More info on Zucchini Festival - the beginning

Slow times don't squash Zucchini Festival
Organizer of Hayward event hopes for good year despite sluggish economy
By Eric KurhiThe Daily Review
Article Last Updated: 08/14/2008 07:19:00 AM PDT

HAYWARD — When the Zucchini Festival was first dreamed up back in 1982, southern Alameda County was ripe for just such an event, organizer Richard Essi said. "We figured four or five thousand people might come," said Essi. "But 15,000 showed up." Essi said his shish kebab stand sold out at half-past noon. The old Katrina's restaurant booth did a similarly brisk business.

"And there was this one zucchini guy left with a little deep fryer, and he had a line stretching all the way to Oakland," he said. The festival is now bigger than it was at its inception, but things haven't been the same since its heyday, which Essi said fell between 1986 and 1996.
"Since then we've been getting about half as many people," he said. But it's not just the Zucchini Festival that has seen attendance drop. San Leandro's signature Cherry Festival as well as its Sausage and Suds Festival each had to go on hiatus around 2003, returning only recently.
While Essi weathered the downturn, he said the last couple years have been particularly rough, with the sluggish economy and high gas prices. This year he has fewer vendors, many of whom are reluctant to travel far to sell their wares.

Essi has gone to City Hall for financial help in the past, and remains discouraged at officials' reticence to contribute to what he calls the main event in Hayward.

They'll put money into the Russell City Blues Festival, and all that (money) goes to an Oakland organization," he said. "This is a benefit for local nonprofits. They should help us out from their promotions fund."
The festival was developed to help out local organizations such as the Boy Scouts and the Kiwanis and Lions clubs. Those groups send volunteers to the festival to collect tickets, tend bar and clean up afterward. Then, the money that would have been paid out to those workers is given to the organization.

Essi said the groups always come out ahead, but as general manager, he's the one who takes a hit. "I got to get paid for this," he said. "There were six or seven years when I didn't get paid, and that's kind of rough." But through some cost-cutting, a lot of haggling with contractors who set up the fences and portable toilets, and kind-hearted performers playing on the cheap, the festival will go on.

It's a family-oriented affair, with a large area for rides and games geared toward the younger set. Along with the blues bands, there will be more than 160 vendor booths selling the usual festival fare and food, albeit the latter with a zucchini twist. There will be roasted zucchini and stuffed zucchini, as well as subtler ways to get a squash fix — such as in the filling of an egg roll or as part of the relish used on a hamburger.

Only four food booths are exempt from the squash requirement, Essi said. "I left the junk food vendors — popcorn, cotton candy, that sort of stuff — alone," he said. "We tried zucchini ice cream once and that did not work."

Zucchini Festival draws 22,000 (The Daily Review)

Zucchini Festival draws bigger crowd this year
By Gideon Rubin The Daily Review
Article Last Updated: 08/17/2008 10:07:35 PM PDT


HAYWARD — The high price of gas — though it has been dropping recently — may be responsible for bringing a larger crowd to the annual Zucchini Festival this year.
An estimated 22,000 to 23,000 people filled Kennedy Park this weekend for the festival — or about 3,000 more than last year, according to organizer Richard Essi.
Essi attributed the increase to increasing numbers of people taking "staycations" as a factor in the surprising attendance surge. "That might have brought up the attendance because they're not going out of town," Essi said.

The impact of skyrocketing fuel costs wasn't all good, though, Essi said, noting the festival lost about 30 vendors who couldn't afford to attend the event because of higher costs.
Other factors contributing to the squash carnival's better-than-expected showing included a new "Kids Town" amusement park that featured a Ferris wheel and other rides, as well as lower ticket prices, he said.

General admission ticket prices were lowered from $5 to $4.
Tickets for seniors, children and the handicapped were lowered from $2 to $1.
The festival featured legendary Bay Area blues vocalist Curtis Lawson, who performed Sunday night. The festival, which started in 1982, benefits local charities, Essi said. "It has a long tradition in Hayward, and in talking to people, there seems to be a lot of support for it," Hayward Mayor Michael Sweeney

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Best 'Fast Food' in Hayward

Here's a small listing of the best fast food restaurants in the city of Hayward, CA.

Val's Burgers, 2115 Kelly St, Hayward, CA (510) 889-8257 Great burgers!!! Rather expensive. This place has been voted as having the Best Hamburgers in Hayward, CA and they are telling the truth. The Papa Burger is gigantic and a meal in itself.

Porky's Pizza Palace, 1221 Manor Blvd, San Leandro, CA Really good pizza - privately owned. This is located in San Leandro, but we have nothing better in Hayward!

Sam's Quarter Pound Burgers 18401 Hesperian Blvd San Lorenzo (best burgers on west side of Highway 880, etc.)

London Fish and Chips 18890 Hesperian Blvd. (Best Fish & Chips in town!!)

