By Gia Hale
Downtown Hollister was the place to be on Saturday for
family-friendly entertainment, food and shopping at the 20th Annual
Summer Street Festival.
Downtown Hollister was the place to be on Saturday for family-friendly entertainment, food and shopping at the 20th Annual Summer Street Festival.
“I’d say it was very successful,” said event chair Jeana Arnold. “There was higher attendance this year and the local store owners were happier this year.”
Kelly’s Giftplace employee Erica Rodriguez was surprised at the amount of people who attended.
“Downtown was pretty packed,” she said.
Arnold said that the size of festival probably reached the 5,000 people that were estimated to attend.
The street festival is run annually by the Hollister Downtown Association on the last weekend before summer officially ends. The idea is to entertain locals who might usually turn to attractions outside of town.
The event was centered on San Benito Street, which was shut down to accommodate the various vendors and attractions, including live entertainment, free watermelon, and a classic car show featuring 100 cars and three boats.
“The car show was definitely the biggest attraction,” said Arnold, “and the rock climbing wall seemed to be very popular with the kids.”
The rock climbing wall was one of several new attractions featured this year in addition to already established mainstays like the classic car show. Also for the first time, local high school bands performed in front of the YMCA building on Fifth Street and local dance students put on a show at the Veteran’s Memorial Building. Attendees were also encouraged to decorate the streets with sidewalk chalk provided by the HDA.
“There was more writing than art,” said Arnold, “but the chalk was definitely used.”
In addition to the myriad entertainment, locals could familiarize themselves with the regular shopping downtown Hollister has to offer. The event is welcomed and appreciated by local businesses which benefit from the influx of people who might otherwise do their shopping elsewhere.
“I’d say it was about three times busier,” said Candy Maroney of She’s. “We had foot traffic in the store all day long.”
“I think it’s a good idea,” agreed Rodriguez. “A lot more people were in and out of the stores.”
Arnold said all of the food and craft vendors were from local businesses, which was a departure from past years. She said that aspect of the festival was very successful.
Maroney attested to the happiness of local businesses.
“I thought it was run very well,” she said.
As for next year, Arnold plans to keep increasing the size and family-friendly atmosphere of the event.
“I’d like to make the car show and bounce house area bigger,” she said, “and have even more things for the kids to do.”
