Festival/Protest Season In Full Swing
Fiesta Broadway went off yesterday without a hitch, but with far less than the number of expected attendees (500,000 was predicted by event organizers, but LAPD estimates put the number at closer to 150,000. For me, there were no problems at all from the event- the sound check from the stage at 1st and Broadway was actually louder than the performances or the (small) crowd, and the music was good from my vantage point at 2nd St. and Harlem Place. White Dog and I braved the heat (it was 95-degrees+) only in mid-morning and early evening to see what was going on- the food didn’t sound good on such a hot day (maybe a beer garden would have helped- see LA Times coverage and reader comments here).
But on Thursday, May 1st, the “May Day Immigration Rally” happens, and hopefully, without a repeat of last year when the event turned into a near-riot (or was it a real riot?) in MacArthur Park when protestors would not follow police orders and disburse. This was a pretty bad showing for LAPD- in my 1 year of living downtown I have seen the police handle many “touchy” situations with professionalism, courage, and pride. They’ve actually been practicing for how to handle protesters this time, and hopefully the ralliers will behave and not test the police force’s patience when being pelted with bottles and rocks.
The difference this year is that 2 packs of protesters will form, one at Olympic Blvd and Broadway, and one at MacArthur Park, and will march at 2pm to meet at 5th and Broadway, where they will procede to City Hall. So this time the flashpoint could be right out of my window- and in the few spots of grass for Isis- great…
LAPD Practices for May Day Protest (LA Times)
National Mobilization to Support Immigrant Rights (May Day 2008)
It’s also about time for another anti-war march. I don’t know exactly what’s on the horizon for the anti-war folks, but there were two marches last year by anti-war groups, and I expect one any week now (or maybe they got turned away at getting a permit since last time there were about 200 protesters and about 10 city blocks of street closures… Stay tuned here for more protest and festivals coverage…
We headed over yesterday for a walk around - it is me or was the whole thing one big advertisement for corporations?
April 28th, 2008 at 11:57 pmWell, the corporate sponsorship doesn’t bother me too much as I’ve gotten used to “Staples” Center, “Nokia” Theater, “Jose Cuervo” Beach Volleyball, etc. I guess it’s good to see corporations targeting the hispanic-majority here. But it does give a more sterile feel to an event that I guess was once much bigger (with not as many sponsors).
I just wanted to get a little carne asada and perhaps watch a band or two, but it was too hot for me. How was the walk up from your area- I only saw Broadway from Temple to 3rd St.
And these events/parades etc are always planning on 5-times the turnout, at least in the year I’ve been here. We’ll see how many turn up for May 1st protest- but all it takes is a couple dozen mask-wearing hoodlums to screw the whole thing up…
April 29th, 2008 at 12:39 amThe walk was fine - it was hot but there is no humidity here like the Midwest or East Coast. Walked along 8th to Broadway then up and down Broadway for a while. Took a walk down Main Street to Olympic to get home - no problems.
April 29th, 2008 at 2:37 am