Art-Themed Summer Street Fair & Breakdancing Symposium A Success in Canoga Park

By Sherman Farralone, Quilt staff

DATELINE: OWENSMOUTH AVENUE 

The numbers are in and last week’s Third Thursday was a success.

The trimonthiel event — a celebration of art, food, tagging workshops, fellowship, and people carrying little dogs so they don’t get accidentally kicked across the street by someone doing windmills in front of that tire place — is held in Canoga Park on the first full Thursday that follows the second Friday (so long as both Fridays had been preceded by a Thursday in that month) during months ending in an ‘e’ or a ‘t’; and/or any month ending in a ‘y’ that specifically falls between ‘e-’ and ‘t’-ending months. 

Staff photo.

For the 2017 “Third Thursday” schedule, the event’s dates had been predetermined to occur on June 15, July 20 and August 17.

Murla Havemeyer. Staff photo.

“It was a great night,” says Murla Havemeyer, head of event organizement for the Canoga Park Summer Event Series: Third Thursdays ArtWalk and Collective of Artists & Local Raw Artisanal Honey Sellers. “We had a lot of people come by this month. Sure, it meant that I had to stand in line a little longer for my sisig fries at the food truck, but it was worth it.” 

While specific numbers haven’t been released for this year's second Third Thursday, most agree that attendance was up significantly from the event in June, the first Third Thursday event of 2017, nearly matching that of September 17, 2015, the fourth Third Thursday event of the third year the Third Thursday annual street festival was held.

“Yeah, it was real busy,” says local artist Brian Rauschebart, who sold unlicensed “Rick & Morty” religious candles at his booth. “I think it was just as hot and muggy as [the Third Thursday event] in June was, but people came anyway because we’d all just gotten used to the never-ending, stifling heat by now.”

Getting The Word Out:  Locals were made aware of the event by these cards, left on the wind-
shields of Canoga Park's myriad of permanently parked RVs as well as other vehicles. Staff photo.

Havemeyer, however, attributes the increased attendance to handbills advertising the event. “We came up with a really clever idea — to have thousands upon thousands of these little cards printed up — then had volunteers put them on all the car windshields in the downtown Canoga Park area,” she says. “That really got the word out and made the night a triumphant smash.” 

Not one to rest on her laurels, Havemeyer, who keeps busy on many local committees, hopes she can duplicate her “Third Thursdays” success on other projects. 

Staff photo.

“I also head up the Canoga Park Friendly Neighborhood Council’s ‘Tidy Neighborhoods’ initiative,” the civic-minded Wyandotte Avenue resident says, “and currently we’re looking at ways to clean up the trash in our streets.”