14 Jan 2011

Capitol Hill Block Party – changes in 2011?

Last year, the Capitol Hill Block Party added a third day to the festival allowing locals to enjoy a full weekend of music. The 2010 block party drew in 27,000 attendees. Now, there is nowhere, but up for the festival to go. While I do believe that the festival will continue to be a three-day, I have my concerns about the set up of the festival. Having attended back in 2008 and 2010, I noticed significant differences between the two years.

In 2008, the main stage was nestled right in the center of the festival alongside Neumos. Last year, to get to the main stage, you had to walk to the very edge of the boundaries on Broadway and once you were in the position for viewing, you were trapped. You were essentially stuck there until that performance was over when everyone was dispersing at the same time.

The block party of 2008 brought out a variety of vendors that handed out snacks, beverages, keepsakes, and toys free of charge to the attendees. I was disappointed when I came home with no swag last year. A colored squirt gun and a Vampire Weekend papered fan from 2008 aren’t necessarily items that I use everyday, but they are reminders of what a great time I had. It also helps to get the word out about other local organizations and their causes.

In a recent post by the Capitol Hill Seattle Blog, they mentioned that store owners who were located near the festival were hurt by it and that they expected to be reimbursed for their loss. They have proposed that the festival be moved to neighboring Cal Anderson Park. As we all know, I LOVE Cal Anderson Park, but it’s a park and it is no place for a music festival. Having the park there is a great retreat from the festival itself and allows attendees to take a break, grab some food, and get away from the chaos for a little bit. Can you imagine 27,000 people at Cal Anderson? It would be destroyed.

Since there was a debate over the logistics of 2011’s Capitol Hill Block Party, a discussion was held with community members this past Wednesday.

While I understand that there are some locals who are unhappy with the festival, I do not think that the issue requires a location change. It is one weekend and it is a weekend in which many people love and enjoy. With every event, there will always be complications and I hope that through these discussions, the coordinators of the festival and business owners will be able to work something out.

Source

*** UPDATE: View what local businesses had to say here.

Posted on January 14, in -

2 Comments

  1. D Mart wrote:

    Volenteer park makes more sence. It’s huge w/ lot’s of space for a main stage and a few other smaller stages.

    Posted on 4.7.11 ·

Comments are closed.