Overview:
"For being the first event, it's pretty good; I see a lot of familiar faces and the people seem to [be] enjoying it."
Last month, Fresno city leaders dared to ask, “Why Not Wednesday?” after announcing the split of ArtHop into outdoor and indoor events. Crowds of Fresnans responded by returning downtown to shop and eat for the first-ever Why Not Wednesday event.
Following restrictions placed by the city on outdoor vendors and events on ArtHop, the vendors and events returned on Wednesday, along with new changes made by the city.
Why Not Wednesday emulates the vendor side of ArtHop, but it also boasts street closures, paid live musicians, police patrols on foot, and street ambassadors wearing shirts emblazoned with “Here to help.”
The FresnoHOP trolley service schedule has also been expanded to run during Why Not Wednesdays, allowing residents to ride to and from the event for free.
Councilmember Miguel Arias, who presides over the downtown area and has been involved in the changes made to ArtHop, expressed that while the new event is still a work in progress, he is pleased with the event’s higher level of organization and safety.
“I think this is the beginning of amazing Why Not Wednesdays going forward,” Arias said, “it’s a great start to a festival that will happen monthly and I look forward to more.”
Arias said that some potential changes that could be made by the next event include shortening the event’s area to cut off Fresno Street, a different drop-off location for the FresnoHOP, and reminding the public that parking meter fees are waived during the event.
While Why Not Wednesday can recreate the environment of the vendors, the crowds that ArtHop regularly saw still haven’t returned, said Fabio Linares, a former ArtHop organizer and operator of the vintage store Bad Kids Club.
Although Linares said the numbers still aren’t there, he hopes that Why Not Wednesday will inspire local businesses and artists across Fresno to open their doors during the event, similar to the old ArtHop.
“I’m really hoping that we can actually encourage that attitude of ‘Open up your doors, come downtown, check us out and then go across town,'” Linares said.
Regardless, the splitting of ArtHop is still fresh on the minds of locals like Linares, who criticized the city’s restrictions on ArtHop as a way to consolidate control over the vendors. But he said he’d rather be proactive in rebuilding the community and synergy once present on Thursdays.
“I hate to say it, but I would rather be at the table and advocate for whatever I can rather than just sit on the sidelines and be upset about it,” Linares said.
“They just torched the landscape and then brought us in to replant it,” he added.
Mikey Garcia, a local artist who designed and sold shirts reading “DEFIENDE EL ARTHOP!,” said that the event’s first impression was a positive one but that it would have to take a couple more Wednesdays to see if the event would grow or fail.
“For being the first event, it’s pretty good; I see a lot of familiar faces and the people seem to [be] enjoying it,” said Garcia.
“But who knows, it might go south, it might go good, but right now, everyone wants to enjoy the moment.”
