Residents and merchants shocked, disappointed

The Bay Area’s largest Cinco de Mayo festival, held in Oakland, has been cancelled for 2009. It will be the first time in nineteen years that the festival won’t be the celebration destination for people from around the Bay. A long and colorful parade, live music, and the great Mexican food of International

Blvd. attracted more than 100,000 people to the one-day event every year. The event was a tradition for many East Bay residents who were shocked to hear that the event was cancelled. Hayward will be the only bayside city between Oakland and San Jose with a city-backed Cinco de Mayo festival this year.

Merchants along International Blvd. in Oakland are familiar with the challenges and costs of producing such a large event with big security needs. Their disappointment, though, was deepened by the economic loss: with business slow in the current economy, merchants were depending on the festival to be a big sales day as it is every year.

“It’s really sad that it was cancelled because it is a safe event where working class families came,” says Terri Alderete, who was the main organizer of the festival until two years ago. “In the current social and economic climate, many sponsors didn’t want to commit the same money they had in the past,” she adds.

Though the festival was an alcohol-free event, the restaurants and liquor stores along International Blvd. served and sold a lot of beer and spirits to event attendees. Though there were few problems during festival hours, there were reports every year of disturbances or fights as the festival closed down. City of Oakland police provided security, though the $80,000+ cost for the ninety officers at the event became too large a part of the event’s total budget.

In recent years, the City of Oakland paid for part of the police costs but was not able to for this year’s event. According to organizers, liability insurance costs also represented a large part of the budget.

One restaurant owner, who requested her name not be published, says merchants need to learn to work together and be more responsible. She says many merchants that serve alcohol don’t respect the rules, trying to make as much money as possible and not caring about the safety of the public. As a merchant for many years in the Fruitvale area, she understands why the city requires so many police at the event – merchants oversell alcohol and the problems start. “If the community is not safe it’s not a celebration,” she concludes.

Event organizers have announced that they are planning a new event, Fiestas Patrias, which celebrates Mexico’s Independence Day. Scheduled for September 13th of this year, the event will be similar in scale and format to the Cinco de Mayo festival.