CV Fall Festival: How Good Is It Really?

I have said this before but, at the risk of being redundant, any community that will close its main street for a parade or a festival has to be a great place to live!

This year, however, the Boulevard was closed only for the rodeo parade. Since the Boulevard was partially closed by construction, the Fall Festival landed on Norbridge and in the library parking lot. Very nice move! As usual the Festival had something for everybody.

Typical for this type of event there were vendors with some very nice and unique items for sale, many of them items that are not normally found anywhere but at festivals. But equally typical were the items that I cannot imagine that people would pay good money for.

Covering the entire event seemed to require more walking than when the festival was on the Boulevard. A visitor might want to first visit the Beck's Shoes booth and acquire a good pair of walking shoes! Much walking leads to a need for rest. A nice addition to the Festival might be benches or chairs placed in strategic rest areas throughout the show. As it stands now the only seating that one can use to stop and rest is located in the food area.

And speaking of the food area, it was entirely without any sort of shade! Fortunately, the weather was not extremely warm but it would have been nice to be able get out of the sun for a while.

It was good to see so many of the Castro Valley businesses displaying their wares and services. Castro Valley residents seem to require frequent reminders that these businesses exist in our community. Equally nice to see were the booths put up by our very important police and fire-fighters. Sometimes we forget that they are around and just what they do for us.

I didn't partake of any of the many different foods that were offered but the sights and smells were certainly enticing. Interestingly, I noticed that the longest line was at the soft ice cream booth! Were those in line having dessert first?

Placing the stages at the extreme ends of the venue was a stroke of genius. While the entertainment was fine, occasionally some of the music can be a little overwhelming. With the music on the festival fringes it was easy to find a "silent", or at least muted, spot in the area for a little relief while still being able to browse the vendors' booths.

I didn't get to the car show because, being a lifelong gearhead, I've been to and participated in enough car shows to last me for the rest of my life. I am certain that the quality of the cars was at least equal to those of the past shows and the cars probably added much to the overall quality of the Festival.  

All in all, this was a Festival for Castro Valley to be proud of. It is fun to browse the vendors' booths, watch the entertainment, see friends, and just enjoy the general atmosphere. All who are involved in the creation of this event each year that worked so hard to bring it to us fortunate citizens of Castro Valley deserve congratulations and kudos. I'll see you there next year.