Revival Of Westheimer Street Festival

[Subdude]

No, not the same. It's not the 1970s and 80s anymore. But it doesn't make it any less unique simply because you no longer identify with it.

But that was my question. Does lower Westheimer really have a unique culture now, whether or not I identify with it? I'm not seeing that it does. I'm sorry, but I do think that a revival would in large part have to be driven by nostalgia for that period.

[AtticaFlinch]

But that was my question. Does lower Westheimer really have a unique culture now, whether or not I identify with it? I'm not seeing that it does. I'm sorry, but I do think that a revival would in large part have to be driven by nostalgia for that period.

Perhaps that's why you might attend, but I imagine the residents of Montrose would go because it's something fun to do on the weekend. If you've been to any big event in Montrose in the past few years, be it the most recent incarnation of the Westheimer Street Festival (WestFest Compressed), the pride parade or the Greek Fest, you'd see plenty of locals enjoying their neighborhood's cultural offerings.

As far as cultural uniqueness goes, I'm not sure what you're looking for. Do all of Montrose's residents need to be wandering around in assless pants or sporting mohawks to be considered unique? Sure the neighborhood has gentrified, but it's got character to spare.

[names]

PAARRTY!

[Furious Jam]

Perhaps that's why you might attend, but I imagine the residents of Montrose would go because it's something fun to do on the weekend. If you've been to any big event in Montrose in the past few years, be it the most recent incarnation of the Westheimer Street Festival (WestFest Compressed), the pride parade or the Greek Fest, you'd see plenty of locals enjoying their neighborhood's cultural offerings.

As far as cultural uniqueness goes, I'm not sure what you're looking for. Do all of Montrose's residents need to be wandering around in assless pants or sporting mohawks to be considered unique? Sure the neighborhood has gentrified, but it's got character to spare.

I will not be wearing assless pants. Regardless, there is no place else in Houston like Montrose.

[Hanuman]

I will not be wearing assless pants. Regardless, there is no place else in Houston like Montrose....for assless pants!!!!

Edited February 12, 2010 by Hanuman

[jfre81]

Do it, street closures be damned. If you live around there, it's good for you to know some alternate routes anyway.

Montrose has had the life sucked out of it for too long. Bring it back.

[Flashman]

Do it, street closures be damned. If you live around there, it's good for you to know some alternate routes anyway.

Montrose has had the life sucked out of it for too long. Bring it back.

Says the person who lives on South Main.

Hey! Let's bring the hookers back to South Main! They have been gone for too long!

We have plenty of festivals here in the Montrose that bring the OuterLooper gapers and gawkers into The Montrose. Some of them are well run (The Pride Parade, and Griff's St Patrick's Day Party) Others are simply a pain in the ass for locals (I am talking about the Greek Festival. I never have more garbage in my lawn, and more broken branches in my shrubbery than after Greek Fest. Talk to AOS? They don't give a rat's ass.)

So the question is: Which will the Westheimer Art's Festival be? Copulation and urination in the bushes? Or garbage picked up the next day by volunteers? That will be the question.

There will be plenty of local (and I have lived in the Montose for over 10 years, and I lived in the Heights before that since 1988, so don't tell me about urban living) opposition depending on the plan presented by the party purveyors.

[Furious Jam]

Says the person who lives on South Main.

Hey! Let's bring the hookers back to South Main! They have been gone for too long!

We have plenty of festivals here in the Montrose that bring the OuterLooper gapers and gawkers into The Montrose. Some of them are well run (The Pride Parade, and Griff's St Patrick's Day Party) Others are simply a pain in the ass for locals (I am talking about the Greek Festival. I never have more garbage in my lawn, and more broken branches in my shrubbery than after Greek Fest. Talk to AOS? They don't give a rat's ass.)

So the question is: Which will the Westheimer Art's Festival be? Copulation and urination in the bushes? Or garbage picked up the next day by volunteers? That will be the question.

