Anyone try the sausage dip Polly recommended? It was ridiculously good! I'm going to make it!

 

Yeah, I always wondered about that too, re: pop. estimates.

 

Taestell, good call ... I love the Downtown setting, but it's just getting TOO cramped down there. Too much frustration and anxiety with people. It's getting so busy many folks do not go and I wonder how many more won't in the future.

I had the same thought regarding Taste/Oktoberfest moving to Banks/Smale as well...

 

Seems to make a good bit of sense that way you are only blocking off the streets around an entertainment district and not as much in CBD. Plus you get the larger open spaces provided by the park and it sits directly on top of the central riverfront garage.

 

I would think once the western extension of the great lawn directly west of Roebling bridge is completed along with this next phase of the banks under construction now gets completed it would at least be looked at as an option.

In the 80s, right after they were built, the P&G gardens were part of Oktoberfest.  I can't remember if they had functions in the grass but I do remember people hanging out in the ivy walkways as if it was a public park.  Unfortunately P&G put an end to that which put physical pressure on the crowd. In the early 90s there was a parking lot where Macy's is now which was part of the festival.  Then the parking lot created at 5th & Race in 2000 after the Nordstrom deal fell through was used up until 2012 or 2013. 

 

As I suggested on here at least a year ago it would be cool if Oktoberfest was moved to Washington Park & elsewhere in OTR in order to take advantage of Bockfest-type beer tourism of the old breweries. 

^-Not only that but the German festival should take place in the German neighborhood :)

 

Though attendance did go way up when it was moved from Central to 4th street about a decade ago as I recall...

 

Seems like all the breweries are already doing special events for the festival, as more stuff comes online up there and the streetcar connects it all easily it should be an interesting experience.

When the Taste was on Central Parkway, the location of the Gateway Condos and Kroger Garage was one of the stages and the block where SCPA is now was usually the main stage. 

^-Not only that but the German festival should take place in the German neighborhood :)

 

Though attendance did go way up when it was moved from Central to 4th street about a decade ago as I recall...

 

Seems like all the breweries are already doing special events for the festival, as more stuff comes online up there and the streetcar connects it all easily it should be an interesting experience.

 

Another reason to move it to The Banks. If it remains in the CBD, the streetcar will be crossing right through the festival. Not that we couldn't deal with that, but, wouldn't it be nice to have it at The Banks and encourage people to hop on the streetcar to head up to Rhinegeist or the Moerlein Tap Room?

I live in the CBD and I've never liked the concept of street festivals.  They disrupt established downtown businesses, disrupt traffic, divert services, and basically trash the places where they're held.  For example, I noticed PNC Center on the SE corner of 5th and Main had chain link fencing all along its bank of raised planters, no doubt to spare the landscaping that would otherwise get crushed or vandalized by festival-goers.  The fencing is costly.  Damage and vandalism are costly.  Either way, that building's incurring expenses.

 

I've often complained about people who come downtown and behave boorishly and obnoxiously, in ways they probably wouldn't get away with in other neighborhoods.  I feel these street festivals foster and help to perpetuate that kind of bad behavior.

 

We have a sprawling riverfront park that would be a much more appropriate venue for Oktoberfest and Taste of Cincinnati and I've wondered, year after year, why they still aren't being held there.  I wonder if it's simply because the park board doesn't want them???

Just about every city in the world, if not every, has this "problem" with street festivals. They're just part of being a city. (Don't live in the city center if you don't like it, or plan a vacation around event days.) A park setting isn't appropriate for every event, and one of the things these events do is reimagine what type of space a city can be (not one for cars and corporations but for people and revelry).

 

IMO it would be cool if the festival grew to cover a massive area, including all the locations discussed so far in this thread. What if Oktoberfest had enough people and programming to cover downtown, from Smale Park to Findlay Market? It seems obvious there is already a critical mass to grow the area of the festival significantly, if people are forgoing beers/food (or simply not attending) due to long lines. Quite simply, more money would be spent and the economic impact would be greater if they expanded the festival a few blocks and added more vendors. Maybe the answer is to move to Smale, expand into the Banks, and keep going up year by year as the event grows organically (this would work better with a capped Fort Washington Way).

