Saturday's Dyke March filled Dolores Park and pushed through the Mission, with pole lessons in the lower section and a long-running "Dykes Only" designation that may not return next year.

The San Francisco Dyke March descended on Dolores Park Saturday afternoon and pushed through the Mission for its annual Pride weekend gathering — the one that predates the Sunday parade and doesn't share its corporate staging.

By early afternoon, the park was filling fast. In the lower section, NJ and two friends set up a mobile pole and spent the afternoon giving free lessons, passing around grip chalk and spotting beginners while seasoned hobbyists took turns between students. It was their second year bringing the setup. "It breeds community in a really positive way," NJ told Mission Local. The "whole [pole dancing] community," they added, is "hella queer and super supportive of all expressions and all body types."

Up the hill, the park's longstanding "Dykes Only" section — a designated space within the Dolores Park Dyke March gathering — may have convened for the last time, according to Mission Local's reporting. There have been "various levels of pushback" about the exclusivity of that designation in recent years, and Saturday's edition could mark the end of the section in its current form.

The march itself moved through Mission streets as a jazz band played and marchers chanted "queer liberation." People handed out sprigs of lavender from stoops and restaurant tables. At the back of the procession, an attendee named Juju carried a blank canvas and markers — a "2026 Pride Yearbook" — and so many people stopped to sign that she got held up well behind the rest of the march.

Today — parade day: The 56th annual SF Pride Parade departs Market Street at 10:30 a.m., running from Beale to 8th Street. Free to watch from the sidewalk. The crowds build early; stake out a spot by 9:30 if you want a sightline.