By Linda Taaffe

Photo by Monique Schoenfeld, Town Crier

All-volunteer leadership key to celebration’s success

Los Altos Arts and Wine Festival

On any given weekend during the summer, in any state across the country, chances are there is probably at least one arts festival taking place. In the Bay Area alone, every city along the Peninsula boasts its own crafts fair.

With such tough competition, one wouldn’t expect a small town like Los Altos to produce one of the top ranked festivals in the nation, especially considering that the festival is one of the few in the country organized and operated without an outside production staff.

Yet, year after year, the Harris List of the Nation’s Best Arts & Crafts Shows has consistently named the Los Altos event as one of the top 75 festivals in the country.

The festival has grown from 150 booths on a back parking lot with an attendance of 30,000 into one of the largest arts shows in the area. All proceeds go back into the community for beautification projects and other downtown events.

Putting on a successful festival takes more than setting up a few tents along the street, said Kathleen Byrne, executive director of the Los Altos Village Association (LAVA), the volunteer group that produces the festival each year. The festival must be created from scratch. This means the association must bring in electricity, toilets, booths and everything else, she said.

“Anyone in the industry knows that this kind of a festival is the most difficult event to produce. You have a small window to get everything up and perfectly manicured,” Byrne said. “Considering the magnitude of the festival and so many ways that it could go wrong, it’s really remarkable that it comes off without a hitch.”

The anticipated magnitude of this year’s two-day event has meant ordering 14,000 wristbands for beer and wine tasting; assembling about 13,500 wine and beer glasses; weeding out 450 artist participants from the 1,000 or so applicants; setting up 450 vendor booths; and managing a six-figure budget.

Byrne said she expects about 150,000 people to attend the 22nd Annual Downtown Arts & Wine Festival on Main and State streets from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., July 14-15.

Association members attribute the festival’s high ratings to a strong volunteer staff, strict attention to detail and annual innovations.

Festival chairman Chuck Angin, a longtime Los Altos resident and nine-year festival volunteer, said relying on volunteers, rather than a paid event coordinator, to produce the festival has been key to the festival’s success.

“The festival is controlled by the association. There’s no one telling us how to put on the festival. When it’s your event, you tend to pay much more attention to the details, the little extras … We’re very hands on and have more consideration for what the community wants,” Angin said.

“We have an active community that cares. They dig in and get the job done. You don’t find that everywhere anymore. This is small town America at its best.”

Angin estimated that about 400 volunteers help organize and operate the festival each year. Angin said that’s how he got involved. He volunteered to operate a soda booth nine years ago, and his involvement snowballed from there, he said.

Change is another key to the festival’s success.

Organizers said they will begin planning for next year’s festival within weeks after this year’s, beginning with a critique of the July festival and feedback from vendors and festival-goers.

Byrne said constant change and attention to the community’s wants has prevented the festival from becoming a “cookie-cutter” event.

As a result of last year’s feedback, organizers made several aesthetic changes to the festival, Byrne said. Consolidating all of the food vendors into an international food court at the end of State Street is one of this year’s biggest changes.

Byrne said the association hopes to give the food court a stronger identity and make it more of a venue, much like the KIDZONE, which features game, rides and entertainment for kids. Organizers also added kiosks with directions to festival booths.

While some things need to change in order to bring back festival-goers, organizers take great strides to maintain some things status quo.

Cindie Eberhardt, president of the Los Altos Village Association, the organization that promotes downtown business and provides advocacy for business with the city, said there are many factors considered in measuring the festival’s success, from “smiling faces” to revenues. She said a bigger turnout each year isn’t necessarily a goal.

“There’s a fine balance,” Eberhardt said. “We want to maintain a quality festival. There’s a threshold. If it gets too big, we’ll lose some of that.”

Part of maintaining this balance means scrutinizing and limiting the number of artists who participate.

Byrne said between 700 and 1,000 artists apply for space at the festival. Only 450 ultimately qualify. Every artist, every year, must go through a screening process with a committee.

“We look for the best of the best California artists,” Eberhardt said.

This year’s festival will feature an expanded entertainment lineup on three stages; the KIDZONE with hands-on activities and games for children; 450 artists; gourmet foods; and beer and wine tasting.

For more information, see this week’s special Arts & Wine pull-out section.