Fiesta Broadway- 500,000 In My ‘Hood
On Sunday, April 27th the Fiesta Broadway event will happen right in front of my eyes, as viewed from my loft. The event is billed as the “Largest Latino event in the nation’s largest Latino market”- just look at the list of corporate sponsors and you will begin to understand the power of the “new majority” in Southern California. The Downtown News reports that an estimated 500,000 people will attend the 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. festival, which encompases 36-square blocks, but is main focused on Broadway, from Temple St. at the north to 11th St. at the south (see street closure map).
I did not attend last year, as I had just moved into my loft, and frankly was caught off-guard by the noise and a little freaked out at the number of people.
It was not close to 500,000 people, but it was a lot- and I was not sure how welcome a white boy would be there. The answer of course, was that everyone is welcome, and the crowd is a mix of races and nationalities, just like the Cherry Blossum Festival a couple of weeks ago in Little Tokyo.
This year I will definitely check it out, and say “hi” to some of my favorite merchants on Broadway. I really enjoy walking down Broadway daily on my way to the gym, and I am looking forward to the revitalization of the theaters, lofts, and businesses along the way.
Thanks for the heads up - it is no Taste of Chicago but definitely something we will check out this weekend!
April 24th, 2008 at 8:10 pmB- definitely not “Taste of Chicago”- I drove up to that once back in my high school days- cool event at Navy Pier, with Lake Michigan, etc.- used to listen to “the LOOP” and won tickets to that.
This Fiesta Broadway is close to me, so I will enjoy it, but w/o ocean and beach people, it does not matter if it were 1 million people- still not like a beach party.
What you need to do it plan to go to Fiesta de las Artists in Hermosa Beach (every year at Memorial and Labor Day) and Hometown Fair in Manhattan Beach - but beware:
“NO dogs, skateboards, scooters, roller blades, roller-skates, or bikes”
(this is from MB site- I walked my Jackie through Hermosa fair before, and roller bladed through it).
Good live bands, beer garden, and great restaurants to stop at. Oh, and there’s the PACIFIC OCEAN- yes!
April 24th, 2008 at 8:53 pmHermosa Fiesta-
http://www.fiestahermosa.com/
MB Hometown Fair-
http://www.mbfair.org/
And of course, the volleyball- Hermosa Beach AVP Open-
http://web.avp.com/events/index.jsp?eventId=1026
And Manhattan Beach Open:
http://web.avp.com/events/index.jsp?eventId=1036
April 24th, 2008 at 8:59 pm