Belvedere Street
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
10 reviews for Belvedere Street
10 reviews in English
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Review from Jennie K.
11/1/2010
This is so ridiculously awesome, I can hardly believe I didn't know about it until this year.
The houses on Belvedere St. (south of Frederick) go all out for Halloween. This year included a light-saber battle, Rocky Horror Picture Show, and my favorite - folks dressed up as Shrek, Donkey, and Puss in Boots who danced in their picture windows to fun and kid-friendly music. (They were later joined by a tiny mermaid who really knew how to bust a move.) The one-year-old I was with was absolutely mesmerized by the dancing, but I couldn't quite persuade her to dance, too.
My tiny companions and responsible grown-ups headed out around 4:30pm, and it was already getting busy with trick-or-treaters. By the time we left, near 6:30-7, the street probably held a thousand or more visitors. A lot of the houses seemed to be running out of candy. And one house was giving out beers to adults - ha! (They are more generous than I, that's for darn sure.)
The best part was that 90% of the attendees, including adults, were dressed up in clever costumes. Way to get into the spirit, SF!
I highly recommend taking public transportation to get here. Trying to find parking would be futile. But do go - this kid-friendly event was one of the most fun times I've had in recent memory, and I even made it to bed at a reasonable hour.Listed in: Cram In Some Local Culture
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Review from Susan L.
San Francisco, CA
10/24/2010
Belvedere Street at Halloween? We love it. It's a great place for the little kids to trick or treat and no be TOO scared. Everyone in the neighborhood gets into it and it's really a creative, fun, sweet experience.
However, I'm really not crazy about all the folks who DRIVE over to this neighborhood, making it dangerous, especially for the little kids. Trust me, parking in this neighborhood is horrible all year 'round, so don't come here expecting to find parking! Some people I knew last year circled for almost an hour. To those who can, I highly suggest you come via MUNI: you can take the 6, 33, 43, 71 or the N. -
Review from InannaMouse M.
San Francisco, CA
11/3/2009
I just love Belvedere Street Halloween. I've been four times and It seems to get better and better each year. The houses are decked out and the kids enjoy themselves so much. I love all the creativity (houses and costumes) concentrated in such a short couple of blocks.
I have to say that my favorite one was the kiddie dance floor. It was brilliant. All these cute kids in their costumes dancing around. My friend's 18 month old daughter even pulled a new move that she learned from the house with the Madagascar dancers! How cute! -
Review from Kelly R.
San Francisco, CA
11/2/2009
This year, my 3yo understood more the phenom that is Halloween. Candy!
Since our neighborhood is hilly and at most we can expect 3 groups of kids for the entire night - we hoofed it over to Cole Valley on a tip I received from another parent.
Since we arrived not-so-early in the evening, parking was a bit difficult, but we managed to find something close by. (Some houses had already run out of candy - at 7pm!)
I was blown away by all the decorated houses - and I mean decorated houses! The residents of Belvedere Street go all out and then some! If you LOVE Halloween, buy a place here.
Distracted by dancing lemurs, zebras and chickens, flying ghosts, dropping spiders, bats and snakes...we didn't trick-or-treat many homes - my daughter only collected less than a pound of candy - which is a good thing - but we really enjoyed all the "Halloween Houses" and the cool costumes.
Everyone who "hosted" were very friendly - thank you residents of Belvedere Street! We're looking forward to next year!
Note: the few blocks they close off get packed, so leave the strollers at home. -
Review from darlene c.
Berkeley, CA
1/7/2009
Best experience trick-or-treating ever!
Located at Cole Valley, its very safe. Belvedere is actually blocked off for about 3 or 4 blocks, so the children can walk in the street. Each house has over done themselves with out of this world decorations. There was nothing too frightening, but very fun Halloween Decor.
My favorite was this house that was decorated as Kung-Fu Panda, where they actually had people dress up as the characters and blasted music and danced for children. To see my daughter's eyes glow to see those characters was amazing!
