On Saturday, I attended Far Out Fest x Art Walk SF, a combined music and arts street festival featuring local artists and musicians. The event stretched along Balboa between 35th and 39th avenues, an area also known as Balboa Village. Far Out Fest started as a series of sidewalk performances in front of Eye & Hand Society and the Noise record shop in the Richmond District, while Art Walk SF started in 2022 with the idea of turning neighborhood businesses into temporary galleries and music venues.

On a sunny September Saturday, the two events joined forces. Along Balboa, musicians performed in front of neighborhood businesses while artists sold paintings, clothing, photography, jewelry, and self-published comics from booths along the street.

The first band I caught was Follies, a two-piece blues rock band that immediately reminded me of the White Stripes. Sure enough, near the end of their set they played a cover of “Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground.”

Later, I caught the Seismics, a surf rock band playing as part of Far Out Fest, followed by Mayan Dynastic, a Latin rock and soul band performing on the Art Walk stage.

Between the music, I wandered around the various booths along Balboa. Artists were selling paintings, tote bags, yarn art, clothing, prints, jewelry and other handmade work. One booth in particular caught my attention: comic artist Miguel Ramos, who publishes as [grease], was selling some of his self-published comics. I talked with him briefly and bought a couple to read later.

Reading the comics afterward, I discovered that Ramos also works on Freakscene.diy. Freakscene is a community-run site for local music, art, zines and other DIY culture. It has a very 90s/early 2000s internet feel: instead of everything being filtered through a giant social network, there are forums, local events and pages built around artists, bands and scenes.

Earlier this year, I attended Porchfest, which had musicians performing on porches throughout the Mission District. I’m finding that some of the city’s most enjoyable music events aren’t necessarily happening inside traditional clubs anymore. They’re increasingly happening in parks, storefronts, parklets and even in the middle of the street.