Fall Festivals produced by Oakland Events

Things have been busy in Tamale World, lots to do so little time. I almost wish for a longer day, maybe 34 hours instead of 24 hours to get it all done.

Many of you already know that I am very community and small business minded and I LOVE doing events that allow for my different passions to overlap. Oakland Events is a new event production company founded by Helen Wyman. She has years of experience working in some of Oakland shopping districts helping merchants. She started her full scale event production company to take outdoor festivals and special events to a new level. Helen's goal is to produce local, sustainable events to highlight all facets of Oakland commerce but especially the small independent business and artist.

Why do I know so much about this company? Helen and I are both members of the marketing committee for the Oakland Merchants' Leadership Forum (OMLF). I also created my restaurant's food booth, Tamale Girl, to primarily participate in Oakland Events' productions. The full disclaimer, my Partner in Crime and Volunteering, Consuelo Jacobs, is the Director of Operations and Exhibitor Coordinator for this company as well as a member of the OMLF marketing committee too.

There are still a couple of outdoor events produced by OE in the weeks ahead. Instead of selling food, I'm going to be coordinating a voter registration booth since the deadline for California is October 20, 2008 for the Presidential election. Want to volunteer to staff at my booth? Drop me line at tamaleworld@gmail.com.

Here's some cut n' pastes for the Oakland Events website for more info!



Out & About in Rockridge Street Festival
Sunday, September 28th 11am to 6pm
College Avenue, between Claremont & Manilla

The annual Rockridge Out & About festival, held on College Avenue, highlights local businesses as well as live music and dance, alternative health exhibitors, artisan and community booths, cooking demonstrations and food booths presented by Rockridge restaurants.

Five stages will feature well-known Bay Area musicians and performers including a DJ / Dance Stage and Rockridge Runway Fashion with attire selected by local boutiques, plus a Chef Stage featuring the district’s top chefs, art installations and Tots’ Town with rides, games, prizes and more will make this a great family day.

Take BART to Rockridge! The station is only steps from the festival -
Sunday, Sept. 28 11 a.m. – 6 pm.


Oakland’s first annual Oktoberfest in Dimond
Saturday October 4th from 11-6pm
Fruitvale Avenue and Macarthur Boulevard

Although Oakland’s Dimond District is a diverse and progressive neighborhood, it is steeped in German history. Around 1900, the area was largely a German community where social and community life centered on the beer gardens in the area. Though the beer gardens are gone, the community spirit they fostered still remains.

Oktoberfest will feature traditional German beer gardens, German food and dance, gourmet food booths, historical tours, performances by local artists on two stages, artisans, a kids’ carnival area, a green living and wellness expo, and much more. Attendees will quaff, sip, drink, tipple, imbibe, dance, sing, and eat, as well as learn about the historical connection between Oakland and its earlier German residents.
Click Here to visit event website (www.oaklandoktoberfest.com)

Change Comes Quickly

I had concerns about the next small business I wrote my latest OakBook online magazine profile for but I'm glad I took the time to investigate! I have mixed feeling about franchises but I am discovering that the independently owned and operate units are really like indie small businesses more than I realized. Lots of times it depends on the personality and character of the owner to make any businesses successful. To read about the newest business in my neighborhood go here Change Comes Quickly.

I've also made a list of the small business profiles I've been writing for OakBook right below my profile on the right column of this page. I'd love some feedback and even suggestions for other cool businesses to write about. Let me know what you think by leaving a comment for me.

We're becoming a Slow Food Nation

I'm finally recovered from my long weekend. When others decide to go relax and rest somewhere, I feel the need to explore and work. See, my partner in Crime and Volunteering aka Consuelo and I don't know how to be still. This is how we found ourselves volunteering with the farmers at the Civic Center Slow Food Nation event last Sunday. Nope, it wasn't the Pavilion with the expensive punch card for tasty treats but a bustling organic market, slow food court and urban garden filled with amazing people and their equally amazing goods. Consuelo and I arrived via Bart, checked in, signed our waivers and tied on our aprons to get to work.

I'm giggling as I write this since Consuelo chose to go to the Straus Creamery booth and was basically sentenced to hard labor. She was instructed to fetch yogurt and milk samples from the refrigerated semi-truck that equaled a short hike to and climb into the truck each of the three times she was sent (correction, she informs me it was more like 12 times!). I was given to Paul of Hain Walnuts where I packed and sold organic walnuts for a few hours. Consuelo would text me to tell me what she was doing and didn't believe me when I told her my duties. She later showed up at my booth after I sent my farmer on a break after he discovered that I had grocery and market booth experience and could run his gig on my own. Consuelo was munching on a delicious Muffaletta sandwich with green olive tapenade and salami from the "slow on the go" food court. We wound up buying a second one later because it was so good.



Back to the nuts...I appreciated that my farmer and I chatted about our respective businesses while we worked. Paul told me the history of his farm and details about his walnuts. He went organic years ago when his walnut orchard was in dire straits and he figured what did he have to lose. Turns out that the little town a few miles away from Hollister has a Mediterranean climate and responds well to no pesticides. His walnuts are sweet with no bitter aftertaste from last season. The best way to store nuts if you aren't going got eat them right away is to refrigerate for a few months or freeze for up to nine months in an airtight container in either case. This year's crop are still on the trees and will be harvested in early November '08. Paul also raises free range chickens and eggs on his farm and I might just need to leave Oakland one day to visit. He has also promised to send his mother-in-law's flour tortilla recipe that uses walnuts too.

The end of the day approached quickly and Consuelo and I managed to scarf a bowl of the organic Three Twins ice cream that always had a line next to my walnut booth. We also shared a all beef Let's Be Frank hot dog with grilled onions, dijon mustard and ketchup and Consuelo thought that was just the best name ever for a hot dog company. We helped break down a few more farmer booths including a raw honey booth and some of the most delicious organic peaches from Los Angeles. See this was some of the best slow food from all over the country as far away from New York but we here in the Bay Area and California had a strong presence at this event.



What I took away from this day was how important it is to support farmers doing the right thing. This isn't just about the buzzwords of 2008 like slow, green and sustainable. This goes beyond organic, local and eco-friendly. I'm always talking about the history of my family and how things and the world used to be. We NEED to return to the days before pollution, chemicals and other engineered creations that nature never intended became the norm. We NEED to become more healthy as individuals, families, communities, countries and the world. Here's the most important part of all. This NEEDS to happen on all levels so safe, affordable, great tasting food is accessible to EVERYONE regardless to who or where you are from anywhere from rural to urban, wealthy to economically depressed and every spot in between.

Join me.