Park & King After 5 Street Festival this Friday

[iluvolives]

Is there anyway to have at least one block closed to street traffic so that it has more of a block party type feel? I know it's difficult because businesses are spread out over several blocks, but it would have been nice for people to mingle in the street and maybe have live music outside.

[33taps]

As a first time event, I understand it is difficult to get a section of a main street blocked off.   Something you must strive to do in the future and definitely get a stage and some live music going.    I think getting some of King street blocked off would be the way to go.

Thanks should also go out to officer duckworth and other officer who gave their time to roll around on the police carts.    After talking to him, it was greatly appreciated that they were not going to be enforcing the jacksonville beach police gustapo tactics that you find at the beach.    Nice to have the presence but be allowed to have a good time without getting hassled.     Getting assistance like this will be key in expanding the event to a larger scale.

It was also nice to see the owners and executive chef of Pele's Wood Fire set up on their corner greeting people and answering questions.   They will be a great addition to the neighborhood and by the looks of their promotional flyer, they have some amazing things planned for their restaurant.

Great first time effort. 

[tufsu1]

suggested here is closing off the street and setting up a stage....would folks be willing to pay more $ to defray these costs...for example, would you still buy a mug if the cost was $8?

[PeeJayEss]

I had high hopes for this event and was really excited after work Friday night.  What a let down!  To me "street festival atmosphere" is more than just a bunch of businesses loosely strung along the same street.  It is when you can walk in the street and not be constantly dodging cars or your keeping your kid from running out in the street.  And what exactly is "fun for the whole family" about sitting on a 6 foot wide sidewalk and drinking beer!?  For a bunch of people who claim to know so much about urbanism and what makes a city livable, the organizers fell way short.  All this event did was highlight to me that Park & King is really a bunch of loosely dispersed business with no cohesive identity.   If the street were walkable, you could have linked the dead areas (and there are plenty) with vendor tents and activities or something.  I know this was a first try but you all know better.

hank, we'd love to have your help in organizing the next one. We certainly have some more things in store, and didn't accomplish everything we hoped to do with this first attempt (both due to time constraints and not having a concrete idea of the interest in this event as well as several things falling through at the last minute). Closing off the street is certainly an attractive possibility (though one that will take some time and money), but having bustling pedestrian activity along a working traffic corridor is really what an urban environment is all about, so I am personally conflicted on which is better. Feedback like yours is what will make this event better each time. I hope you still managed to enjoy yourself despite the shortcomings, and hopefully we can get you involved in the next one, as this took a lot of work and its going to require even more to make it what we think it can become.

That said, College to Herschel on King is truly a walkable corridor. There are a few vacancies (that are filling up every day), but there's a pretty high density of businesses in that 4 blocks.

[RockStar]

In order to close off the street, there's an application package that needs to be filled out and is available online I believe. Kat Hardwick can help you out with it. It's comprehensive to say the least and will give you a good idea of the whole process.

In general though, costwise, you're looking at renting a couple of cops (probably one at each end, and one at each cross street, both sides. So for example if you just closed King between College and Park you might only need 2 cops, but if you extended it down to Park you might need one on each side of Forbes as well), barriers (cones and the like) and port-o-lets (depending on the perceived size of the event). Also, you'll need liability insurance for the event. Generally speaking, a few grand would be a good budget to work with.

Also, you can't sell liquor or beer in the street unless you have a catering liquor license.

[Ajax]

I really enjoyed it and look forward to the next time they hold an event like this.  I was with my wife and my 9-month-old son.  We were pushing a stroller and I didn't have any trouble with dodging cars or anything like that. 

Before this event, I would have never considered walking from Soup's On all the way down to Kickback's, but with all the people around, it was an enjoyable walk.  I stopped at a couple of places that I'd never been to (Jackson's BBQ and Bella Sera) and sat down and enjoyed a couple of beers while listening to a really good band at Walker's.  And we had a margherita pizza from Pele's - that place is going to be awesome when they open in November/December.  This event shows that this area really has a lot of potential. 

To answer the question tufsu1 asked - yes, I would pay $8 for a mug.  I heard a couple of people saying that they really didn't save any money by buying the mug, so if you pointed out in advertising that the $8 (or whatever it is) helps pay for police, organizing, etc., I think people would be fine with it.  I know I would. 

Edited to add: I personally wasn't looking for a 'deal' when I purchased my mug - I just wanted to help contribute so that we'll see an event like this again.  But the people I heard the aforementioned comments from were younger people who probably have less disposable income, so they might be watching their pennies and taking a more skeptical view. 

[jaxlore]

I had a good time albeit we got there a we bit late. It was nice to see people walking the streets of Park and King. It really shows the need to businesses to cater to later crowds. Would definitely like to see more street stuff to connect the different parts of the neighborhood. Take advantage of the sidewalks.

[finehoe]

RE:  Closing the street. 

It seems to me the easiest solution would be simply to change the name of the event.  Instead of calling it a 'festival' call it a 'celebration' or some similar term.  That way people would enjoy it for what it is rather than expecting there to be street closures, stages, face painting for kids and all the other things many of the posters above seemed to have been looking for.

