This ain't your momma's Easter celebration, but it is fun for the whole family, and in San Francisco we use a very broad brush to define "family." Highlights of the day include the bonnet contest and the Hunky Jesus contest, as well as drag and burlesque performances.

24 hours of nonstop drag – all in the name of a great community cause, the Castro Lions. Cheer on the amateurs, the pros, the live singers, and the gender fuckers, or join in and take a turn on stage to help keep the tips coming in long and strong. The perfect pre-Pride warm-up!

The day before the Pride parade, this party kicks off in Dolores Park and winds its way into the Castro after sundown, as the Dyke March takes to the streets. Also sponsored by the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, this gathering makes everyone feel pretty in pink. Just don't go so big that you won't be ready for the next day…

What we refer to as The Big One in San Francisco when we aren't talking about earthquakes. San Francisco really celebrates gay pride throughout the entire month of June (well, really throughout the entire year!), but it all culminates in the parade on Sunday morning and the festival that follows in the Civic Center. Everyone is welcome to participate and/or spectate, and everyone under the rainbow – public officials, cheerleaders, squaredancers, porn stars, leathermen, transsexuals, and civil liberties groups, just to name a few – is out and proud!

A more local (and dirtier still!) version of the Folsom Street Fair, Dore Alley is where boys behave in the streets like they do behind closed doors. Not for the faint of heart, you're bound ( pun intended) to see something you've never seen before.

The world's largest leather fair is a fetish-fest of unbelievable proportions. S&M, nudity, and sex in the streets are de rigeur, and, because this is San Francisco, all the proceeds go to great community causes.

Just a few years old, this late-summer bearfest is the urban alternative to the Lazy Bear festival on the Russian River, and takes place within shouting distance of two SF bear landmarks, The Lone Star, and The Eagle. A bit furrier and grrrr-ier than Dore Alley, this event hasn't yet attracted the gawking crowds, making it an intimate affair.

Coming up on its 33rd year, this local street party puts the spring and summer costume season to bed while stirring up excitement for the Halloween madness to come. An intimate and mellow affair in the dog days of San Francisco's Indian summer.