Ah, the Astoria Regatta. Normally a fun kinda thing, lots going on, parade, etc.A few years ago the center of it all was that little stretch of Duane by the Moose Club. I had my vending tent there, as did several others, and we covered both sides of Duane. The parade marched right by, so close you could touch them. My granddaughter was only one at the time, and she was in her stroller just inside the tent, her eyes agog.
It was a fun, relaxed street-festival atmosphere. Post-parade, the bands performed in the street by the Moose Club, which was holding an open house for the weekend, and there were food vendors. The Bowpicker must have cleaned up that weekend - there was always a line in front of the place. The festivities were close to the Maritime Museum, so there was a steady flow back and forth between the street and the museum. It a very nice event that had a small-town cozy feel to it.
Then last year, the regatta committee started feeling a little greedy, so they decided to fence in the Safeway square for the vendors, bands, and beer, and charge admission. Think it was only a buck or two. People winced, but some coughed it up and came in. Not enough to give the vendors much business, though. I mean, who's going to pay to go in and shop when they can see the same vendors on Sunday for free at the Sunday Market?
This year, they raised the fee for vendors, and I decided I wouldn't go through the whole ordeal of setting up my tent in the little fenced-in area. Besides, I knew I would be having company, and preferred to spend the time with them.
Bomb threat be damned, we all set out this morning to see the parade, which the regatta committee has not managed to fuck up yet, and parked ourselves on Duane Street just outside the fenced-in regatta area. A pal of mine, who is a vendor, came out to talk to me. She was pissed. Seriously teeth-gnashing pissed.
It seems the greedy bug bit the regatta committee pretty hard this year. They were charging $5 to come into the fenced area. So nobody was in there but the vendors, who had paid from $50 to $75 to be there, and were in a state of uproar.
My pal told me she was going to fold up her tent and get the hell out of there as soon as the parade was over, and was going to demand her money back. She thought several other vendors were going to do the same.
Needless to say, the vendors had not been told about the admission fee. Kinda like when the Sunday Market managers don't tell vendors at the cruise ships about the passengers being Canadian, and only allowed to spend $50 in the U.S.
Anyway, I was going to take my guests to the regatta festivities tonight until I heard about the $5 per person to get in and the short-pours on the over-priced beer. Forget it.
And where were the gill-net boat races? They advertised them last year, and this year, and nope, no races either year. Heard there was some grumbling on the part of the gill-net boat owners, but don't know exactly what the grumbling was about. The last time they raced was 2005, and it was marvelous to watch them. Another fun part of the regatta, gone.
Too bad the greedy bug ruined what was once a fun event.
7 comments:
Wow! What a scam!
I did a booth at the square last year and was very disappointed, as were all the other vendors...and they didn't even charge a fee to get in last year.
We did about 70% of our business in the 20 minutes after the parade, otherwise it was tumble-weeds.
I must have put in 30 hours of work and after paying the $75 booth fee we ended up with $125 for our scholarship fund.....
Surprised they even had people that wanted to do booths this year.
The only reason they had people with booths this year is because the vendors didn't know about the $5 admission fee. If they had, they wouldn't have done it.
And yes, there was a fee last year (my tent was right by the gate) which they announced once everyone was set up inside the square. Trust me, those of us who knew were PISSED.
But it was only a buck or two, and people who gave them enough grief usually got let in for free. If I remember correctly, they finally gave up on collecting the fee.
Omg, we went last year and I didn't realize they were charing admission! We just walked in... oops, my bad, I guess.
As for this year, we decided to watch the fireworks from our porch and skip the whole thing...
And BOMB scare... sheesh, I'm out of touch!
Oh... found your blog on Orblogs. :D
glad your site is up.
The blogs around here don't tend to provide the plebian viewpoint. Good work.
It always amazes me that when something is going good, some moron has to come along and spoil it. No way were we paying to get in, we'll just come back for free on Sunday, except we don't really go there now because everyone looks so cranky.
We loved the parade, though! And there was an actual bomb! Still, I was happy that the parade goers didn't let the terrorists win, and there was a fantastic turnout. The parade is a great thing still. We're always in the parade, so for us it's fun to see how many friends we can spot along the route amongst the visitors, and there were lots.
If they start charging to be in the parade, however, we're probably out of that.
I thought the fence was odd, what with all those open shops and bars right next to it. If you wanted a beer, you could walk a block over to the Labor Hall and not pay the $5. Duh! For this they get 70K?
Wende ... they quit charging last year when the natives got hostile, and people were just walking in. Apparently they didn't learn their lesson last year.
The "bomb" was a fake pipe bomb, but it gave everyone the flim-flams, anyway. Just more evidence that Astoria has "arrived," sad to say.
Had to laugh at your remark about the cranky vendors at the Sunday Market. I was there today, and know of two vendors who are quitting the market and won't be back next week. One is a long-time vendor, the other just started this season.
Thanks, anon.
Mom3, the regatta people don't get the $70K, it's the Sunday Market managers who get that whopping sum. But they do have one thing in common - greed.
whoops, meant the reply to the "cranky vendors" remark for Mom3
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