Oakland's First Fridays to go on hiatus, blames shrinking space, revenue

Oakland’s popular First Fridays street fair is a family-friendly event attracting tens of thousands of patrons every month.The Oakland tradition will soon be going on hiatus.

A funky beat and the sweet scent of buttery-grilled goodness filled the air at First Fridays in Oakland’s KONO district.Johnson is one of the many food vendors at the event.She’s worried about the event being put on the back burner.Melanin Gang has been networking and selling clothing at the community gathering spot for three years.

"It’s everything to me, to our family, as a matter of fact," Melanin Gang owner Mohammed Shuaibe told KTVU. "First Fridays has put food on the table. First Fridays has paid the rent quite literally."Operating costs are rising to the tune of $45,000 for the one-night event."We actually lost a bunch of vendor space when they put in this protective bike lane," organizer Venessa McGhee said.

They have gone from up to 100 vendors before the permanent, raised curb bike lane, to no more than 75 now."We definitely need to work together to make this work for everyone."Yvette Ciocco, who brought her family out, will miss it.The non-profit depends on vendor fees, donations, sponsors, and grants to keep coming back, which helps small business owners make ends meet and brings the community together.

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