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The Dispatch wrote Festival Latino ran hot and cold
Thursday, June 26, 2008
BY SHERRI WILLIAMS
More than 13,000 people attended Festival Latino last week with most going the first day of the event when admission was $1.
Admission was charged during the event, held Friday and Saturday, for the first time in its 13-year history. Organizers said financial struggles prompted the change along with shorter hours.
On the first night of the festival, 12,144 people attended, compared with 942 who attended Saturday’s concert when festival admission was $30, according to the city’s Recreation and Parks Department.
Because admission was not charged at previous festivals, there are no accurate attendance numbers with which to compare, Wiser said.
Related Story:
[On the first night of the festival, 12,144 people attended, compared with 942 who attended Saturday's concert when festival admission was $30, according to the city's Recreation and Parks Department.]
942 peoples generated just less than $28,260 while 12,144 people generated $12,144. I guess they knew what they were doing. I’m sure the vendors weren’t too happy.
I think that’s why there were so few food vendors there. A lot of them pulled out because they knew attendance would be much lower on Saturday. We went on Friday night and only counted three main food vendors. :?
Hopefully things will be better next year.
Personally I was rather dissipointed by the $30 charge. I couldn’t make it friday, and there was no way we could justify spending $60 for the two of us to go to this.
They didn’t make it clear enough that the 30$ was essentially a ticket to a top Mexican band with the festival being an extra.
A.
I was seriously disappointed. I’d never been and heard lots of great things so I was super excited. Instead it was so crowded on Friday it felt like I was standing in line the whole time and didn’t even get down near the stage because there was no room to move. We left not long afterwards. I hope they don’t do it like that again….although I did hear part of the reason was because of gang activity at last years (?)
I didn’t see any gang activity last year.
What I seen was the largest gang in the city, CPD, dressed up like swat, walking around with automatic weapons and paramilitary gear. There was one group of 4 of them that was dressed head to toe in black, 2 of them had on the full hood so only the eyes were visible. The other 2 did not have on the mask. All four were carrying what looked to me like Uzi’s and they were mean muggin’ everyone.
There was definatly more of an aggressive police prescene than any other festival I’ve ever been.
So I decided then not to go back to Latino festival.
To see such a strong police presence @ a festival was sad :(
To see such a strong police presence @ a festival was sad :(
why’s it sad? if you’re not doing anything wrong who cares if they are there or not..
I think it would be sad to see a police state at a festival. a police presence is fine, but in full on swat gear, that isn’t fun. couldn’t imagine seeing something like that at comfest. buzzkill
I wasn’t there, but maybe if there were cops there in riot gear they might have been wiser to have set it up as an “exhibition of police gear” or something. Hand out balloons to the kids or something. They’re still THERE and in riot gear, but then it looks like they’re just walking around to show off the gear to the kids or something. Maybe less of a buzzkill. Maybe not.
I dunno. I can think of worse things to have showing up at a fest.
Who in the hell wants to go to a “festival” when you have what amounts to a militaristic type of police presence? They were all just looking @ you like go ahead, I dare you…
When a few people would gather to converse or what have you they were told to “Move Along!… You can’t just stand there…”
It’s a form of intimidation.
Whether I’m committing a criminal offense is beside the point, I shouldn’t have to feel like a criminal/priosner just because the CPD wants to flex their muscle :roll:
Like I said the overwhelming police prescense alone was enough to keep me and my friends away this year and save us each $30 in the process, thank you Festival Latino.
I guess that’s just a personal issue. Just because they are there wouldn’t bother me or make me feel like a criminal in the slightest. Now if they were telling people to move along and stuff for no reason… that would piss me off.
You’ll want to stay away from festivals and train stations and airports in parts of europe and mexico too then…
I really wanted to go but when I saw the $30 price tag, decided against it. It makes me miss the Puerto Rican Festival that they have every year back in my hometown.
So for those who have gone this year vs. previous years, how has it changed? I can only assume that the vendors were none too happy with how it was set up this year.
What I seen was the largest gang in the city, CPD, dressed up like swat, walking around with automatic weapons and paramilitary gear. There was one group of 4 of them that was dressed head to toe in black, 2 of them had on the full hood so only the eyes were visible. The other 2 did not have on the mask. All four were carrying what looked to me like Uzi’s and they were mean muggin’ everyone.
There was definatly more of an aggressive police prescene than any other festival I’ve ever been.
So I decided then not to go back to Latino festival.
To see such a strong police presence @ a festival was sad :(
I dislike the police as much as anyone else, but a police force is a necessity (especially at events with large crowds). I’m sorry that the S.W.A.T. team scared you though.