A little piece of The Playa in Portrero Hill. Felt a bit like Folsom St Festival, but fun nonetheless. Great for people watching. Club Cocomo was enjoyable.
Christopher J.
Rating des Ortes: 3 Oakland, CA
This was quite the fun and carefree experience. The fair was filled with incredibly colorful characters, wonderfully eccentric costuming, music with contagious rhythm(and that’s coming from a guy who couldn’t keep a beat if you strapped me to a subwoofer), and entertaining performers /antics in every direction. I particularly enjoyed the Wheel of Improvisational Storytelling(spin the wheel, it lands on a topic, and the story must be improvised on the spot … great fun!). One of the few challenges I encountered was the inconsistency of the drink prices. A drink was $ 7 at one table, $ 9 at another, and $ 18 at yet another; but all were being provided by the same vendor who appeared to make up prices depending upon mood or star alignment.
Wendy N.
Rating des Ortes: 4 Berkeley, CA
I’ve been to Burning Man twice and Decompression is a good reminder of what it’s all about. The DJs, the art, the people, the costumes… bonus: NODUST! :) The only reality check that you’re not at Black Rock City is having to pay for cocktails –lol It’s $ 15 if you enter before 4:00 p.m. and $ 20 after. The event goes from noon to 11:00 p.m. and is held on a Sunday. Gets extremely crowded by the popular DJs like Space Cowboys. A good meeting place is on the grassy area. Highlights this year were the Roller Disco, the Silent Disco, fire twirling, and of course Space Cowboys. A fun event to attend if you’re a Burner… or want to be.
Casey S.
Rating des Ortes: 5 San Francisco, CA
One of the best street fairs in San Francisco and that is saying a lot. The best thing about Decompression is that it’s cheap to get into($ 10 with costume/$ 20 without), there are tons of different shows and stages, and you can bring anything you want in. That means you don’t have to spend a small fortune buying beer or food. Make sure to wear comfortable shoes and bring layers. It’s usually really warm during the day and then cools down at night.
Big J H.
Rating des Ortes: 4 Cupertino, CA
OMG…$ 10 for dress up and $ 20 if you’re not I wasn’t, but I said I was wearing a wig and I’m suppose to be a movie star, and they said«cool, that’ll be $ 10» GREATTTTTTTT time for $ 10, the only bummmmmmmed out experience is I can’t believe they shut the music down around 10:30 cause it closes at 12 and need to give them time to vacate the premise. we were sitting in the corner on the benches, some lying down too… til cops came to tell us we need to leave. Even they were cool about it though, and said thanks for coming but gotta leave now… and just left, not hassling us outta there ASAP still bummmmmed about the 10:30 thing though
M C.
Rating des Ortes: 4 San Francisco, CA
First time coming here and was expecting them not to allow a lot of things. When I walked in, I realized people could bring anything. It was so nice seeing some of the ladies walking around in their underwear if not topless. And then there were many people in costume. It was like a rave. Just people weren’t on nothing more than cannabis and alcohol if anything at all.
C A.
Rating des Ortes: 3 San Francisco, CA
I had the pleasure of attending the Decompression the other day and it was a lot of fun. I like that people were all dressed up, dancing on the streets of SF to house and techno music. Cocomo was the only place w/food– they did not have a lot of options tho– so i was starving pretty much all day… oh well. I enjoyed the creativity and the energy of people and we ended up spending the whole day at Decompression. It was a huge party! If you havent been and you are curious, why not chk it out next yr≠) Only 3 stars b/c burning man/decompression is not really my thing but it was great fun!
Meg W.
Rating des Ortes: 4 East Bay, CA
I’ve not been to Burningman. No desire to, really. But to spend a day, dressed as my favorite worst nightmare, escaping. Yay. Music = «thump thump thump» ad nauseam, and a surprise bit of Blur down the block for lyrics’ sake, I guess. Love you, Dani. Big Love bigger.
Monica S.
Rating des Ortes: 5 San Francisco, CA
I loved it so much, I’m inspired to go to BM next year! The costumes, the music, the art. EVERYTHING! SOOOFUN!
Sweet P.
Rating des Ortes: 5 Seattle, WA
i so wanted to give 4 stars but this past october i flew home specifically to go to decompression. i admit it, i love it!
Christina C.
Rating des Ortes: 4 San Mateo, CA
The problem with wearing outrageous, phenomenal, fantastically creative costumes is that it’s really a pain in the butt to try to sit down in them. If there are enough streamers and dangling bits, the dancing is not too affected. But sitting down is still a challenge. The music was great. Every 50 feet was another float with different sounds coming out of the speakers. We party’d in front of the Space Cowboy one for the majority of the night. At one point, this fabulous male dressed in black leggings, keds sneakers, cut-off denim shorts, spandex top and a velour headband began molesting a support pole on the Space Cowboy ship. He pole-danced that inanimate object to death. However, the pole was not very stable/solid, so he had to be hesitant and cautious. It was an interesting blend of fear and unabashed, shameless display of flamboyance. Lots of really drunk people. Lots of people making alcohol runs to their cars. Lots of byob. Lots of kids. Some naked people. Not enough water. Best part: NODUST!!!
Tamas K.
Rating des Ortes: 5 San Francisco, CA
My wallet with my IDs was found later thanks for Max on Aardvark and for Dave on Craigslist!
Uncle Fishbits Aeneas X.
Rating des Ortes: 2 Belvedere Tiburon, CA
Meh… eh… not soooooo sure… any… more?
Charlie B.
Rating des Ortes: 5 San Francisco, CA
I did a fashion show this last sunday at the fringe camp stage… early evening. This was the biggest organized chaos arrangement Ive ever seen but it was great at the same time. I was amazed by the creative energy and great people I met all day long. Wonderful street fest… in fact even if you dont enjoy burning man… youll most likely have fun at this event. Great music, great people, amazing art displays, and fun times running through the crowds all night long. Check it out… I promise youll love it.
Stephanie W.
Rating des Ortes: 3 Los Angeles, CA
Oh WOWZA!!! No really.
…WOW… …ZA… I have yet to attend the festivities of Burning Man, but after attending this year’s Decompression event, I have to say, I just might be up for the challenge of living on the Playa. Well…ALMOST up for it. I got decked out in my best Playa-worthy duds, only to realize when I arrived at Decom, that my «edgy», «crazy», attire, wasn’t nearly as crazy as I thought. Aside from the typical flurry of furry boots and leather chaps, there were tons of amazing vintage pinstripe suits, custom feather boas in every color of the rainbow, and my favorite costume of all… a giant pink monkey. Burners are truly a remarkable group of people. Free(as a bird), open, honest, raw, and utterly ready to party at any moment. Plenty of booze, beignets and boobs to keep even the most discerning individual entertained. Lots of cool artwork was brought up from this year’s burn… though I must say I wasn’t impressed with the volume of it. I thought there would be much more to look at. I can only assume this was the intended effect, so it would wet my palate and make me hungry to spend $ 400 on a ticket to attend next year’s Burn…