Adams Avenue Roots and Folk Festival

Failure.
There is nothing worse than when amateurs book festivals. Why on god’s green chili bowl did you put John C. Reilly in a CHURCH when there was a GIANT FIELD and perfectly good sounding stage right NEXT DOOR.
That church was hot, stuffy, and overcrowded and with all the complaining and protesting in the back, it was impossible to enjoy his performance.
Tip for next year: FIX IT.

Is it just me, or are all the street fairs in San Diego starting to look the same? I think perhaps the organizers of this event are well intentioned, but what IS the Roots and Folk Festival exactly about? The music? The food? Certainly not the vendors. And where are the roots? While waiting for my friend to finish at a jewelry booth, the vendor next to him was looking totally bored and then he suddenly packed up his stuff and left! I’m glad I got there kinda late and didn’t stay long, because quite frankly I was bored. The music was good, but WAY too loud, the food was over priced, and enough with all the jewelry, soap and candles already! ACK!

Sure, this fest houses many booths that try to sell you spa packages, crappy jewelry or new windows but you can listen to killer music, eat some good food and partake in great people-​watching. Topic: the dog owners that resemble their dogs.
Don’t pass the Natural Body and Bath tent, they have awesome soy-​based candles that smell divine and they run a two for $ 20 deal. You’ll also want to smash on a couple pupusas while you’re there, topped with mega-​hot salsa. Down the way they have a hula-​hoop tent, a handwriting analyst, vegan pie booths and a fabulous grassy area perfect for dancing while you listen to some fabulous reggae, bluegrass or folk music. Beer tents, people, and a truck that sells chicken wings AND banana pudding!
It’s free, and if the weather’s great (it’s San Diego, the weather is always great) it’s a fun place to spend an afternoon. They even have a bike valet at one end of the fest if you decide to ride down… best idea ever!

I can’t think of a better way to spend a spring afternoon than to be out with some buddies listening to some great music. And that’s what this festival is all about — exposing yourself to some fantastic music that you would’ve probably overlooked otherwise.
The organizers have turned it into one of the biggest festivals of it’s kind on the West Coast, bringing in a wide variety of acts ranging from Bluegrass, Country, Zydeco, Jazz and all different types of Blues, and I’m always down to have a listen to anything and everything, so I try to stop by as many of the stages as I possibly can. Suffice to say, I’ve pretty impressed by most everything I’ve seen.
Even more impressive is the fact that for a lot of the bands/​artists that are booked here, the Adams Ave Roots Fest is their only stop on the West Coast, so you’re in for a doubly awesome time.
Sure the vendors are annoying, but if you’re there and bothered by the vendors, you’re missing the whole purpose of the event. Hell, I could spend 3 hours sitting in the beer garden listening to whomever happens to be playing and get way more entertainment (and drunken) value than getting worked up over some vendors.
Come for the music. Go somewhere else for food.

Yaaay Capitalism! How many g*d damn vendors do you need at a street festival, you ask? Well, if we go by standards of the Roots and Folk Festival, i’d say probobly 15 – 20 to every musical act. Enough to fil 5 blocks with back to back vendor stands, to be sure.
No, thank you, I don’t want to buy your batman masks. No, thanks, I don’t want to buy a «special package» from your day spa. No, I don’t want to buy your egyptian cotton sheets. No, No No! Stop f*ucking asking me if I want to buy something!
This was a vendor fair. There were supposed to be 6 stages, of which I only found 3. Its best to grab a schedule /they’re all over) and then ask where all the stages are before trying to find them on your own.
One of the stages was set up in the back of the Stone Brewery ‘beer garden’. This ‘bier garden’ was 10 degrees hotter than outside (which was pretty hot to begin with), and they were charging $ 4.50 for a 12oz of beer. But, this meant, if you were under 21 you could not get in to see the band play, you could only hear them from outside. Now, usually I’m all for this separation of the age groups. But this was very much a family affair, and this meant the kiddies could not see the otherwise less than impressive bands. Maybe that was a good thing.
All in all, my impression was, eh. If i want to go shopping for useless things I’ll go to a mall. Why did the mall have to come to Adams ave? The music I was able to catch was ok. There could have very well been good acts that I missed. So take that into account.
The food stands were actually pretty good. I got a huge hot dog for $ 4, which I thought was spectacular.
And parking is a b*tch. If you must drive, its probobly best to try parking in the residential area north of Adams. From what I saw, there were many a spot available.