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

I had a good time and so did mini-me. 

The only 'complaint', as I mentioned to Steve, was that I purchased a M.i.n.o. - my son asked why they didn't have juice boxes to go with the sippy cup.   

But it was pointed out at the tent that we were still in September, so it wasn't time to break out the full-Liter-sized Oktoberfest steins.

That being said....

I don't think the streets needed to be closed off, but a band in the grassy area by the bank would have been nice.  The crowds were nice and the businesses seemed to be doing very well, but I won't lie, I was expecting a little more than a pub crawl.  But it doesn't mean I didn't have a good time.  When there's hanging out, beers, food and awesome weather, it's hard not to enjoy yourself.

Tufsu - truth be told, when you saw me, I was tired of walking and actually trying to 'borrow' the scooter by throwing the lady out on the sidewalk and then driving away!

[tufsu1]

Tufsu - truth be told, when you saw me, I was tired of walking and actually trying to 'borrow' the scooter by throwing the lady out on the sidewalk and then driving away!

Nice!

[manasia]

suggested here is closing off the street and setting up a stage....would folks be willing to pay more $ to defray these costs...for example, would you still buy a mug if the cost was $8?

I paid $10 for my Mug, and it had no logo, so $8 bucks will not be a problem.

It was really hard to find where some of the places where, do you think their could be a map or some sort of display for participating businesses?

I guess my only complaint outside of my logoless mug, was the lack of anything else really going on, I am not sure you could call this festival, this was really a pub crawl with a different name.

I am not much of a liquor/beer drinker, so the $2 domestics, at every participating place was not really that interesting.

My favorite part of the festival was actually sampling wine and cheese at the Bella place, I purchased some of the cheese that I had it was delicious!

Thanks to all who organized the event, it will only get better with time.

[GoJax]

As a first time event, I understand it is difficult to get a section of a main street blocked off.   Something you must strive to do in the future and definitely get a stage and some live music going.    I think getting some of King street blocked off would be the way to go.

Thanks should also go out to officer duckworth and other officer who gave their time to roll around on the police carts.    After talking to him, it was greatly appreciated that they were not going to be enforcing the jacksonville beach police gustapo tactics that you find at the beach.    Nice to have the presence but be allowed to have a good time without getting hassled.     Getting assistance like this will be key in expanding the event to a larger scale.

It was also nice to see the owners and executive chef of Pele's Wood Fire set up on their corner greeting people and answering questions.   They will be a great addition to the neighborhood and by the looks of their promotional flyer, they have some amazing things planned for their restaurant.

Great first time effort.

The Park & King Area is very lucky to have such fine police officers, T.C. Edwards and Mike Duckworth.  These officers have made a big impact on crime in our neighborhood by working closely with the business groups, neighborhood organizations and residents.  These guys really do care about the people they serve and their jobs.

Also, Mike Field did a great job setting up the King Street Festival.  It was a great starting point and I know it will be even better in the future.  I know from personal experience how hard it can be to put together a large event like this.

[mtraininjax]

Stephen - I think Park and King was closed a few years back, I remember an event similar where Park street was closed up to European Street and King was closed down to Post, it was cooler out, closer to the end of the year. It can be done on those streets, just not sure it is worth it, unless you really have more of a carnival atmosphere, like they have when they close down Park Street for the Riverside Wine Festival.

I thought the sidewalks were easy to manuever and people were having fun and it was great to walk by new shops and see what is going on there. Intuition and Bold City were a bit far to walk, and not much fun at dark, so it would have been great to see more of a presence from them, say in the First Guarantee parking lot or somewhere closer to the action. But hey, great first pub crawl, and I look forward to more.

[hank]

True, you don't NEED to close of the streets, but it would certainly be a bonus to at least have one block that was a designated mingling area.  Next best would be to make habitable a parking lot somewhere along the route that allowed for a little socializing in comfort - a good place for some vendors or a band and a few chairs.  And I don't think you need to have one of those 18 wheeler concert stage rigs or anything.  My friend is in a blue grass band locally and I'll bet he'd be delighted to set up with a chair or two in a cozy nook somewhere for free.  Just filling the air with a bit of music goes a long way to add atmosphere to an event like this.  Perhaps two other bands or even single musicians could do the same for minimal cost.  JFC no face painting, mimes, cotton candy, or dagger throwing need be part of the event to have it still be festival-ish. Just a place to chill, a few more tents, a little music and this thing would be a different animal.
Finehoe is right: if this were just a "pub-crawl" without the "family" and "festival" buzz terms, I would never have thought anything was amis.  I would also not have attended.
For what its worth, I think Park and King is an awesome area and I applaud the organizers and everyone involved for getting it done.

[MissMinda]

RE:  Closing the street. 

It seems to me the easiest solution would be simply to change the name of the event.  Instead of calling it a 'festival' call it a 'celebration' or some similar term.  That way people would enjoy it for what it is rather than expecting there to be street closures, stages, face painting for kids and all the other things many of the posters above seemed to have been looking for.

I'd be willing to do face painting next time around if you get a genuine Kids Area set up.