Indie Wheel – April

One very significant yet little known example of this brand of healthy defiance is showcased every year during a street fair in Tucson that draws tens of thousands of people. This festival takes place along an avenue that is dotted with locally owned businesses and is surrounded by historic neighborhoods. Once a year, sidewalk to sidewalk, this avenue turns into a river of Tucsonans flowing along to the soundtrack of local bands covering popular cumbias, Tejano and old school jams. And yes, there’s food. A lot of food.

Unless the cumbias, Tejano and old school gave it away, you are probably thinking I am describing the 4th Avenue Street Fair. I’m not. I love that one, too. But, no, I’m talking about the the Fiesta Grande Festival in Barrio Hollywood on Tucson’s Westside. A surprising amount Tucsonans still have no idea about this event (it’s on April 13 & 14 this year, by the way). When asked about it I playfully describe it as the Other One or the Chicano Street Fair. Then I share the festival’s slogan – ‘Welcome to Barrio Hollywood where everyone is a star’ – making it clear that all are  welcome.

In a nutshell, this is what makes this event special: After a gigantic sinkhole opened up on Speedway and Grande Avenue back in 2003, residents and business owners were devastated with a traffic nightmare, the stench of oozing sewer everywhere, and empty restaurants and retail businesses. It was pretty bad. The solution? Clean it up and throw a party, of course.

Ten years later, this annual event has accomplished more than anyone ever expected; it has provided businesses with branding and marketing worth tens of thousands of dollars; it raised over $100,000 in funding for the Midnight Hoops program keeping hundreds of kids off the street; it leveraged one million dollars to establish the Cambio Grande initiative which funded street improvements, new sidewalks and benches along Grande Avenue; it secured private foundation funds to create beautiful, historic murals, and so on.

This was all made possible because of a little known street party in the barrio. According to that conventional wisdom I mentioned earlier, the Fiesta Grande should never have succeeded. But it has. Neighborhoods and businesses were not supposed to seek a solution together for mutual benefit, yet that is exactly what happened. Throughout the years, Barrio Hollywood organizers have called the shots first, then invited elected officials to follow their lead. To this day, there has never been a question about who is in charge.

And Barrio Hollywood is just like many neighborhoods around Tucson that exhibit this kind of independent instinct. Recent efforts by the newly organized Sunshine Mile on Broadway and the longtime and fiercely independent production of the annual All Souls Procession come to mind. They don’t wait on political blessings or depend on agencies or city bureaucrats to determine their fate. They go ahead and do it for themselves.

So the next time you want to make a difference in your neighborhood or advocate against that ubiquitous chain about to squash and replace your favorite locally owned cafe don’t ask for permission prior to acting. Just step up and do it.

(sidebars)