Cole Valley Fair

I came here last Sunday to see the Taiko drum performance, and grab some lunch before going to the Comedy Day event in Golden Gate Park. Unlike the previous Saturday when I was at South Park, this time I did remember to bring my camera so I’ve posted many photos.
First, let me say that 3 stars is not a bad review, it means okay or average. Compared to previous street fairs I’ve reviewed, that’s all.
The annual Cole Valley Fair is a very charming neighborhood event. Not much parking available in this area, so it’s better to use public transportation: the N Muni metro stops right in front of the Fair, on the corner of Carl and Cole.
Mainly an arts and crafts event, good for families to stroll around with their kids, and dog-​friendly too. The street is lined with clothing, jewelry, handcrafted art vendors, and some info booths. There’s a playground for kids too.
The Taiko drum performance was nice, but everything else was too «kumbaya-​type» stuff for my taste. There were several small bands playing folk and americana-​type music. One music stage was at the end of the corridor, on Cole and Grattan streets. The 2^nd stage was in the middle, at Cole and Parnassus streets.
Not a place for foodies. Except for the Pie Truck, a new addition this year which was the only food highlight, the food stand choices are very limited and kinda bland (pizza, middle eastern food, sausages, and a few snacks), compared to similar city events. For example, the pizza booth (Bambino’s) had plain cheese pizza slice for $ 4 — that’s it! no toppings. I guess good enough for kids that are picky eaters. Euro Bistro was the grilled sausage vendor. Casbah Exotic Foods had chicken curry, falafel, samosas and gyros (that’s hardly «exotic»). Don’t know what happened to the smoothie vendor Maui Wowi Hawaiian, because they closed down about an hour after opening. Organizers plan to invite other street vendors in the future.
I ordered a chicken curry plate, plus a samosa and a falafel to share. The ingredients were fresh, but taste was lacking, and extremely bland. For me, it was subpar food. But I suppose it’s good enough for the kids. Almost no curry taste, just shredded boiled chicken breast, some carrots, and overcooked rice. The samosa was perfectly fried golden brown, but not much filling or flavor, just fried dough. The falafel tasted awful, because they used whole wheat flour.
Most people avoided the food stands and were waiting to get brunch at Zazie, or other restaurants on the block instead. It was a beautiful sunny day, so everybody had a good time.
Link to organizer’s pics for previous years:
Enjoy!

Pretty nice street fair as far as street fairs go. And it was a gorgeous day with the sun out, not a cloud to be seen for miles… ok blocks, blue skies and absolutely no wind.
They had a great selection of local vendors offering:
1. Arts
2. Crafts
3. Clothing
4. Candles
5. Plants
6. Books
7. Local food and libations
8. Things for kids to do
My favorites were:
1. Candles — Bought these amazing soy candles with the most subtle yet aromatic scents including Jasmine, Naag Champa, Lavender, HoneySuckle and Oleander to name a few
2. Plants — Bought these great plants all native to California and perfect for growing in the soil in our region and great explanations for each one
3. Arts — Wonderful aqua tint prints, photographs, linocut prints and some really great paintings
4. Crafts — Glass-​blown coasters with really unique hand-​drawn art on top
My not so favorites were (nothing to do with the fair!):
1. The navigating through countless strollers and tote bags made it quite the obstacle course
2. The lady from the Library handing out fliers who I guess was trying to make polite conversation when she asked if I lived in this neighborhood and I said, no, I live in the Inner Sunset, and she replied, we let you in once in a while, and I went… eh… thanks, I feel honored.
Other than that, a really great fair, good energy, great selection of vendors and me and my friends had a great time strolling up and down the street looking at all this great stuff.
Think its a once in a year thing so look forward to it in 2010!