The annual Los Altos Arts & Wine Festival, set to overtake the downtown area 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, attracts thousands of visitors, but the extra foot traffic can be a mixed blessing for merchants.
With food booths located along Second Street, a stage on Third Street and the main streets closed to vehicles, the usual traffic patterns are significantly disrupted. (This year there will be two food courts: one on Second Street between Main and State streets and the other along Third Street. The Main Stage will be located in Central Plaza.)
Simone Corne-Tregon, who owns boutique Cambric Limited, told the Town Crier that Arts & Wine Festival weekend is typically her slowest of the year. Located on the corner of Plaza Central and Second Street, Cambric Limited is close to the Main Stage for musical performances, making it hard for Corne-Tregon to even open the door to her business amid the crowd.
“It’s a challenging weekend for me,” she said, noting that in three of the 32 years she’s spent downtown, she’s had to call security to report noise from the festival rattling her windows.
When she walks into her shop on festival days, Corne-Tregon said she “tells (her)self to get an attitude adjustment … and just dance to the music in the store.”
The owners of Present, the gift store on Main Street, also said it can be hit-and-miss as to whether the store benefits from the additional foot traffic during the festival. Co-owner Jim Daley said whether the weekend brings big sales depends on the weather. If it’s hot, many festival-goers seek refuge in Present’s air conditioning, but if the weather outside is pleasant, then customers tend to stay outside.
He echoed Corne-Tregon’s observation that a store’s location relative to the food booths or stages determines how well the weekend goes.
“No one wants to be in the back of the booths, (because customers) don’t even know we’re here,” Daley said.
Ellen Biolsi, owner of Cranberry Scoop on the corner of State and Second streets, said she prepares for the busy weekend by stocking as much merchandise as possible and dressing up her windows to appeal to passersby.
Although Daley said the festival isn’t usually very “lucrative” for Present, he still supports the event for all of the money it raises to support host organization the Los Altos Village Association (LAVA).
“We just call it doing our civic duty and helping the town to stay beautiful and everything else,” Daley said.
LAVA is responsible for, among other things, maintaining the flowerpots that line downtown’s sidewalks and hosting events like the annual Easter egg hunt. Executive director Scott Hunter said LAVA estimates that 50,000 visitors will make their way through downtown this year, adding that LAVA is looking forward to a good summer festival as the event returns to July for the first time since the pandemic.
For more information on the festival, visit downtownlosaltos.org.
