Fiesta Broadway: When 150,000 people is not enough.

Sunday's Fiesta Broadway, billed as the nation's largest Latino festival, drew an estimated 150,000 people to downtown Los Angeles to get a jump on Cinco de Mayo celebrations. That's a huge number, based on LAPD estimates, but far below the 500,000 that organizers had been projecting and below previous years, according to L.A. Opinion (story in Spanish). Vendors reported a drop in food sales, parking lot operators pointed to all the empty spaces, and there were no major traffic problems as in previous years, the Spanish-language daily noted. 

Some people blamed the weak attendance on the hot weather, which at one point prompted the Fire Department to hose down overheated festival-goers. While organizers concede attendance fell short of expectations, they estimate, based on information from the Fire Department, that 400,000 people came downtown for the event. 

Attendance figures at public events, from parades and rallies, are always in dispute. In the case of Fiesta Broadway, perhaps everyone should adopt a Torta Sales Index to measure attendance. Vendor Patricia Martinez said she sold about 1,000 of the Mexican-style sandwiches last year. This year's total: fewer than 600.

-- Jesus Sanchez

Photo: Anne Cusack    

Comments

[regina\\]

i think you need to post a big picture just like a bond paper size...
is that ok

[roy molina]

As Angie said, wassup with wassup, it will be nice you ge your facts straight before you comment. this is not even a holiday in mexico, it is nothing but an excuse fabricated by beer and alcohol vendors in the US.

[Angie]

This comment is for the person by the name of Wassup... Cinco de Mayo is not mexican independance day... and most definatly not even celebrated in Mexico its just remembered. its a holiday that was pritty much invented here in the US to give people an extra excuse to drink

[Rafael Estrada]

I was at Feria del Pueblo at Plaza Olvera, they had old school music with Banda Limon and Sonora Santera. I prefer that to all the hoopla.

[Wassup]

Robert is right: this sort of self-promoting festival (for Huizar, the local councilman, whose mug is featured on the event site) is NOT appropriate at this time of fiscal crisis when basic services are cut, including public's use of public parks for soccer, baseball and the Scouts, sidewalk repair falls to private citizens, and the measly 31% of people in this city who own a home -- the Mayor even says, L A has the smallest middle class in the country -- is hit with more and more property taxes for things we're already paying for.

This event cost the city $160,000 in fee waivers NOT counting cost of cops, cleanup and other hugely expensive related services. Firefighters/ cops having to hose down participants.... This is an ethnocentric festival to promote patronage of the local pol, like in Mexico, whereas city-wide events like Festival of Books (held at the same time, with limited public cost) and film and cultural festivals can be multi-ethnic.

Cinco de Mayo celebrates a MEXICAN independence holiday, and it's especially inappropriate waste of our tax dollars. There are plenty of private events using this holiday as an excuse to get drunk and party.

[Robert, L.A, E.R.]

A few other reasons for the reduction in attendance: People do not feel safe in the city, gang-related shootings and deaths happen at any time of day; Police protection for the public is practically ignored by the Mayor and Council, except as a never-ending reason for more fees and taxes; and the rising price of gas may influence travel choices.

City events like this one run contrary to any sense of frugality and accountability to taxpayers that would be expected in the current fiscal state, and not a continuation of generating politically self-serving expenses and event-waiver rubber-stamping.

What is each councilperson doing to address the street terrorism on our local streets? Spending salaried time drafting self-serving proclamations and declarations on matters outside their jurisdiction may help personal re-election goals, but the public's safety and benefit seems to merit no prioritized action. 15 council members each with a staff of 20 needs to do better with real matters that truly are matters of life and death.

Another reason for reduced attendance this year is that the current affairs just don't bring out the idea of celebrating for some people. Some people might not care at all about what is done in City government, but then for those who do see the picture, they might have felt better when they didn’t know as much. The politicians don’t want you to know much and that has to change. They need to change.

['lil Jaimito]

Bring back the beer and the crowds will surpass one million!