LAist: Was Sunset Junction Supposed to be a Free Event?

nicosilverlake

Tue, 09 Sep 2008 16:04:36 -0800

According to Sunset Junction Neighborhood Alliance the purpose of the festival is to get the neighborhood together. A music festival that charges $20 does not accomplish this in any way. Whether its a good deal or not is not the point. The point is that Sunset Junction Neighborhood Alliance masquerades as a non-profit and then throw a huge music festival that trickles down a measley $50,000 to the community. They won't detail how the $50,000 is spent or much else about their organization because they feel entitled to posession of the street due to the years they held the free street fair. I've lived in the neighborhood 30 years so BLUEZ back off on saying the critics are newbies. Really the people who hate it most are those who were in the neighborhood when the festival was free, fun and full of neighbors. Whatever it is now, it ain't a "community" event. You also can't say the businesses made money - some do some don't - but money never used to be the point. That's all the organizers talk about now money. We in the community say open your books.

THE BLUEZ

Sun, 31 Aug 2008 13:53:57 -0800

It's funny that so many people are complaining about one of the best street festivals in California. The Germs or Black Keys alone would coast $20 or more at a Hollywood Bowl or House Of Blues. There was something like 20 bands, three stages, rides, food etc..; and an incredible time. The business inside the fair do well, and everyone forgets that Sunset Junction is also a benefit, whose money goes not only to rebuilding dilapidated landmarks in the neighborhood, but provides well needed programs for kids (who also work in the fair) from all over Los Angeles. This is also the festival's 28th year in the same location, most of the people complaining just moved into the supposed "artistic" community. Just think how much gas and food has gone up in that time. and for the person writing about San Francisco. The same weekend Beck, Manu Chao and other similar bands played in the Bay Area street festival and the admission cost.. $110 a day

90039

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 00:39:26 -0800

let see... - 8ft fences installed overnight - not allowing the postman to deliver mail sounds a bit more like a prison camp to me first the lotus-free lotus fest...and now the mandatory donation sunset junction.. what is happening to this city? what is mandatory donation anyway... you would think in the current econmic climate, they wouldn't be charging $20 to hear some live music in the middle of the street... at least they could offer residents in the immediate area free weekend passes.

Tom Andrews

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 14:45:02 -0800

Ask Eric Garcetti what he is going to do about Sunset Junction and where your forced donation of $20.00 is going and to what charity : Council member Eric Garcetti can be reached at: councilmember.garcetti@lacity.org We elected him and he is suppose to be looking out for us!

Hindinwood

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 12:12:32 -0800

I don't understand how this is still going on! After getting into a verbal arguement with this Michael charachter last year on the phone (about their ridiculous wrist band pick up system for locals, which has a least been improved) I called Eric Garcetti's office last year to complain. Apparently there was a well-attended community meeting in response to all the complaints they got. Yet sure enough, $20 entrance fee once again. Not to mention the shear inconvenience of all the fences. I got home late Friday night to find my street completely sealed off by an 8 foot fence! Wtf?! I had to ask a passer by to help me pry back the fence so I could squeeze through. Then Sunday night they were being extremely uptight about what is an "exit" vs. "entrance" and made me walk all over the damn place just so I could go home and go to sleep. I've been going to this thing pretty much since it started, and it NEVER had this uptight Lollapolooza vibe until a few years ago. Sad. Someone needs to hire a lawyer to investigate the legality of this whole situation...

90039

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 10:25:21 -0800

this is exactly why i did not attend this weekend so...for the first 26 years of the festival...seems they never had a problem holding the festival the year after on a donation basis.... are they going to use gas prices for this too? or is it that they need money to pay for the bands and their accomidations now that they are attracting nationally known acts. id like to see a report of how much the enterance fee made this year and how much was made in 2006.

