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J110 Fair/Festival Coverage |
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EXAMPLE STORY: The San Diego Union-Tribune
BYLINE: Samuel Autman; STAFF WRITER The Adams Avenue Street Fair, punctuated yesterday by near 90-degree temperatures and red, white and blue flags dangling from every direction, was more akin to a Fourth of July festival than a late September street fair. Over two days, organizers expect a record 150,000 patrons to take in the music, food and festivities along Adams Avenue between 35th and Bancroft streets. Performances resume today at 10:30 a.m. This year marks the
20th anniversary of the street fair, said Marco Anguiano, executive director
of the Adams Avenue Business Association and festival coordinator. "Next
year we will have reached adulthood," he said. "I always The music blared from
the seven stages throughout the day. People danced in the street. Others
wandered from booth to booth, eating and drinking and buying crafts. But
while people were having a good time, the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks "Maybe a lot
of people put off doing things, and now there is this pent up energy to
get back into their normal swing of things," said Larry Benecke of
La Costa. "We were all so riveted by the TV waiting for the next
bit of information Although patrons didn't talk about it nonstop, the evidence was in the patriotic colors that blitzed the area. U.S. flags abounded. Vendors sold them. People wore flags around their waists. Flags were used as headbands and halter tops. Some had flags as tattoos. There were even a few dogs covered in flags. "I just think that it's really important that we show our spirit and remind people of what's happening," said Shannon Wilson of Normal Heights who had a shiny miniature flag on her back. Anybody who wants a flag can find the Old Red, White and Blue in almost any form imagineable on sale at the street fair. Baseball caps. T-shirts. Pinatas. Traditional cloth flags. Plastic flags. Pocket flags. At some booths, the flags were selling quickly. But not all of the vendors were so fortunate. Ruby Miranda, a North Park pinata vendor, ordered 25 pinatas in the shape of large U.S. flags. By 2 p.m. she had not sold one. Her water and soda sales were brisk, however. "Pinatas are more for decoration," she said. "I don't see people wanting to buy them so they can beat the flag." Andre Desilets of University Heights has been coming to the fair for four years. He enjoys walking and seeing all the people and booths. This year he appreciated the patriotic colors. "These flags and colors are really neat," he said. "People are slowly getting back to what they were doing before. It's just going to take some time."
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EXAMPLE STORY: Los Angeles Times
BYLINE: MATT SURMAN, TIMES STAFF WRITER It's the one time of the year when Camarillo the suburb looks more like Camarillo the small town. Drawing hundreds of locals and visitors Sunday, the Camarillo Fiesta and Street Fair was a chance for neighbor to see neighbor and for Ventura Boulevard to feel like a bustling small town--granted, one studded with amusement park rides and food booths. In a city bisected
by a freeway, this is when residents feel the most like a community. "We've
just lived here forever and we wanted to see everybody," said Shelly
Giacopuzzi, who came with her teenage son Keith. "You come to something
The sunny, warm street included a line of vendors hawking snow cones, coconut drinks and temporary tattoos. A giant inflatable dinosaur oversaw the festivities. The Ferris wheel turned, the Tilt-a-Whirl whirled, and the Zipper ripped. And for five dollars, the brave strapped themselves into a rubber-band contraption and bounced themselves from a trampoline. "It was pretty wild," said Kelsey Lewis, a Thousand Oaks resident. "I felt like I could be a gymnast." She thought it wise to wait until after her trip on the trampoline to eat. But it was clear that the other event of the day was scarfing down goodies. Standing in the center
of the festival, Rhonda Wharton held a plate topped with a leaning tower
of funnel cakes. Festooned with whipped cream and dollops of five different
kinds of fruit, the cakes attracted their fair share of admirers It was Wharton's time off from staffing Buena High School's funnel cake booth, but her treat served as an advertisement. "This is mine," said Wharton, of Ventura, whose daughter attends Buena High. "I'm taking a break, and showing it off at the same time." The festival also provided a chance to advertise the city's renovated downtown, which was recently outfitted with brightly colored flowers dotting an expanded boardwalk with Victorian street lamps. "This is going to show people we have a nice, redone kind of Main Street," said lifelong resident Melissa Drummond, who walked the festival with her teenage son. But, for at least one person, Camarillo couldn't muster the small-town feel. "I'm from Somis," said Ligia Velasquez. "This is the big city." |
Tips on Fair/Festival Coverage from Poynter Institute
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