It's a nice way to spend Saturday night
That's Ryan Stone and his band last night on Commodore Plaza for the final of five Summer Rendezvous Block parties. Hopefully the block parties will return soon. I know there is talk about it and there was a meeting last week to discuss just that.
Ryan was looking right at me, he then pointed and made some comments about me and the Grapevine, I was a bit embarrassed, the crowd laughed but I did appreciate the nice remarks.
On the other end of the street Nil Lara performed and of course lovely Daniela was in the center
of the block, dressed as a Geisha girl this week.
People are really getting into the groove of the block party and they just expect it now. I ran into Commissioner Marc Sarnoff last night, whose baby it is. He joked with me and asked me to be kind when I write about it, but to be honest, there is nothing to be unkind about. It's a great thing enjoyed by everyone.
It's nice seeing all the merchants and restaurant owners out and about on the street enjoying the music and art. After their performance, Ryan and his band went around looking at art and checking everything out. I like how people even know to bring their own beach chairs now. They are coming to the event prepared!
More familes were out this week, there were kids on bikes and Razor scooters. Here, AnnaMaria and Dominique look on as Maxie plays around on the street.
Every seat was taken at every restaurant, people were taking it all in, they were coming in droves down Main Highway to the party. The Art Stroll at Mayfair had a large crowd and there were people in between, all over the place.
There was more art at the block party this week and there seemed to be much more to do on the street this week. I honestly think people will feel a void next Saturday when it's not there. In the past five weeks, it has become a tradition for many of us.
posted by Tom Falco at 12:01 PM
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8 Comments:
So if it's a smashing success for businesses, people love it, great for Artists, and healthy for the Grove in general, why not do this every Saturday?
It would only get bigger and better for ALL with time, and it's only a little street one night, which doesn't affect the major traffic venues, if you drive around as I did last night. Let's make this a Grove trademark, with more bands playing at every possible corner. It could do WONDERS for everyone here with more visitors every Saturday as the word spreads. CI
I love the block party. It has been incredible for business and brought many families out that might have never seen our store, Tula and Tupi. I hope they continue it. It has definetly become a tradition as everyone looks forward to it and has gotten more busy each week. I wish they would do this every saturday from now on. Lots more retail stores got involved. We were open past 10pm helping people in the store. It has become our busiest and most profitable times when the block party is on. Thanks mark!!!!
I agree this needs to be continued as a regular event. People will get accustomed to the idea that the Grove is the place to go for live music on Saturday, and especially once the weather cools off it will be more and more popular. This is an awesome event. Thank you to Richard and David at the BID, who have put a lot of work into organizing it.
How can MPA be the decision maker of such scope. It's obvious that every weekend the town fills up, they make money in the garages. They should help fund this event like they do Viernes Culturales on 8th St.. The block party brought out neighbors, friends and tourists who ventured into the Grove. Every venue that had an event last night did well and had their own following. The Grove was busy, and as I left at 11 p.m. the line for the Comedy Club spilled onto Florida Avenue. All these people had to park. Every subsequent Sat. brought more and more people out.
YES WE SHOULD ALL START GETTING SIGNATURES! What would be the
hurdle in the way?
RyanStoneMusic
Having bands and music on every corner costs money and I am sure funds are limited - maybe we don't need headliner bands every week, a simple guitar player or kareoke, jugglers, etc. could also work occasionally or a singer that gets the audience to sing along.
One thing to keep in mind is that the summer is very different from when school is in session. I wonder how well this would work when there are 2000 UM/FIU/MDC students wandering around.
Commodore Plaza cold learn a great deal from the success of Española Way in attracting more locals and tourists. Attract locals and tourists with a weekend market, crafts, entertainment, during the late afternoon then remove the market and open the street for pedestrian and more restaurant tables. Open up all the parking at the Post Office. Don't place a police car with flashing lights on the intersection of Grand and Commodore. Coconut Grove does not need to keep reinventing the wheel. All we have to do is to duplicate the efforts of streets and communities that we admire and aspire to be more like that have successfully managed to attract locals and tourists.
Harry Emilio Gottlieb
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