A couple observations about the Lake Worth Beach Art Festival over the weekend...

We were able to go both days. Sunday seemed to be the better attended day. We were there around 2 p.m. and just missed the weather change. If you weren't there then, you missed a waterspout just off shore. Then wind and rain commenced "out of the blue" that would have sent attendees and vendors packing. It would have been a long haul for the vendors since they surely had their vehicles in the lower lot, as everyone must have since the upper lot was completely closed off for parking and turned over to vendor space.

Above is the list of special events held or to be held at the beach during November.

To my knowledge, this was the first time the city did this, but is part of a series of events that will use the upper parking area like today. For the attendee, it was a great venue and you really got the sense that you were at the ocean. You were also able to catch glimpses of the Gulfstream Hotel. I am not sure how much our downtown benefitted from the increased attraction of the beach due to the event. The crowd did not seem like the typical Lake Worth sort, it looked like people from the barrier island. I guess that is the cost of having to pay for a building and project that we couldn't afford or admit we would have to cater to a "non-Lake Worth" clientele. After all, we rank between Belle Glade and Riviera Beach in poverty rates. The people that I saw at the event looked like retirees from the northeast.

Here are some pictures, besides the ones I already posted, that point out some of the flaws of the layout of the beach that still can be addressed, if we want to talk about them.

This woman, being assisted by a cane, is making her way from the lower parking area over the "dune" and complained about the walk as we passed by her. We acknowledged that she had a point.

Above, this is a view looking from the upper parking area to the full lower parking area. It was also full to over-flowing on Sunday. Saturday there was a small army of city parking staff monitoring the parking lot for violations, one would presume. Sunday, it was a bit "hairy" navigating part of the loop road on a bike - especially the intersection just west of the Casino building. There seems to be a lot of confusion at that corner and it doesn't help when most of the drivers are over 80 years age.

Above, in the distance along the bike path between the parking area and the seawall is a worker from Benny's. He is making the multiple daily trek to the nearest dumpster, just south of the Casino building - the one that was immediately west of the pier was full both days we were there. Part of the cost of doing business at the beach.

This is from Sunday. The vendor/pedestrian space between the parking area and the Casino building was the most congested due to two rows of vendors along what was a much narrower walkway than the parking area. Between people with bikes, hover-rounds, baby carriages, etc., it was more than a little claustrophobic. We saw Palm Beach County fire rescue people who seemed to be looking for someone in response to a call and were having a hard time doing so.

Above, you can see the rescue wagon there, lights on, but not moving anywhere. There were also a lot of people parking in the county park to the north.

And despite having what seems like abundant bicycle parking when an event is not taking place, you can many people use impromptu facilities, not designed for bike storage, during the event. The areas where there was built-in bike storage were overtaken by vendors and attendees.

Hopefully some of these issues can be addressed. We are going to have to use the beach in this manner in order for it to be the "money-maker" our leaders told us it would be. Commissioner McVoy is one that is still on the dais.