Tom Andrews

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 17:39:31 -0800

typetive, I agree nothing will come of this Eric Garcetti will continue to be silent and continue to be a council member. Only your vote will be heard! People don't get involved, there will be another batch of people willing to pay $25.00 next year! I refused to pay $20.00 and I was not let in even though I live down the street! Party on Silver Lake!

galaxiekat

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 17:23:11 -0800

i used to love sunset junction. the mandatory donations left a sour taste in my mouth, but i went anyway. what has permanently turned me off from the festival is all that they claim their proceeds go to. the school i work at is listed on their website as a recipient of their money. i smell bs. i've asked around--to those who are responsible for receiving community donations, to those who are responsible for program funding, even to those responsible for running the flippin' school--and no one could tell me that we received their money. if they're a non-profit, like they claim, they need open their books to the community.

typetive

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 16:52:16 -0800

Zach - it's very funny that O'Farrell makes the comment about checking with the city attorney. According to Josh Kamensky in his comments two years ago on b.la on a post I made there, they DID check: http://la.metblogs.com/2006/08/11/sunjun-street-fair-open-issues/ Really all that needs to be done here is change the laws. If you don't like that some guy can shut down the street and not be accountable for where the money goes, go to city council and propose some oversight. I hear a lot of bitching, year after year the week before and the week after, but nothin' ever happens.

Tladatsi

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 16:32:46 -0800

I don't know about the 20 USD entrance fee but I can testify as to how unbelievably loud it was. I was way over at north end of Echo Park on a hill above Riverside Drive and I could hear the music there - LOUD. That is two miles away as the crows flies over two or three ridges. I cannot image how loud it was in Dayton Heights or Silver Lake.

Zach Behrens

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 16:17:36 -0800

While I didn't ask what specifically the money from this event was going to, I did ask what the Sunset Junction Neighborhood Alliance, the nonprofit that ran this event, does as a service entity. The answer: youth soccer, sunset junction area murals, the Tsunami Cafe/youth training program within the cafe. Take it for what it's worth and run with it. I know some people would not be very satisfied with this, especially the murals one.

fabricio

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 16:10:30 -0800

Man... Why are people so easily taken from one place to another like sheep. Nobody asked an explanation when they were paying the $20? Is all LA becoming like that? That whole Sunset area is a rip-off of NYC anyway.

rdm24

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 14:59:13 -0800

Militant, Your response feels like a personal attack, and I'm not sure why that was warranted. Maybe that's what "millitant" refers to? I know I haven't been to enough street fairs in LA, but I do know that quite a few of them charge a lot to enter, unlike any other city I have lived in. (I'm using "city" broadly, because this applies to other street fairs in socal outside LA proper.) The way Sunset Junction used to be (small suggested donation) is still the way most fairs operate in New York, Boston, and San Francisco. I don't know why this is the case. I assume that the county government here makes extra demands so that fairs must pass costs on to participants. But I don't know if that's really true, and I was hoping someone on this thread might know. On the plus side, LA seems to have lots of art walks which are free, popular, and go off without a hitch.

QuietTristan

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 14:23:29 -0800

kinkos

zebraradar

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 14:16:00 -0800

well I dind't want to pay and i overheard some neighbors talking about how you didn't have to so i went up to the entrance where they were selling tickets and asked if it was just a donation or if i had to pay 20$ and they said you had to for the music part past a certain street but if i wanted to just go in for the shops on the street i could go in without paying. so we did! but then i wanted to pass through the part where the music was and the staff asked to see my wristband and i showed i didn't have one so i had to turn back. but then 10 min later i snuck through by the porta potties and ran in to go see a free show by kinky! woo hoo! haven't paid for sunset junction ever and this is my third time going. free or nothing at all i say! ha

Militant Angeleno

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 14:15:41 -0800

rdm24: Um, you obviously don't go to enough street fairs. But most are organized by non-profit organizations, who require sponsorships from various sources. The Songkran Thai New Year event in April was sponsored not only by the Royal Thai Consulate but by Singha Beer, Thai Airways, local Thai American media outlets and others. you obviously have little knowledge of how ethnic communities function, so the Militant will just leave it at that.

rdm24

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 13:16:20 -0800

What is wrong with LA? I always wondered why southern California seems incapable of having inexpensive streetfairs while San Francisco has no problem holding some of the largest in the world for low suggested donations (SF Pride, Haight Street festival, Folsom, etc.) Sunset Junction, LA Pride, and Long Beach Pride all charge $20 fees (not donations) and offer very little for it. The only free streetfair I've seen in LA was the Thai New Year, which I think was underwritten by the Thai government. This is a systemic problem and not just isolated to Sunset Junciton. Anyone have some insight?

caliking01

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 12:43:01 -0800

Stop yur bitching. Its once a year. And contrary to everyone who DIDNT go and are bashing this years fest...I DID go and had an amazing time. I was even at Malo for most of the day. Why would you PAY for drinks tickets for shity beer and crap (fake) margaritas from the fest when your surrounded by bars? The bands were great this year too. It should be $15. But Id rather have it there every year than not.

