New festival to celebrate Escondido's art, music, food

By: DAVID GARRICK - Staff Writer
Oct. 13 event will feature live bands, restaurant samples | Thursday, October 4, 2007 1:22 AM PDT ∞

ESCONDIDO -- The wide variety of dining, art and music available in downtown Escondido will be the focus of Festival Escondido, a new event designed to bring people to the center of town Oct. 13 for a full day of live bands, gallery receptions and local food, beer and wine samplings.

"There have been lots of events highlighting downtown, but nothing that mixes together everything that downtown has to offer like this," said Mayor Lori Holt Pfeiler. "I expect to see the whole city down there."

Festival Escondido will be dramatically different from a street fair because there will be no vendor booths and no selling, just music, food sampling, beer from Escondido's Stone Brewing Co. and wine from several local wineries, said Debra Rosen, chief executive of the Downtown Business Association.

"We wanted to spend a Saturday showcasing the diversity of downtown," said Rosen. "We have such a huge community of art and culture that many people don't know about."

The live music will run the entire length of the festival, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. The food tastings, slated to include more than 20 restaurants, will run from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and the gallery receptions will go from 4 to 8 p.m.

The receptions and music are free, but $30 VIP tickets cover the food samples, an all-day parking permit, complimentary limousine service to downtown and guaranteed seating for the 8:15 p.m. show on the main stage by local jazz artist Peter Sprague.

Rosen said organizers hope to sell about 1,000 VIP tickets. She said they also expect about 10,000 people to attend the festival, but she conceded that such estimates are a wild guess for this first-of-its-kind event.

Some downtown business owners said they are upbeat about the event and its potential to increase the number of people who come to the usual Second Saturday Art Walk, a monthly event during which downtown galleries host special receptions. Second Saturday is being folded into Festival Escondido this month, said Rosen.

"We're expecting to see several hundred more people than we usually get for Second Saturday because all of the businesses are working together to make this special," said Melissa Inez-Walker, owner of Distinction Gallery on Grand Avenue. "We have so many people who come from Los Angeles and San Diego, and I think they'll be impressed to see the whole block wired up instead of just one part."

Cindy Waasdorp, who is helping coordinate the festival's entertainment, said she chose musical acts that fit with the sophisticated and upscale nature of the event.

"There's a lot of hidden talents in Escondido, so we decided to keep the music really local," said Waasdorp. "This event is about downtown, but it's also about the city's artists and musicians. I hope the city falls in love with it."

Greg Koch, owner and co-founder of Stone Brewery, said participating in the festival appealed to him in many ways.

"We love art and culture at Stone," said Koch. "We also see ourselves as being part of the community, so we couldn't pass up a community event like this."

Harvey Mitchell, chief executive of the Escondido Chamber of Commerce, said he expects the festival to give downtown businesses another jolt of exposure.

Mitchell said he was somewhat disappointed that the festival is one weekend before the chamber's annual fall street fair Oct. 21, which typically draws between 50,000 and 60,000 people. While the events have significantly different themes, Mitchell said he would like to see them further apart on the calendar next year.

Rosen said the date was chosen because there is far less competition the second weekend in October from other street fairs and arts festivals in the region.

Cental Elementary School, which is located on Fourth Avenue downtown, will receive $5 from every VIP ticket to support art and music at the school.

For details, go to www.festivalescondido.com.

-- Contact staff writer David Garrick at (760) 740-5468 or dgarrick@nctimes.com.

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