Crowds conservatively estimated at around 8,500 comfortably filled a closed-to-traffic Mission Street in South Pasadena for a big day of entertainment. People were asking: “Where do I get tickets to get in?” There’s no entrance fee: it’s a kid-friendly, adult-fun, free to the public event. How? Fundraisers and generous sponsors. More on that later.
The South Pasadena Eclectic Music Festival crew ran a mostly smooth, very well planned and executed event. Minor, normal glitches aside – the 11th Eclectic is a wrap. Cool friendly vibe, perfect weather, great food and drink, tons of kids activities, neighbors friends and family – overall a great city-wide party packed with memories.
Event goers were drawn to the main stage for ‘The Gin Blossoms’ headlining performance at the end of the night.
Laurie Wheeler and the South Pasadena Chamber of Commerce combined with the ‘Eclectic Friends of The Arts’ are a force of nature. Some of the local big-hitters in this small town big deal event are Brad Colerick, Jeffrey Burke, Kathryn Compton, Michael Ribas, and Odom Stamps; just to name a few.
Volunteers? Plenty. The small army of over 150 volunteers take care of a complex list of hundreds of details that make the event possible and festive. Witnesses saw some D.U.D.E.S. running the beer truck across from The SouthPasadenan.com news headquarters.
Also important to recognize are all the businesses who support the event with special activities, sales, merchandise, added promotion of the event and plenty of effort. The Square Deal Barbershop, for example, has a hidden gem of an outdoor lounge area in the back. ‘The Gin Blossoms’ private meet-and-greet was hosted there.
As this report is being published, the trucks are packing-up, Laurie Wheeler and Michelle Downing are tying up loose ends, and I got to help pack-up our studio and the hotbox vintage backlot event – back soon!
Check-back to The SouthPasadenan.com News for the complete story…