Caesar's Chicken Inc. 19450 Hesperian Blvd (great chicken! However, old (retired) owners ran the place better and the food was better. However, it's still pretty good and you can also get spaghetti, ravioli, french fries, potatoe salad, etc.

So, there you go people. Some of the best take-out food Hayward has to offer. Hayward does have a number of other fine dining restaurants. I have been going to these places for many years.

Togo's on Hesperian is pretty good, as are just about all the other ones...except for the one on Jackson Street. Ordered a roast beef and cheese, etc. sandwich and for some ridiculous reason, they did not include the roast beef... never went there the next 5 years!!!

I lived in Alameda many years ago and in 1974, I began getting delicious sandwiches at Dimitra's on Park Street. 1251 Park St (between Encinal Ave & San Antonio Ave) Alameda, CA 94501 (510) 521-3737. Click here to see some 'Yelp' reviews on this place. At one time, there were three locations, one on Central (near Webster St) and another location. However, the third location closed down many years ago and the one on Central just closed down about a year ago because the owners have sold the business, moved to Florida, etc. This place puts Subway to shame. I live in Hayward and I still go here for sandwiches and eat them alongside the water at the old Alameda Naval Air Station, reminiscing about my days stationed there.

Back in the 70's there was a pizza take out named Chef Romano's and was located out on Bay Farm Island. This place is in my all-time Take out food HALL OF FAME. Been gone for ages, but the pizza was the best I had ever eaten.

At the Zucchini Festival

Sat, August 16. HAYWARD, CA. Unbelieveable. Welcome to Zucchini Ghostown, USA. There were AT LEAST 120 vendors missing from this dying event. Booths spread amongst the trees with huge empty spaces in between. And here I am, crammed up into a 12x12 space along the sidewalk with 3 other vendors. In my 17 years of doing events, I have never seen such a decline in the number of vendors. Wow.... where did everybody go?

Last year was pretty bad and that's why they are MIA. There's probably 30 vendors in back of our booth (spread around) and it seems like one-half of them are new. Out in the field, we have huge open spaces. Something is terribly wrong.

The entertainment was so-so again. I had the second worst Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich of my life. Don't ever get a Philly cheese from a Greek food booth. Awful. From another food vendors I got a combo of mushrooms, zucchini and I don't know what the hell the other thing was. Not very good also.

This show has pretty much hit rock bottom and one of the few ways to survive is to offer booths to vendors for $150 next year...instead of $350. Crowds were down considerably and things didn't pick up until 2-3:00PM. Poor sales; bad attitudes. There is a handful of vendors who are showing some kind of profit at this event, but that is the The weather was absolutely marvelous and the winds never kicked up in the afternoon. And of course, how would you like to be a vendor at an event that forces you to load your stuff in the dark (no #$#(@# lights around) and swerve your way around trees, people, vehicles. etc. This thing ends at 7:30PM on Sunday and gets dark shortly after that.

And of course, the Zucchini Bread was terrific, as always. I always pick up a couple loaves on the Saturday of the event and they are always devoured by my family by Sunday afternoon. Delicious. Well done.

Sunday, August 17. Weather was okay...a bit cloudy in the AM. Decent late-morning crowd and we had a much larger turnout than on Saturday. Better sales for us today, but not necessarily for other vendors. A number of vendors did very poorly. Person selling silver jewelry next to me had many items stolen. This show still attracts a lot of riff-raff. Music wasn't very good. I had another Philly Cheese Steak from another food vendor and that was bad too. Somehow, I get the feeling that I had leftovers from Saturday. Meat rather dry and chunky. Had some decent Garlic Fries and a good combo basket with mushrooms, zucchini and cheese.

Vendors had to wait until 7:30 to bring their vehicles in to load up and that, my readers, totally sucks. Not being fair to the vendors. The let the music play until 7:30 PM and SOME YEARS it goes longer than that. Come on now.... it's dangerous for us to load up when it gets dark because THERE ARE NO LIGHTS AND DIFFICULT TO SEE. I guess they are waiting for somebody to get run over? Hellooooooooo. Absolutely no reason in the world to extend the show beyond 6:00, which is two hours after a lot of other shows end. Also, there were no Festival Programs handed out this year.

Expect more new vendors next year. Poor management led to so many booths missing this year.

Hayward Zucchini Festival

Why on earth is the music going on until 7:30PM. That is way too late. On Sunday evening, vendors want to come in and load up and leave....especially before it gets dark. Richard Essi, every year people have to maneuver their way around in the dark and it is rather difficult. Give the vendors a break.

I know that the fair is going through hard times right now and is not as good as it was in the past when the entertainment was much better and did not bring in so much a drinking crowd as it does now. Let's go a different direction with the entertainment next year, if we do manage to have another Zucchini Festival. I can't recall a lot of the singers/groups over the years, but Juice Newton was okay years ago, Paul Revere and the Raiders was quite nostalgic for people and enjoyable. Elvis impersonators were always interesting. The wrestling thing had to go. If you get the right entertainment in here, you can increase attendance dramatically.

