Los Banos Street Faire - Apr 18, 2009

April 18, 2009. This street fair is held on a main street of Los Banos, CA, just off Highway 132, approx 5 miles from Highway 5.

General info:

Rotary Pancake Breakfast at the Miller & Lux Buidling 7:30 AM to 11:00 AM,
Drinks, Food Booths and public information booths are also open during the event. There is usually a concurrent event taking place at the Henry Miller Plaza at the intersection of H and Main Streets. See the information for the scheduled Street Faire dates below to see the added activites planned for that show. Click on this link for website

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Generally the fairs are scheduled on the 2nd or 3rd Saturday of April and the last Saturday of September. Once the dates are proposed and accepted by the chamber board of directors, downtown merchants and the City those dates will be posted here.

I set my alarm clock for 4:15AM. The show was to start at 8:30, but I pretty much knew that the crowds would be light until perhaps 10:00 AM. My alarm clock did not go off because I hadn't set the correct button in it. I woke up at 5:05 and after seeing that it was rather late, I woke up my wife and quickly got ready, departing home around 5:20. I had originally wanted to depart at 4:45, which would have gotten us there around 6:30 or just a bit later.

We headed out of town on Highway 238 and then 580 over to 5. The total distance to Los Banos was around 108 miles. Since we left so late, we really had to 'haul ass'. Sorry for the language in that one, but I just did not think that 'drive fast' was descriptive enough. We simply 'hauled ass' covering 100 miles in 80 minutes. Avg speed of 75MPH. Everybody was zooming on Highway 5. As I watched the sun coming up over the horizon, I knew that when I eventually turned east, I was going to get a blinding sun in my face.

For some reason, I saw a sign that said 'Los Banos next exit' and I exited just after I saw that sign and ended up on Highway 33 heading East. I had been to Los Banos several times before and I just don't know why I exited there. We had to back track and went 4 miles to the correct exit and then went downtown.

When I checked in, they told me that I was all the way down on the street. So, I drove about 4 blocks before getting to my space, waving to several of my friends, who had all gotten there earlier, as I passed slowly by them.

We arrived at our space and set up. It was 7:00 and it was already getting warm. Crowds were late and very light throughout the day, as compared to other year's here. There were way too many booths for the amount of people attending and the people around here do not have much money. Sales were down this year for us, but we didn't do 'terrible' like some of the other vendors.

I can't understand why you have 4 blocks of vendors, etc. and you are only providing 6 porta-potties. Three on a side street in the middle of the show and another 3 at the far end (our end, luckily) at a car show across the street. Still a long walk.

For each event this year, I shall provide an overall summary of that particular show.

BOOTH FEES: $50 for one space; $80 for two. Anything goes. Excellent. When people are buying, the 'value' of the show is $80-$100. Note: This event is held in mid-April, right on the outer fringes of our rainy season and weather could be a problem. Thus, perhaps the reason for low booth fees.

PROMOTERS: They handle the show pretty good and there is a good police presence throughout the event. Very nice. However, they do not send confirmation of acceptance and need to work on the porta-pottie solutionn.

THE GOOD: Cheap. Spaces are 15 feet wide. Great for us and others who need to display ln side of canopy. Parking not a problem, at least on the far end. They had people sit in for vendors leaving for toilet and food breaks.

THE BAD: Porta potties. Car show in separate area across the street. Food booths spaced amongst vendors. Might be better to put them all in a separate area. There were a number of non-profit hot dogs, etc. I don't know if they would do any good if they were together with other food vendors.

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Rotary Pancake Breakfast at the Miller & Lux Buidling 7:30 AM to 11:00 AM, Drinks, Food Booths and public information booths are also open during the event. There is usually a concurrent event taking place at the Henry Miller Plaza at the intersection of H and Main Streets. See the information for the scheduled Street Faire dates below to see the added activites planned for that show. Click on this link for website
*
Generally the fairs are scheduled on the 2nd or 3rd Saturday of April and the last Saturday of September. Once the dates are proposed and accepted by the chamber board of directors, downtown merchants and the City those dates will be posted here.