I live in the CBD and I've never liked the concept of street festivals.  They disrupt established downtown businesses, disrupt traffic, divert services, and basically trash the places where they're held.  For example, I noticed PNC Center on the SE corner of 5th and Main had chain link fencing all along its bank of raised planters, no doubt to spare the landscaping that would otherwise get crushed or vandalized by festival-goers.  The fencing is costly.  Damage and vandalism are costly.  Either way, that building's incurring expenses.

 

I've often complained about people who come downtown and behave boorishly and obnoxiously, in ways they probably wouldn't get away with in other neighborhoods.  I feel these street festivals foster and help to perpetuate that kind of bad behavior.

 

We have a sprawling riverfront park that would be a much more appropriate venue for Oktoberfest and Taste of Cincinnati and I've wondered, year after year, why they still aren't being held there.  I wonder if it's simply because the park board doesn't want them???

 

So it would be better to trash the riverfront park than some corporate landscaping? Of course festivals like Oktoberfest do all of the things you say, but they also offer a huge benefit for downtown businesses.  I was downtown on Saturday night around midnight, and it was absolutely slammed.  Bars and restaurants were packed, people were walking all throughout the CBD, and it was a very lively scene. 

 

I personally like having Oktoberfest in the middle of downtown.  The feeling of eating and drinking in the street amidst all the skyscrapers is pretty cool, and helps to break down the notion that streets are only for cars.  There is a world wide movement to 'take back the streets' for people.  Events like CicLAvia in LA, Open Streets in many places, and other such events are all about closing down streets to get people to reimagine the role of the street in public life, and I think Oktoberfest and the other festivals held on 5th kind of achieve that as well.  I don't think the Riverfront really has enough space to hold all the vendors and crowds that Oktoberfest brings, unless the did away with the linear layout, and had vendors scattered around the whole riverfront.

Sorry natininja and edale, but I respectfully disagree with your perspectives and attitudes about the impact street festivals have on downtown residents, workers, businesses and their patrons.  I'm trying to understand how street festivals help to reimagine urban spaces.  Some explanation would be helpful and could maybe change my POV.  And if one wants to drink and eat amidst tall buildings, Fountain Square already provides a stellar venue that many people regularly take advantage of. 

 

I concede that spillover may help downtown bars - once the festivals close at midnight.  But I've seen bars and restaurants packed with people on many weekends anyway, and earlier than after midnight. 

 

I just don't like street festivals -- it's a personal opinion!  I used to attend Oktoberfest but hell, for most of its history it wasn't even possible to get a decent beer there.  I duck in every now and then to get something, but especially since I live downtown, I'm already aware of, and have easy access to, all of the things the CBD and OTR have to offer and take advantage of them regularly. 

 

Maybe some people will choose to live downtown because of their experiences at street festivals here.  That, I also concede, could be a good thing.  The more the merrier!

It doesn't "reimagine urban spaces" in the sense of showing an alternative which could be permanently transitioned to (as Park(ing) Day is meant to do), but it does in the sense of transforming the area into something completely different, by using streets, sidewalks, and other usually-separate spaces with their own mundane (e.g. transporting commuters) purposes into a unified space with the purpose of having fun, celebrating, etc.

 

When you were a kid, maybe your school had a sleepover night. It's sort of like that: you have certain associations with the school building, and they are, for a night, completely broken down. There's a certain liberating feeling or catharsis that comes with such a "rule-breaking" lapse of the regular order. For students, it helps build a sense of ownership of the school and a sense of belonging. Similar sentiments are built from having Oktoberfest break the rules of the city. You don't get that by just holding yet-another-event in a space permanently designated for recreation.

 

And again, literally (as far as I know) every damn city does this. It's a thing cities do, and enough people like it that it continues.

I guess all of the Oktoberfest Zinzinnati talk this year was in the streetcar thread.