There will be plenty of local (and I have lived in the Montose for over 10 years, and I lived in the Heights before that since 1988, so don't tell me about urban living) opposition depending on the plan presented by the party purveyors.

The Greek Festival is held by the church for the church. I'm sure they're nice people for church people, but they're probably not overly concerned about how their event affects everyone else around them.

The new WestFest would be organized by a non-profit governed by Montrose residents and business people. We would make sure that it would be conducted in a way that would be sensitive to the community because we are the community. Plans are already being formulated for street cleaning, increased HPD patrols, and other safety and sanitary measures.

[Flashman]

...

The new WestFest would be organized by a non-profit governed by Montrose residents and business people. We would make sure that it would be conducted in a way that would be sensitive to the community because we are the community. Plans are already being formulated for street cleaning, increased HPD patrols, and other safety and sanitary measures.

I think you will get plenty of community for support with those types of controls in place.

Will there be public hearings? I am sure you will let us all know so we can come by and learn more about the plans.

I remember the old Street Festival fondly.

[mkultra25]

So the question is: Which will the Westheimer Art's Festival be? Copulation and urination in the bushes? Or garbage picked up the next day by volunteers?

Those two options aren't mutually exclusive, you know.

[kylejack]

How dare you try to take away my bushes copulation, Flashman.

[fatesdisastr]

I signed

[Flashman]

Those two options aren't mutually exclusive, you know.

Ai yai yai.

Watersports in the bushes?

Now this topic is going down fast.

[Subdude]

Says the person who lives on South Main.

Hey! Let's bring the hookers back to South Main! They have been gone for too long!

We have plenty of festivals here in the Montrose that bring the OuterLooper gapers and gawkers into The Montrose. Some of them are well run (The Pride Parade, and Griff's St Patrick's Day Party) Others are simply a pain in the ass for locals (I am talking about the Greek Festival. I never have more garbage in my lawn, and more broken branches in my shrubbery than after Greek Fest. Talk to AOS? They don't give a rat's ass.)

So the question is: Which will the Westheimer Art's Festival be? Copulation and urination in the bushes? Or garbage picked up the next day by volunteers? That will be the question.

There will be plenty of local (and I have lived in the Montose for over 10 years, and I lived in the Heights before that since 1988, so don't tell me about urban living) opposition depending on the plan presented by the party purveyors.

It's fuuny, but the old Westheimer Street Festival,did have a reputation as something that people would come in from the suburbs for to get a taste of the shocking depravity that was Montrose. That and people carrying snakes.

Do it, street closures be damned. If you live around there, it's good for you to know some alternate routes anyway.

Montrose has had the life sucked out of it for too long. Bring it back.

There's no way that holding a "WestFest" [sic] is going to reverse 20 years of Montrose character removal.

I still think it would be a good idea to have a central fairgrounds for all these kind of things. That way street closures etc wouldn't be a problem.

[kylejack]

What is Montrose character removal? Do you not like Montrose's current citizens or something?

[jfre81]

Says the person who lives on South Main.

Hey! Let's bring the hookers back to South Main! They have been gone for too long!

We have plenty of festivals here in the Montrose that bring the OuterLooper gapers and gawkers into The Montrose. Some of them are well run (The Pride Parade, and Griff's St Patrick's Day Party) Others are simply a pain in the ass for locals (I am talking about the Greek Festival. I never have more garbage in my lawn, and more broken branches in my shrubbery than after Greek Fest. Talk to AOS? They don't give a rat's ass.)

So the question is: Which will the Westheimer Art's Festival be? Copulation and urination in the bushes? Or garbage picked up the next day by volunteers? That will be the question.

There will be plenty of local (and I have lived in the Montose for over 10 years, and I lived in the Heights before that since 1988, so don't tell me about urban living) opposition depending on the plan presented by the party purveyors.

