Politics & Government

Help Brand Old Town's New Street Fair

The City Council gave the go ahead to close down Elk Grove Blvd for a monthly festival. But what should it be called, and which Saturday should it be held?

There's good news and there's bad news for fans of First Fridays...er, Second Saturdays...er, you know, that monthly street fair that they used to hold in Old Town.

The good news is that the City Council Wednesday set aside $6,000 to one Saturday evening per month from April through June so that the festival can resume. The funds will come from the city's existing 2011-12 special events budget. After that, the Old Town Elk Grove Foundation—which sponsored First Fridays until —can apply to renew the funding through October.

The bad news is that no one's quite sure what to call the new art-and-shopping-focused event or exactly which day it should be held.

Find out what's happening in Elk Grovewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Foundation leaders first came up with Second Saturdays, taking a cue from the art walk by that name that takes place each month in Sacramento's Midtown neighborhood. Other nearby towns, like Folsom, also hold Second Saturday events. But the plan didn't sit well with Elk Grove craftspeople, who want to sell their wares to the Midtown crowds, too.

"Second Saturday, that's been coopted. Somebody else already got that," said Councilmember Patrick Hume. "So we have to think of something else to do."

Find out what's happening in Elk Grovewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

While agreeing to the street closure to reduce liability problems, city officials already put the kebosh on the First Friday moniker, deeming it too difficult to shut down vehicle traffic during a Friday evening commute.

Old Town Foundation leaders said they'll meet in the next week to come up with a plan that doesn't conflict with existing city events.

Whatever the new fair is called, it will include and entertainment, said Foundation President Paula Maita. Larger local organizations will be encouraged to sponsor the event in exchange for booth space, Maita said, while the cost to artists to participate will be minimal.

Oh, and one more thing she's hoping the festival will have: a lot more of those newcomers from Laguna.

"We really believe the west side of Elk Grove doesn't have any idea what we offer for entertainment...what a nice summer evening you can spend in Old Town," said Maita.

Patch will do its part to spread the word to Occidental Elk Grove, once the event takes shape. In the meantime, readers, help the Foundation out: When's the best day to hold this monthly fiesta? And what should it be called? Tell us in the comments.


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