Photos by Terry Asten Bennett
If Halloween has a home, it must be Cliff’s Variety in the Castro—at least since 1946, when Ernie DeBaca organized a neighborhood children’s costume contest outside his family’s Castro Street shop to bring local families together and boost foot traffic. That small community gathering sparked the origin of what would eventually expand into the world-famous Castro Halloween Street Fair.
Founded ten years earlier in 1936 by Ernie’s father, Hilario DeBaca, Cliff’s Variety originally opened at 545 Castro Street before eventually settling at 479 Castro Street, establishing itself as both a functional neighborhood staple and the foundational pillar of the district’s annual holiday tradition. Co-Owner and General Manager Terry Asten Bennett represents the family’s fifth generation of leadership, and both she and her mother, Co-Owner and CFO Martha Asten, carry on the Halloween spirit at Cliff’s. (Martha’s late husband Ernie Asten was Ernie DeBaca’s grandson.)
The official city-sanctioned street party was discontinued in 2007, making way for today’s Castro Night Market celebrations. Now, every autumn, Cliff’s Variety undergoes an operational shift, converting large portions of its standard inventory into a massive supply hub for costuming gear, theatrical makeup, wigs, and yards of raw fabric. Local drag performers, costume designers, and neighborhood residents rely on the shop to source specialty materials and structural hardware to construct custom outfits on site. Cliff’s Variety remains a continuous physical—and maybe metaphysical!—link to the Castro’s mid-century origins, helping keep the neighborhood’s creative legacy alive. https://www.cliffsvariety.com/
Halloween in the Castro 2026
Published on October 22, 2026
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