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View Winners → Arcadia Imports Monrovia Street Fair; Patriotic Kickoff Event Set for July 3
Arcadia Weekly Jun 09, 2015
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-Photos by Terry Miller
By Joe Taglieri
Beginning in July, Arcadia will host a weekly Friday-night street fair in the city’s downtown area.
Last week the City Council unanimously approved a permit for Family Festival Productions to move the bulk of the company’s event from Monrovia, where it has taken place for 23 years, to a central stretch of First Avenue between Huntington Drive and Santa Clara Street.
Appropriate for an opening event that coincides with this year’s Independence Day weekend, a patriotic festival will accompany the fair’s kickoff. The patriotic festival will feature live music and food from local restaurants and will be the first event to take place at the new Arcadia Transit Plaza located at Santa Clara and First.
A number of elements from the Monrovia street fair will transfer to Arcadia’s event including popular vendors offering food, beverages, merchandise and farmer’s market items as well as live music, bounce houses and other activities for kids and adults.
New vendors on July 3 will include artisans from the recent Sierra Madre Wisteria Festival such as Saint John’s Sponge Co. and Hawaiian Fragrant Crystals. A Rockin’ Ice from Huntington Beach will also be on hand serving red-white-and-blue shaved ice desserts in addition to numerous other flavors.
Festivities happen from 5-9 p.m. July 3 and subsequent Fridays thereafter.
-Photos by Terry Miller
Dave Gayman’s Family Festival Productions applied to the city for a special-use permit with the backing of the Downtown Arcadia Improvement Association, or AIA.
“We need to establish our credibility with you as we have in Monrovia regarding the quality of the merchandise – we allow certain things by edict of the city and the merchants association that might not be allowed here,” Gayman said, pledging to address any concerns council or community members have regarding street fair content.
“We fix problems, we don’t let them sit around,” he noted.
The AIA will be at the forefront of organizing the event and keeping track of street fair vendors and other participants, mentioned Matt McSweeney, the association’s treasurer and owner of Matt Denny’s Ale House Restaurant.
“We’ll be keeping a pulse on this very closely,” he told the council. “With the Gold Line coming in I do believe that this is going to be starting to pump things up in the downtown.”
AIA member Peter Amundson – a former Arcadia mayor whose company Minuteman Transport is cosponsoring the patriotic festival – voiced his optimism for the street fair’s success.
“We have the opportunity to hopefully take the very best that was in Monrovia, concentrate it because our street fair is going to be smaller, take the very best and bring a … version of what is on Myrtle Avenue to Arcadia every single Friday,” Amundson said.
Noting the fair’s proximity to the soon-to-be-running Gold Line, Amundson added “you can see it from the station, you can see it from the rail” which he surmised is likely to make commuters “want to go to downtown Arcadia … and see what’s going on there.”
Council Member John Wuo pointed to South Pasadena’s Thursday-night farmers market that he observed during a recent trip on the Gold Line.
“There were a lot of people there, and it’s actually become a gathering place for South Pasadena,” he voiced. “I’m hoping that this street fair being close to the Gold Line station will somehow develop kind of like that.”
Council members denied requests from Amundson and AIA President April Verlato to waive the permit requirement that calls for the applicants to cover the salary expenses of two Arcadia police officers who will be stationed at the fair.
According to Verlato, the AIA’s agreement with Gayman provides for the association to cover the cost of police.
Assistant City Manager Jason Kruckeberg noted police costs will total about $900 per event.
Council members noted their hesitation to commit city funds to an untested event, though they did leave open the possibility of reconsidering the matter at some point in the future.
“Looking after the funds for the whole city, I’m just hesitant to commit ourselves to covering the police [costs],” Council Member Tom Beck voiced.
-Courtesy Photo
“They should be able to afford this thing from the drop, which apparently they said they could,” mentioned Mayor Pro Tem Roger Chandler. “There’s been some concessions made, some fees have been waived. … I think we should go forward with it, a deal’s a deal.”
Officials set aside $720 for permit filing fees.
The AIA has agreed to pay Gayman’s company $21,000 for the weekly fair’s first year, Verlato said.
