When “Upper Grant” Was The Name of A Street Fair

Upper Grant Avenue Street Fair, North Beach Fair, and most recently, North Beach Festival, have all been used to describe the two day happening that occurs every year in June on the streets of San Francisco’s beloved North Beach.

Throngs of residents and visitors alike flock to this historic event which has been accurately described by fans as “the ultimate passeggiata.”  Daniel Macchiarini, son of Peter Macchiarini, founder of the Upper Grant Avenue Street Fair, explains the fair in this way:

Peter Macchiarini (1909-2001) was a jewelry designer, sculptor, metal artist and photographer who established his studio and gallery on Grant Avenue in North Beach in the 1930s.  While reflecting on his career, Macchiarini recounted that he helped organize, and exhibited in, the first San Francisco outdoor art festivals in Hotaling Place and the Ferry building in 1939, 1940 and 1941.  In the early 1950’s Peter was on the committee that organized the Upper Grant Avenue Street Fair which, he explains, was the first merchant sponsored art fair in the Bay Area.  Peter gathered a group of his neighborhood artist friends at his studio with the idea of having a street fair.   “People will come, we’ll display our stuff, sell it for a fair price, and everyone will have a good time.”

In a 1999, Telegraph Hill Dwellers conducted an interview of Peter as part of their Oral History Project. In that interview, Macchiarini said of the fair’s early years:

“I didn’t really start the Street Fair by myself. There were 5 others. I wish I had the photograph. I have photographs, but I can’t put my hands on them. It was Lloyd Demrich, Rhoda Pack, Gretchen McAllister, Herman (the fellow that had the bead shop) — there were about 5 or 6 of us that did start the street fair. It wasn’t a one man operation. It was a nice little street fair that lasted Saturday and Sunday, and it was very charming. People came from all over San Francisco, and we expanded to two blocks and finally we expanded to three blocks.”

And thus began the first Upper Grant Avenue Street Fair in 1953.  Upper Grant is where it stayed until 1984 when its overwhelming popularity continued to draw such large numbers of people that the venue was expanded to adjacent streets and the name was changed first to the North Beach Fair, and finally to the North Beach Festival.

The May 1956 issue of the Telegraph Hill Bulletin (Telegraph Hill Dwellers’ newsletter at that time now called The Semaphore) describes the day in this way: “The third annual Grant Avenue Street Fair was a great success, and chairman, Peter Macchiarini, expressed his thanks to the members of the Dwellers who helped with the decoration.  In wonderful weather, some 30,000 people milled through the block-long exhibit of the work of 66 artists while being entertained by folk dancers and singers.”

To this day, local artists, musicians, and the treasures of “Little Italy” never fails to draw thousands of people. This year, over 125 art and crafts booths, 20 gourmet food booths, live entertainment, and the blessing of the animals in the Shrine of Saint Francis of Assisi (610 Vallejo Street) will be offered once again. Multiple stages will present live music throughout each day and “beverage gardens” will quench thirsts.

Undeniably there have been changes to the fair that began six decades ago, but by whatever name we want to call it, a long and colorful history has made it one of the oldest urban street fairs in the world, and, one of the best ways to experience summer in The City.

June 14th & June 15th

 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Locations: Grant Avenue, between Columbus and Filbert, Columbus Avenue between Broadway and Green and Vallejo and Green Streets between Grant Avenue and Columbus.

This event is free and open to the public.