Colinski

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 12:34:25 -0800

Good investigative journalism, Zach!

BekkaTeerlink

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 12:33:14 -0800

I live on one of the streets closed off by the festival and have mixed feelings. While I love a good festival, this has gotten way to expensive and crowded. I hate that on Sunset Junction weekend I don't have any access to local businesses... unless I pay $20 to get through. Even to get a cup of coffee/tea in the morning I would have to hop in a car (or on my bike, because of the massive traffic) and go a mile or two to some cafe outside the craziness. And it's especially annoying to have 10 people hunting for street parking ask "Hey, are you leaving?" while I'm watering my plants.

Will Campbell

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 12:29:19 -0800

Interesting to see Garcetti's office acting on this. But if Eric & Company is pretending this is a new issue then its being as disingenuous as McKinley. The sense I've gotten from CD-13 in past fests was one of shruggy resignation.

Johnny

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 12:03:34 -0800

I'm glad I didn't go this year. It seems Sunset Junction (like a lot of other cool events) has become to big for it's own britches and has succumbed to the almighty dollar. To bad.

Zach Behrens

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 11:59:08 -0800

@thegodofthor If the estimated $50,000 actually came and all paid $20, that's one million dollars.

estarla

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 11:50:53 -0800

Aye to that, Tom Andrews. I considered going, looked up the entrance fee (as in, if there was one at all), saw it was $20 and said No más. I used to go every year but $20 to walk the streets and give local vendors my business is just stupid.

thegodofthor

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 11:50:48 -0800

$20.00? wow, thats just dumb. glad I didn't go this year. I would love to know who gets the cash from this. But, it does go to show, that maybe Los Angeles needs more festival type things.

Tom Andrews

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 11:42:54 -0800

Could this become a CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT for the people who paid $20.00 to get in? I think anyone who paid $20.00 should be eligible for a refund!

G Pro

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 11:38:08 -0800

$20 is a bit much for an entrance fee and expensive beers. I voted no confidence as well.

nicosilverlake

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 11:36:54 -0800

it was a disappointing junction. the community spirit that founded the event 25+ years ago is no longer there since its become a music festival with an admitance fee. the neighborhood stays away. the organizers seem to hate the merchants and the neighbors. really depressing.

Tom Andrews

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 11:36:46 -0800

I just e-mailed Eric Garcetti asking for an explanation of how this could happen and where the $20.00 entrance fees are going. Here is the e-mail if you want to ask too: councilmember.garcetti@lacity.org

Militant Angeleno

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 11:35:06 -0800

Weston Deboer: According to the Militant's O.G. Silver_Lake operatives, that ish has been going on for quite a while. They describe the organizer's handling of the community as "quasi-Mafiesque behavior."

WagonMonster

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 11:33:42 -0800

Sunset Junction has jumped the shark. I went back in 1998 and 1999 and it was great. I went again last year and vowed to never go back.

weston deboer

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 11:22:59 -0800

I always knew that sunset junction was doing a lot of dirty work to get what they wanted.

raul

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 11:20:30 -0800

Will there be an Eagle Rock Music Festival this year? Last year was great--and free!

jrb

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 11:19:11 -0800

I'm with you Militant. $20 bucks just to get in so that you can then pay for over priced food, beverages, and ATM machines seems like a real rip. I didn't go this year, and the last couple of years I only went because I got to table for California Clean Money and was able to get in free. The vendors who pay for booth space must feel a bit ripped off as well when you consider that a $20 entrance fee means that attendees are going to have less to spend on concessions.

Zach Behrens

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 11:06:30 -0800

emoney, it's true and I have a photo that will be posted later in another article bout the festival and the business owners. However, there was a wall of security guards checking braclets at Sanborn stopping people who got into the festival south of that street.

Militant Angeleno

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 11:04:40 -0800

Thank you, LAist. This is the primary reason why the Militant has a problem with the Sunset Junction Street Festival.

Emoney

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 11:00:06 -0800

I'm not sure if this is true, but I was told that the owner of Stella was 'pissed at the promoter and letting people into the event for free through his building.'