Taking a good time to the streets

Takoma Park festival draws thousands with music, food, fun

Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2005

Click here to enlarge this photo Photos by David S. Spence⁄The Gazette Children stare at the pavement of Carroll Avenue to see the changing shapes of shadows made by professional juggler Peter Irish, who juggled several beanbags with his hands and feet during the annual Takoma Park Street Festival held Sunday in Old Town. Click here to enlarge this photo Takoma Park resident Jeanne Jarvis-Gibson, 12, holds on tight as she descends the inflatable climbing wall.

Produced for the first year by the Old Takoma Business Association, an association representing local businesses, the festival served as a promotional initiative benefiting Old Takoma’s Main Street economic revitalization program. And according to Mary Stover, executive director of the association, ‘‘Takoma really shined.”

Hailed as one of the city’s most popular outdoor events and drawing as many as 10,000 people, the festival was a chance for residents to share their neighborhood with the rest of the Washington, D.C., area, said Pennye Jones-Napier, owner of two businesses and president of the association.

‘‘This event provides exposure for the independently owned businesses and shows off the local artists, both of which represent the underpinning of this very special community,” she said.

Music lovers could choose from a talented selection of 18 local and international performers. The sweet sounds of The Grandsons, a mix of hillbilly and rockabilly with a touch of New Orleans, seduced audience members away from the crowd to dance before the stage.

Musical artist Robert Lighthouse sang and played guitar and harmonica at the Old Town gazebo in a style evocative of blues master Robert Johnson.

David Eisner, the musical coordinator of the event for the last 25 years and owner of the House of Musical Traditions, noted that the Billy Coulter band was another musical highlight. ‘‘His music is exceptionally clean and tight. You sense an emphasis on the vocals,” Eisner said.

No matter where you went on Carroll Avenue, entertainment was close at hand. Crowds circled around an ad hoc performance in the middle of the steet performed by professional juggler and area resident Peter Irish. Irish mesmerized the audience as he juggled several beanbags with his feet.

Parents were besieged with requests from their children to bounce in the air-filled moon bounce, test their skills on the climbing wall, play laser tag, or go on the children’s train ride, running between Park Avenue and Philadelphia Avenue.

Mark Shonkwiler, a Takoma Park resident for more than 11 years, came to the festival with his two daughters. ‘‘We always love the street festival,” he said. His 9-year-old daughter, Sara, said that it is one of the best days of the year. She particularly liked playing laser tag and watching the juggling.

No one attending the festival could help from noticing the extensive and diverse selection of food. Drawn to the enticing aroma, long lines of people trailed from vendors selling pad thai, funnel cakes, Middle Eastern cuisine, pizza and crab cakes.

While there was a lot of fun to be had, many of the organizations saw the day as a crucial opportunity for outreach. District resident Cynthia Collier, a program assistant at the Anacostia Watershed Society, said her group came to the festival to collect donations, raise awareness and broaden its membership base. ‘‘A lot of people have been coming through. Every now and then we make a great connection with an individual who has the power to significantly help our cause,” she said.

Many residents at the festival noted an exceptional sense of camaraderie. ‘‘This is a community festival, not just a street festival,” said Diana Kohn, education chair of the community organization Historic Takoma Inc. Whereas some festivals have a sterility about them, this festival has that precious, small-town feel, she said.

‘‘People have a lot of pride in this special community. People know each other on this street,” Jones-Napier said.