Arts & Entertainment

Blocks and Blocks of Booths, Music and Food – Solano Stroll

For thousands of people today, Sunday, the place to be was the 39th Annual Solano Avenue Stroll – the East Bay's biggest street festival – with its 26 blocks of information booths, food vendors, crafts, music and even a police motorcycle competition.

The Solano Avenue Stroll again justified its name Sunday as the thousands of people thronging the street meant that a leisurely amble was pretty much the top speed one could travel.

A stroll, in fact, seemed the best way to take in the multitude of offerings in the warm sunshine on the 26-block route along Solano between The Alameda in Berkeley and San Pablo Avenue in Albany.

The event's organizer, the Solano Avenue Association, said there were 150 booths by government, non-profit groups and other enterprises as well as 50 food booths, 50 entertainers and 50 arts and crafters.

A quick survey by Patch of seven cheek-by-jowl booths near Colusa Avenue found, in order:

  • Aikido Shuseki
  • The JazzSchool
  • Berkeley Lacrosss
  • Berkeley Chess School
  • Berkeley High Cross Country
  • Mike's Bikes
  • East Bay Rowing Club 
It was the 39th annual Solano Avenue Stroll – the biggest street festival in the East Bay – and organizers said attendance was expected to be 250,000, though it's not clear how anyone could tally the total who showed up.

New to the stroll this year was the Police Motorcycle Competition, in which motorcycle officers from 11 agencies competed on an obstacle course set up on the playground at Thousand Oaks Elementary School in Berkeley. 

Many of the booths, especially those offering spin-the-wheel giveaways like candy, seldom lacked visitors, and lines could be counted on at several food vendors as well as the tall slide at the western end of the street.

A variety of music could be heard. A half block walk by Patch went from "Born to the Be Wild" to a medley of Simon & Garfunkle, followed not long afterward by lively Mexican tunes.

---------------------

For another way to connect with Albany Patch, you can "like" us on Facebook.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here