About the Festival

In the Press

Throngs come for a 'Taste'
By VINAYA SAKSENA
The TImes 09/08/2007

PAWTUCKET - There was good news and bad news for the organizers of the Pawtucket Arts Festival's gala and "Taste of Pawtucket" events on Friday night.

The good news was that the event was well attended. The bad news? The event was well-attended.

As strange as that may sound, one of the things that made the arts festival a major success was also the source of what some visitors considered its one notable fault.

The park abutting the Slater Mill building was lined end to end (and in the center) with tents and tables, each one offering festival-goers the opportunity to sample food from one of the many restaurants that make the Pawtucket area an attractive place to stop for a meal.

However, the attractive culinary options also meant that the gala attracted one of its largest crowds ever.

"So far so good," said Diane Agostini, program coordinator for the festival, shortly after the event got under way at 5:30 p.m. "They were lining up here probably at about 5 o'clock."

"It's amazing to see the number of people," agreed Herb Weiss, economic and cultural affairs officer for the city of Pawtucket. "We probably have more people here than we've had in a decade."

Indeed, it looked early on as though lack of attendance would not be a problem at this year's gala. Weiss said that a record-setting 300 tickets were sold before the event. Moreover, Edward Tetzner, the employee of Mayor James Doyle's office who was in charge of the gala, estimated that the event drew at least 1,800 people. However, some attendees said that therein lay the problem: Simply too many people crammed into too small a space, unable to navigate easily through crowds, a problem particularly when children were involved.

"It was way too crowded," said Sheryl Kopel. "We heard everyone saying it. The people were very nice, though. The idea was very nice. Hopefully next year they'll do it in a bigger place."

A man sitting outside the park, who asked to be identified only as Roland, agreed. However, he said that he decided to sidestep this problem by skipping the food portion of the event and showing up just in time to hear the driving, upbeat Zydeco sounds of C.J. Chenier and the Red Hot Louisiana Band.

"Too crowded," he agreed. "But, it drew a large crowd and people are having a good time. It put Pawtucket back on the map."

That sentiment was share by other visitors as well. A more spacious venue should be sought next time, they seemed to be saying, but the event itself was something to be proud of.

"Pawtucket honestly does a better job than a lot of the film festivals," said Jonathan Raben, a documentary filmmaker known for producing Italian Americans and Federal Hill. "You get to see one of the most popular Zydeco bands in the world. I'm starting to consider Pawtucket as God's Country."

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