Celebrating cuisine, cars and crafts
Spring and summer in Alameda means it’s time for locals and visitors to converge on the streets during the community’s festival season that kicks off with the Park Street Spring Festival in May and doesn’t end until October with the city’s beloved car show.
For many like Julie Baron, owner of Julie’s Coffee and Tea Garden in Alameda, it’s a time for locals to enjoy their neighbors and visitors to return again.
Whether the festivals are celebrating moms, the world of art and local wine or cars from eras past, Alameda residents pride themselves on their events and sense of community.
“I’ve never lived in a town where people have such roots,” said Downtown Alameda Business Association board president Donna Layburn. “People love living here. People shop, eat, dine and play on Park Street.”
The association, which is in the process of rebranding and has been known as the Park Street Business Association, is built on the foundation of this type of community, as well as celebrating the variety of businesses on Park Street and surrounding areas.
Here is a look at some of the upcoming events:
Park Street Spring Festi
val: May 9 and 10, 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Free admission.
Alameda’s fun-in-thesun season kicks off with the Park Street Festival on Mother’s Day weekend.
“The spring festival in May has become a Mother’s Day tradition not only for Alameda, but for all of the East Bay,” said Robb Ratto, who has been with the Park Street association for more than 16 years.
The charming Park Street, with its storefronts of unique shops and international cuisine, is blocked off to traffic and filled with guests who leisurely stroll while stopping to sip the first mimosa of the day or browsing wares from 180 vendors.
Guests can savor eats from specialty food trucks, like the esteemed Lockeford Sausage, or enjoy one of the many local eateries that often offer specials during citywide events.
“The street fairs are fun,” Baron said. “There are a lot of summer dresses and the whole family is out and enjoying it. Where the music is, there are tables and chairs and people actually dance.” Fourth of July parade: July 4; parade starts at 10 a.m., Free to watch.
In the spirit of independence, history and celebration, Alameda is transformed into one massive community party on July 4. It starts early in the morning, with people claiming their best parade-viewing seats on Park Street and marking them with fold-up chairs all linked together. Then as it nears 10 a.m., the homes on the route start their lawn barbecues and the aroma of grilled burgers and hot dogs take over the city.
The Fourth of July Parade is a community celebration that volunteer organizer Barbara Price says brings in a crowd of about 60,000 locals and guests.
There are about 2,500 people in the parade, 178 entries and two equestrian groups that dance and perform their way through the 3.2 miles of Alameda streets turned parade route.
“On the main island, we go through almost every neighborhood,” she said. “It’s longer than any other we know of.”
The theme is always a celebration of the Fourth of July. “People who come from the Midwest tell me, ‘I’m back home,’” she said.
The route starts at the popular Park Street and hits Grand Street, where Victorian houses outdo one another with decorative bunting, color and cuteness. Then it wraps up on the west end at Lincoln Avenue, where last year, for the first time, the beginning of the parade caught up with the end.
Park Street’s 31st Annual
Art & Wine Faire: July 25 and 26, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Free admission.
The Park Street Art & Wine Faire, celebrating its 31st event in July, started out a small street fair with only a few vendors.
“What it has morphed into over the years is without a doubt, the largest two-day event in the city of Alameda,” Ratto said.
Guests can buy food and trinkets from the 250 vendors or browse the shops that make Park Street one of the main hubs and hangouts in the city. Art ranges from sculpture to paintings and jewelry, and its creators come from all over to be a part of this event. One of the most popular vendors, though, is the one who sells the famous rubber band guns.
The music is a huge draw, and with a stage at each end of the event, hordes of people sing and dance to their favorites from cover bands that bring the best of Santana, Tom Petty and Fleetwood Mac to the island. Local bands fill in between sets and give the event local flavor.
Though mom and dad generally love the four booths featuring Alameda’s Rock Wall Wine Company and four beer booths, it’s the kids who really get to have a good time and let loose with slot-car racing, a rockclimbing wall, jump house and what Ratto calls water bubbles — large plastic bubbles kids get into and roll around in an inflatable swimming pool.
“They walk on water!” he said. “It’s absolutely amazing.”
Park Street Classic Car
Show: Oct. 10, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Free admission
When longtime Alameda resident Sandy Terry wants to show off her ’65 Corvette, ’63 GTO, ’56 Chevy and 1923 Blown T-bucket, she takes it to the Park Street Classic Car Show, one of the most loved Alameda events because it celebrates everything from old cars to the local cuisine and, above all, a tight-knit car community.
“You get to visit with a lot of your old friends and you get to see all the old cars. It’s a social thing,” Terry said.
The highlight of the car show is exactly that: old cars. The event features food and alcohol vendors, so that guests can try the array of Alameda eateries on the street, as well as local taverns and bars. The only thing sold at the event are T-shirts, beer mugs and coffee cups, though shopping can be done in the local shops, which often hold specials during the event.
Duane Watson has been organizing the car show for 22 years. His favorite part is not only seeing his favorite cars like the ’66 Mustang Fastback and the first-year Camaro, but the camaraderie between the 25,000 to 35,000 car enthusiasts who attend the event each year, whether its all the members of the local Cranker Car Club or new enthusiasts who fit right in.
“It’s such a celebration,” he said, adding that people come to the event and run into their cousins and friends they only see once a year at the car show. “We track people from all over.”