Thousands flock to San Francisco Tenderloin for neighborhood's 1st-ever Eid street fair

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- It was perfect weather in San Francisco Saturday as one of the city's more notorious neighborhoods, the Tenderloin, looked to Build a Better Bay Area with a street fair to celebrate Eid.

In a rare sight, the streets of San Francisco's Tenderloin were packed with thousands of people.

"My goodness. This is a beautiful sight looking out on all of you. Block after block," San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie told the crowd who came out to celebrate the first-ever night market-style street fair in the Tenderloin.

Organizers say it was an opportunity to show case the neighborhood's small businesses and show off local restaurants in a part of the city that is often overlooked.

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The event was organized to coincide with the Eid, the Muslim holiday marking the end of the month of Ramadan, given that the Tenderloin has the city's largest Muslim community.

"I think people forget, there are 3,500 kids who live here. Children of immigrants, refugees, from Pakistan, from Palestine, from Yemen. China, Vietnam. This was them. If you came here today, you saw all these children playing in the streets," said newly-elected Supervisor Bilal Mahmood, whose district includes the Tenderloin.

"You just saw the joy these kids have seeing San Francisco investing in this neighborhood, in this community. The same things we see in Chinatown, Japantown. Now we see it happen in the Tenderloin for the first time. And giving the children of the Tenderloin the childhood they deserve," says Mahmood.