 

With the relocation to 2nd and 3rd streets instead of Fountain Square/5th Street, there was significantly more room to walk. There seemed to be more vendors. Beer lines were shorter. Overall, a vast improvement over previous years. I actually enjoyed my time down there this year. The fest tents were a big improvement. Hopefully this can be further improved upon in future years for better seating and move the festival more toward a true Oktoberfest like they have in Munich.

 

 

This image is striking. If they could cap Fort Washington Way, I would love to see large parks on the center caps, and buildings on the outside caps. The center park-like caps could be utilized to set up large festival tents like in Munich and at the Moerlein Lager House. They could even get breweries to sponsor the tents. Maybe one could be a Sam Adams tent and another could be a Cincinnati craft brewery tent. Large projectors could be set up inside of them to show Bengals games (no audio) and then show a list of events on a slideshow or something when games aren't on.

 

The possibilities would be endless, and I think a better option than Smale. For the time being, I really like the festival set up the way it was. And all of the worry of the traffic from FWW ruining the festival were put to rest. You would have no idea there were cars going 60mph right in the middle of the festival. All of the music, people, and vendors blocked it all out.

I thought the new location worked great.

I hated going to Taste or Oktoberfest when they were on Fifth Street. Second and Third Streets have a lot more physical space and was a much more pleasant place to be. Also I agree with ryanlammi[/member], there was so much noise from the crowds and bands that you never heard cars on FWW at all. The only thing that would have made this better is if Cincinnati would implement that open container district and allow people to move freely between Oktoberfest, The Banks, and Moerlein's Uberdrome tent at Smale Park. The Banks was much less crowded than the rest of Oktoberfest, and if people could move around freely with their drinks, I think they would have gotten more business.

 

As for streetcar operations during Oktoberfest, four streetcars were running and were packed all night. The police need to do a better job of directing traffic on Walnut to prevent cars from blocking intersections and making sure the streetcars can get through. There was also a pedestrian hit by a car near 5th & Main, I believe, which shut down the streetcar for about 20 minutes. The police need to be highly visible, standing in the middle of intersections, to make sure that motorists don't speed like crazy when there are hundreds of thousands of pedestrians downtown.

oh were we not supposed to carry drinks between 2nd street and the uberdrome? whoops...

I went to Oktoberfest last night and I thought it worked pretty well.  I still like it better on 5th Street, and I missed some of the more intimate spaces that used to exist at that location.  There was, however, much more room to walk around and lines were shorter than in past years.  It felt a little less cohesive due to the kind of H shape of the layout, but overall I thought it was ok.

I was out of town this weekend, so I missed out on Oktoberfest this year. I'm glad to hear it went as well as it did. Overall, it seems like the new space worked out for the event.

 

I definitely agree about "extending" the festival down into the Banks. I wish our local leaders would get their act together on the Open Container law.

 

ryanlammi[/member] - I'd love to see highway caps, but I disagree that we should add two more blocks of greenspace to that part of town. Other than Oktoberfest, what other events would fill that space? I worry that two huge blocks of greenspace would sit empty most of the year.

Wouldn't it be cool if we did a 1 story retail building, similar to the I-670 cap in Columbus, but had a green roof on top of it? So you'd have active retail space at street level, but you'd also have a large lawn that could be used for a biergarten for Oktoberfest. And from the upper floors of downtown office buildings, it would look like a park on top of the highway.

^That is a cool concept, and a perhaps a great compromise.

I'd love to see highway caps, but I disagree that we should add two more blocks of greenspace to that part of town. Other than Oktoberfest, what other events would fill that space? I worry that two huge blocks of greenspace would sit empty most of the year.

 

First, I would like to see Oktoberfest stretch to a two-weekend event (provided they have large fest tents).

 

Second, Taste of Cincinnati should definitely join Oktoberfest on Second/Third until caps are built.