Though it's very hard to find parking, which is pretty normal in the city. I would definitely make this a family tradition. -
Review from Tara C.
Mill Valley, CA
11/2/2009
First year doing the Belvedere Street thing for Halloween. Some pretty cool decorations but there were quite a few houses that were not open or decorated and/or not giving out candy or had run out pretty early on. Also, some just wouldn't give it out to my 8 year old son for one reason or another. Either he didn't tell them what he was supposed to be or was too shy to say trick-or-treat or something of the like.
Some very cool costumes on both kids and parents alike and some awesome pumpkin carvings. The house that goes all out with the paid actors and stage with characters from a movie (Madagascar this year) was really neat as were some of the haunted garage scenes. Also the light-saber duel they allowed kids to participate in was a huge hit with my son.
Parking was a pain of course which was expected.
All in all it was a good time. Candy bags were super light at the end of the night (I think my son only ended up with 10-15 small pieces) but not a bad thing that he won't be eating 5 lbs of candy over the next 3 weeks.
Personally, we probably won't be repeating this scene next year just because we commuted from Marin and not sure it was worth the commuting and parking hassle but if you live nearby it's probably worth checking out -
Review from francez M.
San Francisco, CA
10/31/2009
Street theater is what it is. Whether you are toting toddlers, tweens, teens, or with adults only, this is sheer fun. With the street closed to traffic, it is safe to let kids move with freedom.
Garages are transformed into theater sets, trees are decorated, people are dressed in magnificent costumes. It's a bit of theater meets Bourbon Street without the drunks. That's not to exclude some spirited adults who may have had one too many, but it is not a drunken brawl scene.
Hang a left as you head north and one family uses the house to screen Rocky Horror.. You will have to scout for that one on your own. Just think off the beaten track...
I always bring bags of candy to share with the homes, as they often run out. Remember they get hundreds of kids...
We've been strolling this one for about -
Review from Karin T.
San Francisco, CA
11/2/2005
Best place in San Francisco to take your kids trick-or-treating. This quiet little street in Cole Valley is home to some of the nicest and most committed Halloween enthusiasts you will find anywhere. Not only are the homes fully decked with spooky sounds, creepy monsters, flashing strobe lights, and glowing jack-o-lanterns, but the neighbors actually hang out on their porches and stairways eagerly awaiting the arrival of each little munchkin. In contrast to experiences I've had elsewhere, it felt very safe and very social. The kids and I can't wait to do it again next year.
Listed in: For Mommies and Daddies
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Review from Angie C.
San Francisco, CA
11/2/2009
Trick or Treating is great fun for kids! Always check their candy!!
Parking was a pain. It's already a pretty packed neighborhood so trying to find parking was especially hard. The streets are also very narrow. Some beautiful houses though.
Families with multiple children are wonderful but many parents were pushing their strollers right up to the house and then lingering making the street an obstacle course.
Only about 3/4 the houses were "open" which was fine but with only 3 blocks sectioned off, it made for a short trip unless you TOTed to and from the car. It seems that less and less people in general pass out candy :(
Most houses passed out yummy candy and only 1 piece per kid which made for a very light bag at the end of the trip.
A few houses didn't even give my son any candy because he was too shy even though he went right up to them with ME encouraging HIM to say Trick or Treat! (They would smile at him and then not give him any candy. I thought that was the worst ...)
Parking ... did I mention that already?!
Other than that it's great for smaller children and the dancing Madagascar characters drew a lot of attention. Lots of parents dressed up with their kids. Not worth making a special trip out there if you don't live nearby. -
Review from Iris B.
San Francisco, CA
10/27/2009
Absolutely, hands-down the best place to go trick-or-treating with your children in San Francisco. We found out about this area through our preschool located nearby and have been going for the past two years.
Each and every house is decked out in Halloween decor.
Everyone's happy and cordial.
The house where the owners open up the full-height windows and dance in costume to the soundtrack of a popular children's movie can not be missed!
If you don't trick-or-treat here with your children, you've missed out on the best trick-or-treating experience in all of San Francisco!