It is nice to be able to set up our booths on Friday, because Saturday morning is such a mess and you can not make it around a lot of the booths to unload. However, I did see quite a number of new vendors this time and we all know what that indicates.

Let's get this thing over with at 6:00..... which is two hours later than a lot of events conclude on Sunday. Chime in on this people.

Hayward Zucchini Festival Aug 16-17

COME ON OVER AND CHECK OUT DandL CREATIONS. We are located in space #135 along the sidewald adjacent to the kid's play area (swinging tires). Get your Betty Boop T-Shirts, shell necklaces, shoulder-sling bags, fannypacks, wrap skirts, sarongs and a whole lot more!!

Here's a map to the Zucchini Festival.

Gold Rush Days - Sacramento Aug 29-Sep 1

Here's another festival that might be a lot of fun for families. Sacramento’s heritage celebration-is scheduled for Labor Day Weekend. More than 200 tons of dirt will be dumped on the streets of Old Sacramento as the annual festival “turns back the clock,” transforming Sacramento’s historic district into a scene straight out of the 1850s. Costumed re-enactors, Wild West gun fights, musicians playing period instruments, and many aspects of life during the Gold Rush will be highlighted during the four-day event.

In 2008, the event will see the expansion of the number of ethnic and cultural components. Featured will be period artifacts, storytelling, food preparation and more. Dancers and musicians will perform according to long-held traditions. There will be a variety of ethnicities represented that could include European, Hispanic, Asian/Pacific Islander, African American and California Indian.

The event also features a lecture series focusing on how the Gold Rush experience unfolded for various cultures and ethnicities.
Admission is FREE; and event hours are as follows: Friday, August 29, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.; Saturday, August 30, 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.; Sunday, August 31, 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.; and Monday, September 1, 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. For more information, call (916) 808-7777.

Brews on the Bay - Sep 13-14

Here's an interesting event for all you beer drinkers out there. This is for your information only; no retail vendors here. Hours for the festival are 12:00-4:30 PM, Saturday and Sunday on Pier 45.

The San Francisco Brewers Guild is excited to present its fifth annual Brews on the Bay beer festival. All seven of San Francisco's artisan breweries will serve their finest & freshest beers on Saturday, September 13th and Sunday, September 14th from noon to 4:30pm. This fun filled event takes place aboard the Jeremiah O'Brien at Pier 45 and is a benefit for this historic WWII Liberty Ship. So come enjoy over 50 remarkable beers, live music and delicious food. To purchase tickets online and find out more about the festival visit http://www.sfbrewersguild.org/

Srarving Vendors website

Read my reviews and daily logs of the events we just completed in Oregon. Coos County Fair in Myrtle Point, Winchester Bay Oceanfest, Deschutes County Fair in Redmond and the Douglas County Fair in Roseburg.

Additionally, I have include some shows that were real doozies or disastrous in one way or another; Chandler Ostrich Festival, Tucson 4th Avenue Street Fair (Dingwell's sandy and muddy lot)

On Tuesday, you can check out the review of our most recent show, The Hayward Zucchini Festival.

You can also read about Newark Days in California and you can read about out terrible experiences at the Quartz Hill Almond Blossom Festival, just south of Lancaster, CA
I have a number of stories about problems we have had with the wind and you can read about them on the following page: Year of the Wind - Watch out for flying canopies along with stories about the pitiful Vacaville Harvest Days. I have write-ups about The Good Ol Days in Pacific Grove. and the Manteca Street Fair. I have written about problems at the Ripon - Almond Blossom Festival and also tell about the weather at the Ripon Almond Blossom Festival. There were high winds at Harvest Days in Vacaville, winds in picturesque Pacific Grove, Oceanfest in Winchester Bay, OR.

I have created a 'Mini-Review' page on this website which consists of smaller reviews of other shows we have done this year. I have reviews of such shows as the Chabot College Flea Market in Hayward; Cambria Arts & Crafts Show; Hercules Cultural Festival; the Apricot Fiesta in Patterson; the Millers-Y Craft Show in South Lake Tahoe; International Festival of the Winds in Marina; the Ceres Street Fair; Cupertino Cherry Blossom Festival; Los Banos Street Fair; Clovis Big Hat Days and The Craft Fair at Casa de Fruta in Hollister, CA

Our Event Schedule

Please visit us at one or more of the following events. The name of business is DandL CREATIONS and you can get more information on our main website: www.dandlcreations.com/showschedule.html

Aug 16-17 Zucchini Festival, Hayward, CA
Aug 30-Sep 1 Arts & Crafts Fair, Casa de fruta, Hollister, CA
Sep 6-7 Pittsburg Seafood Festival
Sep 13-14 Castro Valley Fall Festival

Reviews on shows, etc.

Check out our website: Starving Vendors for info on shows, reviews and other information for vendors, etc. Also, see our reviews of all our festivals we have done over the past three years and our Event Schedule. The name of our business is DandL CREATIONS and we shall be at the Zucchini Festival this weekend.