For the third year in a row, Balmy Alley is having its annual “Lovers Lane” festival this Saturday, celebrating love in all its forms. There’s one caveat: The Valentine’s-themed Lovers Lane is not just for lovers, it’s for everyone.
“Valentine’s Day, even though it is so corporate, it’s still supposed to focus on love,” said Lucia Gonzalez Ippolito, 35, a muralist, teacher and the creator of Lovers Lane. “For us, it’s more like love for your partner, love for your friends, love for your family, love for your kids, love for your neighborhood and love for yourself.”
On Saturday, all of Balmy Alley will be closed off, with some 55 vendors selling on both sides of the streets. Kids’ activities, including soccer and face painting, will be available in the neighboring Garfield Square. The San Francisco Public Library’s bookmobile will give away free books, and a doctor will be on site to provide free blood-pressure checks.
“Going through the gentrification that we have all experienced, I think that it is such an act of love to carve out these free spaces for people to come together,” said Georgia Collins, who’s in charge of the event’s vendors committee.
“As the years have gone on, we are more and more condensed, and more and more stripped of what kind of used to make this city San Francisco,” Collins said.
Born to a political activist mom and muralist dad, Ippolito spent the past 25 years living right on Balmy Alley, witnessing its gentrification and evictions. That time has taken its toll but, on a brighter note, she has become an authority on the alley’s art. “I know all the murals in this alley,” said Ippolito.
So when she was looking to plan “something bigger” to connect people in the neighborhood, Balmy Alley, which has gained fame internationally for the concentration of glamorous murals, became a natural choice.
If not an easy one. “We got to go through hundreds of hoops just to have a community celebration,” said Ippolito. “It’s been really stressful and disappointing, dealing with all these different fees and permits from the city.”
Still, it is going forward, with a more radical theme this year.
In the middle of the corridor, a mural named “Women of the Resistance” features women who have led social and political movements across the globe. Ippolito painted it in 2018, and hopes to continue the spirit in it in Lovers Lane.
“I think our main motto is, ‘Love is an act of resistance,’” she said. “Love that we need to connect on so many different levels as Black and brown, indigenous people throughout the world; we want people to hear about Lovers Lane in Gaza.” Ippolito said they have invited several Palestinian artists and vendors to Lovers Lane this year, and want to express support for vendors that have been banned from Mission Street.
The project, added Collins, is “kind of reclaiming love as radical love.”
Lovers Lane takes place this Saturday, Feb. 10, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m at Balmy Alley.
Super nice event. We wandered down Balmy that day, and loved the crafts, music, and wonderful vibe. Thanks!