Too many damn festivals (not really)

I’ve recently come across people complaining on social media and letters to the editor about the inconvenience of the Park St festivals and how the 2 a year (not including the car show or the 4th of July parade) should be limited or moved because they are inconvenienced with people parking in front of their house, foot traffic and noise pollution. This got me thinking about how many days do we/Alameda need to close down streets or increase the number of people visiting for the unnecessary  promotion of a business district,  public park, organization, city and/or senseless act of  bringing the community together and building pride in our island 

From what I can think of its about 25 days. This consist of the Park Street festivals, the 4th of July parade, the Park St car show, the Neptune Beach/Webster St/Peanut Butter Jam festival, Concerts in the Cove, Earth Day Celebration, the Antique fair, The Legacy Home Tour, The Obon Festival and of course, Christmas Tree Lane which is not a sponsored event but everyone knows about it and also last for close to a month with no complaints.

One of the things that I love about Alameda is all of the things that we do to bring together the community through those various events and I find it absurd that people have a problem with this. I mean, it’s not like all of a sudden we started sponsoring events in 2014 and its not like closing down street traffic 5 days of the year for a festival or parade is the end of the world or would irritate me enough to want to rain on everyone’s parade.  Like many people I moved here to raise a family and it’s been awesome creating the tradition of going to the various events annually. I don’t really get peoples opposition to such events unless you hate smiles, families and children. Sure there are people drinking and paper wrappers flying around from meat on a stick but why not aim to shut down alcohol sales or campaign for pedestrian check points or more trash receptacles?  Personally, I think it would be great living closer to Park St or Webster when there was an event. It would be so much easier to walk to and from vs. riding our bikes. This is only because when the kids have a melt down getting them on a  bike or even to the bike can be quite a challenge and carrying them home a couple a blocks sounds like heaven.

It just seems so petty to me. I’m sure these people visit the Alameda Farmers Market that is held twice a week and closes down a block of Haight St. And I’m also sure that they are also speeding down Atlantic once a month to find that special piece furniture or decorative wall art at the Antiques Fair which severely hinders my ability to get to Target or through the tunnel. Do I complain? No. Do I want the auction moved to Shoreline? No. I understand how it benefits Alameda. Not monetarily but showcasing how special the people and our island are.