Cry me a river. Boo-freakin'-hoo. I deal with rodeo traffic every year. Might as well be a street closure because you can't drive or park anywhere. Sounds like some people over there just need to move out to the burbs so they can get their peace and quiet. You follow?

Hey kylejack, your question - it's answered up here.

There's no way that holding a "WestFest" [sic] is going to reverse 20 years of Montrose character removal.

I'm aware. Especially with the mindsets of people who live there now.

[dbigtex56]

Haven't found any updates on this, so sent an email to the organizer of the petition. I'll post any info as soon as it's received.

[Hanuman]

Haven't found any updates on this, so sent an email to the organizer of the petition. I'll post any info as soon as it's received.

Yes, excellent. Please check to see if they are going to have cloggers with accordians as well....Thank you.

[Subdude]

I think they should instead revive the No-Tsu-Oh carnival, only make it sound "hip" by calling it NoFest.

[Furious Jam]

Haven't found any updates on this, so sent an email to the organizer of the petition. I'll post any info as soon as it's received.

We've been told by the powers-that-be that we really need to get the Montrose neighborhood associations and businesses on-board before moving any further - specifically those associations and businesses that would be near the proposed event area (Westheimer between Montrose and Taft). So we informally reached out to a few key people to get their thoughts, but that triggered a wave of rumors and fear-mongering about what kind of event we're trying to create. We've envisioned a WestFest with a good mix of art and music, with security and trash pick-up both on Westheimer and in the surrounding neighborhoods, with a chunk of the proceeds being funneled back into the neighborhood, and with several other positive features. But we hadn't formally presented that vision to the community, so a lot of residents just filled in that information gap with their bad memories of the final WestFests, which were basically drunken frat parties that didn't represent or help Montrose at all. People fear the unknown, and we heard that fear loud and clear.

As a result, we pulled back for a few months to refine our message and create a informational website for the public plus a new petition specifically for the Montrose community. We anticipate launching that website sometime next week, and I'll post the link here when it happens. After that, it really will be up to the Montrose community to vote yea or nay.

[dbigtex56]

Received a prompt reply from M. Martin, who said basically the same thing as Furious Jam (see above.) Should be more info soon.

[Hanuman]

Received a prompt reply from M. Martin, who said basically the same thing as Furious Jam (see above.) Should be more info soon.

The 12 Accordians are available !! Always a BIG hit!

[Subdude]

We've been told by the powers-that-be that we really need to get the Montrose neighborhood associations and businesses on-board before moving any further - specifically those associations and businesses that would be near the proposed event area (Westheimer between Montrose and Taft). So we informally reached out to a few key people to get their thoughts, but that triggered a wave of rumors and fear-mongering about what kind of event we're trying to create. We've envisioned a WestFest with a good mix of art and music, with security and trash pick-up both on Westheimer and in the surrounding neighborhoods, with a chunk of the proceeds being funneled back into the neighborhood, and with several other positive features. But we hadn't formally presented that vision to the community, so a lot of residents just filled in that information gap with their bad memories of the final WestFests, which were basically drunken frat parties that didn't represent or help Montrose at all. People fear the unknown, and we heard that fear loud and clear.

As a result, we pulled back for a few months to refine our message and create a informational website for the public plus a new petition specifically for the Montrose community. We anticipate launching that website sometime next week, and I'll post the link here when it happens. After that, it really will be up to the Montrose community to vote yea or nay.

Although I very much question the whole point of trying to resuscitate the festival, if it were to be revived would it not make more sense to hold it further up Westheimer, perhaps around the area between the Curve and Dunlavy? That area had at least some semblance of a more urban streetscape, and it would seem to be more amenable to some kind of street fair.

Of course, the merchants and residents there wouldn't want the thing any more than those further down Westheimer.

[Flashman]

Of course, the merchants and residents there wouldn't want the thing any more than those further down Westheimer.

I think it has already been shown that they don't really care what the merchants and residents want.