Story and photos by Robert Sanchez
LA MESA—As the smell of kettle corn wafted through the air, La Mesa Boulevard was crammed with people of different ethnic backgrounds and different age groups. All had come to downtown La Mesa over the Oct. 1-2 weekend to enjoy the festivities of this German-inspired cultural festival known as Oktoberfest.
Police directed vehicle traffic on Spring Street, making certain cars turned neither right nor left onto La Mesa Boulevard, where crowds happily milled and jostled one another as they searched for bargains and tasty delights.
Temporary vendors’ booths were placed skirt to skirt in the middle of the street
Booths covered La Mesa Blvd on either side of Spring Street. Seemingly one could find anything–from arts and crafts to clothing to small businesses promoting themselves to a variety of foods–mostly in little tents. There was a hubbub of people going in and out checking out the goods.
Walking through the festival grounds was like being stuck in five o’clock traffic, shoulder-to-shoulder. You had to push your way through the crowd to get anywhere. Getting to the booths often was a task, with people stopping right in front of you, or distracting you as they walked by with mouth-watering bratwurst, or tempting you to visit the beer gardens with their many varieties of brews.
There also was live entertainment, including bands that had been hired for the event, along with volunteers in such costumes as that of Captain Jack Sparrow handing out balloons and greeting the kids.
It was an event to enjoy the company of friends, or to just meet the local San Diego folk.
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Sanchez is a student in Media Comm 132 at Grossmont College