Big Thanks to All Our Sponsors
The 6th Annual Leland Avenue Street Fair took place on Sunday, September 25th, 2011
Here are some photos from the event!
The 6th Annual Leland Avenue Street Fair put the dynamic character of Visitacion Valley on display, as roughly 2,000 people ascended onto the commercial corridor despite the morning rain for a fun-filled Sunday afternoon in this uniquely diverse San Francisco neighborhood.
The festival didn’t stray from it’s 2010 layout along Leland Avenue, punctuated by the staple balloon arch over Leland Avenue near Bayshore Boulevard. There was once again a dedicated ‘Eat-Street’ along Alpha Street stretching to Raymond Avenue and a live music stage just west of the Leland Avenue – Alpha Street intersection that rocked the business district all the way to Bayshore Boulevard.
The entertainment stage was once again highlighted by a top-notch world music performer – Lava, who took the stage at 2:45 and moved the crowd’s spirit to dance until well after the stopping time of 4:00pm. The festival had been getting warmed up all afternoon with outstanding live sets from regulars such as Native Elements, Soul Society, (7-Mile Favorite) Good Reasons and Visitacion Valley’s own Curt Yagi and the People Standing Behind Me. A quick survey of attendees once again revealed what we already knew – festival goers can’t get enough of the live local music.
What else was a big hit at the Leland Avenue Street Fair? Answer – The Food. Aside from local restaurants El Buen Sabor #2 (98 Leland Ave.), Happy Family Fast Food (107 Leland Ave.) and La Bonita Produce (58 Leland Ave.) offering tasty specials, festival goers were treated to lumpia, calamari, buffalo wings and garlic fries from our friends at 7-Mile House (2800 Bayshore Blvd.) and an abundance of Filipino favorites from Nick’s Kitchen (2449 Geneva Ave.). A welcome new addition on Eat Street this year was the Five-Ten Burger food truck, which pulled up near Raymond Avenue to serve up artisan burgers and sandwiches. Those looking to satisfy their sweet tooth had plenty of options up and down the festival grounds including cupcakes, gourmet popcorn and snow cones.
The highlight of the entire day may have come when the entertainment stage was opened up to welcome Li Feng Wu and Steven Chan – the new owners of B.L.G. Aquarium & Pet Store. Leland Avenue’s newest merchants treated onlookers to a dazzling ceremony marking the Grand Opening of their store at 144 Leland Avenue. Lion Dancers ceremoniously made their way to the front of the stage and performed before Li Feng and Steven introduced themselves to the crowd and welcomed neighbors to stop by their business.
The Leland Avenue Street Fair got a welcomed guest when San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee showed up unannounced to show his support our neighborhood festival and thank everyone in attendance. The Mayor spent some time with kids from the Boys & Girls Club who were engaged in activities set up in our dedicated ‘Kids Zone’ in the Bank of America parking lot. They were joined by fellow dedicated community partners at Real Options for City Kids (ROCK), Jumpstart and face-painting courtesy of a few talented students from San Francisco Waldorf High School. In between the Kids Zone and our entertainment stage, local businesses, artists and service providers lined the streets of Leland Avenue – creating the essence of the street fair.
The end result was once again the neighborhood’s largest family-oriented event of the year that brought neighbors together and help connect small business owners to residents. A festival of this scale took a coordinated effort from many dedicated individuals who worked hard to put it together. While the volunteers are too numerous to name, I want to recognize the sponsors whose generous support keeps this event going year after year – thank you. California Pacific Medical Center, Bank of America, Statefarm, Universal Paragon Corporation, Goodwill Industries, Recology, Pacific Gas & Electric, AT&T, Mercy Related Housing, North East Medical Services, SIA Consultants, UFCW Local 648, See’s Candy, The Examiner, KBLX, AsianWeek Foundation, Bay Area Radio, KPOO.
The Leland Avenue Street Fair is a neighborhood festival in Visitacion Valley. A variety of talented artists, musicians, vendors, craftspeople, and service providers line the streets of downtown Visitacion Valley to celebrate our place in San Francisco. Year in and year out the Leland Avenue Street Fair is the neighborhood’s largest, most celebrated family oriented event of the year.
“The neighborhood has a wonderful feel to it and I was made to feel very welcome. I had been lead to believe it was a very poor neighborhood. I did much better than expected.” — Sue Toorans Featherweight Finery (vendor, 2010)
For more information or to become a vendor please contact Nick 415-225-5969 or email sf.vvboom@gmail.com