Fall Festival: Get Ready for Fun
After missing two years due to the pandemic, Castro Valley’s Fall Festival comes roaring back to life this Saturday, September 10 from 10 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., and Sunday, September 11 from 10 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The hosting Castro Valley & Eden Area Chamber of Commerce expects a big turnout.
“We are so excited to bring back the long-standing tradition of the Castro Valley Fall Festival,” Festival co-chair Janella Anguiano said in a statement. “The tradition began in 1972 and being that we lost two years to the pandemic, we are thrilled to bring it back in its 50th year! Being local business owners, Todd Anglin and I have had a blast co-chairing this event and are looking forward to seeing the local vendors, hearing the amazing bands, and seeing the community out and about and supporting our local businesses.”
“We are so excited to bring back the long-standing tradition of the Castro Valley Fall Festival. The tradition began in 1972 and being that we lost two years to the pandemic, we are thrilled to bring it back in its 50th year!”
Castro Valley Boulevard will be the location for the 50th annual festival, which will see some 300 booths from vendors, schools, and community organizations, along with food and drink, two stages of entertainment, kids' fun, and a public debate between the two final candidates in the 20th State Assembly District race.
Castro Valley Boulevard will be closed to cars between Santa Maria Avenue and Redwood Road, from Friday night at 9:00 p.m. to just before midnight on Sunday, to allow for event set up and dismantling. One can detour using Jamison Way, just to the north. An event this size requires more than 200 volunteers with the setup, two days of operations, and breakdown. Volunteers made up of members of the Chamber will partner with Castro Valley Unified School and many other local groups to make the Fall Festival a success.
Festivities begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday with the Castro Valley High School Madrigals and the Sienna String Quartet on two different stages and run through 6 p.m. that evening.
Other Saturday entertainment includes classic pop music, dance, Zumba fitness, Japanese drums, martial arts, jazz, rock bands, and belly dancing, on two different stages.
Sunday entertainment starts at 10 with In Swing, the Castro Valley Adult School’s jazz band, and the Troop Journey belly dancers. It includes classic rock, The Reverbivores with surf music classics. For you Rock-n-Rollers out there, you can hear from Dead EndFriends, Earthquake, Los Daddios, and Phantom Power. Are you into jazz? Check out The Michael Udelson Trio and Castro Valley Adult School's "In Swing." Got a hankering for classical music? You'll want to check out the Sienna String Quartet and the Phil Santos Violins. And for something truly original, there will be performances of Japanese drums performed by Newark Wadaiko as well as a tribute to Elvis and Priscilla Presley and Sonny and Cher.
The full entertainment schedule for both days is shown in the special section of this week’s Forum.
The Assembly District 20 debate begins at 6 p.m. on Saturday and runs to about 7 p.m. It will be by the main (Bandstand) Stage, at the corner of Redwood Road and Castro Valley Boulevard in front of the Chevron station and across from Safeway.
Candidates Shawn Kumagai and Liz Ortega will put forth their views, with Michael Singer, managing editor of the Castro Valley Forum, moderating. Questions sent in by Chamber of Commerce members will be asked, along with questions given in writing by audience members at the start of the event. The moderator will select questions to give as good an overview of the issues as possible.
The Chamber advises that many people attend the festival, and to allow some extra time to find parking.