shot and one young man was killed during a gang-related altercation on Pink Saturday.