Fall Festival Takes Over the Boulevard This Weekend
Castro Valley’s Fall Festival is taking over downtown this Saturday, September 7, from 10 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and Sunday, September 8, from 10 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The Castro Valley and Eden Area Chamber of Commerce hosts the event, and the group expects a big turnout for the Festival’s 52nd year.
Castro Valley’s Fall Festival is taking over downtown this Saturday, September 7, from 10 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and Sunday, September 8, from 10 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The Castro Valley and Eden Area Chamber of Commerce hosts the event, and the group expects a big turnout for the Festival’s 52nd year.
“We in the Chamber are really looking forward to this weekend,” said Chamber CEO Gary Slate. “But we could not do this by ourselves. We want to thank all of the many people who will make it a huge success. This includes all the vendors, performers, sponsors, and guests. Let’s have a great
time!”
The 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.
Local Entertainment
As in years past, entertainment will be on two stages: the Redwood Stage (closest to Redwood Road) and the Bedford Stage (closest to Santa Maria Avenue), named after Castro Valley native Jim “Bedford” of Bedford Studios.
Music and festivities begin at 10 a.m. on Saturday with the Castro Valley High School Madrigals on the Redwood Stage followed by Classic Rock and Pop from bands like The Doors Tribute band Door Jam, Manchild and the Circuit, and perennial favorite Take Cover.
The Bedford Stage kicks off simultaneously with the Pharaoh’s Dream belly dancing performers, followed by the Castro Valley School of Music and the Phil Santos Violins.
Sunday’s entertainment on the Redwood Stage gets in the mood, with the In Swing Jazz Orchestra starting at 10 a.m. and continuing through 6 p.m. when Latin-inspired Rock & Roll from Los Daddios will close out the festival. The Bedford Stage entertainment on Sunday starts with belly dancing performances from Troupe Journey and closes out the weekend with a special performance by Joan Bascom.
The full entertainment schedule for both days is shown in the special pull-out section of this week’s Forum.
Local Food Vendors
This year's food options are particularly exciting because they will include fan favorites like corn dogs, kettle corn, and snow cones, as well as many local food vendors such as Nice Jazz!, Freezy Frosty, and Sweetcanes Sugarcane Juicery.
The food vendor selection process has been consistent for many years, and the Chamber strives to avoid copying similar offerings from the existing food vendors on the Boulevard. M&J Culinary will again provide artichoke dishes, Sonoma Teriyaki will serve its signature Chinese cuisine, and Costal Paella will whip up—you guessed it—paella.
Visit the Chamber website for more details (edenareachamber.com).