 

Third, I don't think any buildings on these caps would be game changers for Downtown. My understanding is that we would only be able to get a couple of stories high, and that's only if we use light materials. People constantly talk about grocery stores or whatever on the caps, but these could realistically go anywhere (and I would argue would be more valuable along the streetcar route on Central Parkway). We have quite a bit of office vacancy and that will likely rise when Western and Southern builds their new HQ in Lytle Park.

 

I could see arguments for some additional retail/restaurants along 2nd Street, but we are already expanding retail, restaurants, and bars in OTR and at the Banks, and I would be worried about how much we can realistically support if a majority of the caps are utilized to add this type of space.

 

No one is going to want to live in a town home on Second or Third. Apartments would be hard to make affordable with only 2 or 3 stories.

 

What should go on these? My understanding is that there are 4 gaps that can be capped.

Wouldn't it be cool if we did a 1 story retail building, similar to the I-670 cap in Columbus, but had a green roof on top of it? So you'd have active retail space at street level, but you'd also have a large lawn that could be used for a biergarten for Oktoberfest. And from the upper floors of downtown office buildings, it would look like a park on top of the highway.

 

That is an interesting idea, but that would create a whole lot of logistical concerns for any large scale event to take place.

 

1) The building would weigh a lot on its own + all of the people in the building + the stuff on top. The live load of all of the people, benches, etc would likely require an extremely solid roof, which would be cost prohibitive and add lots of weight to the caps.

 

2) ADA would be a nightmare and I doubt legal occupancy would be very high due to fire codes (how do you evacuate in case of an emergency)?

 

I like the idea, but I'd be concerned the green roofs would be almost useless for this purpose.

I think we could have a single story building set back a little bit to give some room to festivals.  Put in the green roof that isn't open to the public so you don't need all the ADA stuff.  The greenery would improve runoff, reduce heat and improve air quality in the area.

Let's continue any discussion about the FWW caps within that thread:

 

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,15795.msg778326.html#msg778326

Christian Moerlein's CEO recently posted about wanting to extend Oktoberfest into a much longer festival and encourage more tourism, much like Munich's version of the festival.

Let's continue any discussion about the FWW caps within that thread:

 

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,15795.msg778326.html#msg778326

 

Well I think the Lindners and others who stand to see their ownership stakes in Third St. property appreciate used the streetcar as an excuse to move Oktoberfest to this ridiculous location in order to push for the caps. 

 

I could definitely hear the highway noise when I was down there and I found it pretty annoying.  There is not only the noise from that highway but the background noise from the Brent Spence Bridge ramps in the distance.  There was a weird, faint bounce coming off of some of the buildings from the live music, but not the echo that makes bands sound more significant that happens in the city. 

 

Let's continue any discussion about the FWW caps within that thread:

 

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,15795.msg778326.html#msg778326

 

Well I think the Lindners and others who stand to see their ownership stakes in Third St. property appreciate used the streetcar as an excuse to move Oktoberfest to this ridiculous location in order to push for the caps. 

 

I could definitely hear the highway noise when I was down there and I found it pretty annoying.  There is not only the noise from that highway but the background noise from the Brent Spence Bridge ramps in the distance.  There was a weird, faint bounce coming off of some of the buildings from the live music, but not the echo that makes bands sound more significant that happens in the city.

You're just complaining to complain.  I was down there all three days and you could barely ever hear any noise from the highways.  They had bands set up at least every block plus the noise from the huge crowd on top of that.  This new location was a major upgrade over the way to cramped 5th street.

Christian Moerlein's CEO recently posted about wanting to extend Oktoberfest into a much longer festival and encourage more tourism, much like Munich's version of the festival.

 

Do you have a link?  I've always thought oktoberfest had this type of untapped potential. It would be great if certain events like beginning/end dates and keg tappings could be coordinated with Oktoberfest Munich.

I can't remember where I saw it. But he had a pretty grand vision of making it into a 1/2-month-long festival spanning three weekends. There would be some sort of tent that would be up the whole time, like the Uberdrome that goes up next to the Lager House.

 

I'm not sure if the numbers will be low enough to safely hold Oktoberfest this year. I predict not.

 

But if they do hold it, a new model based on the Moerlein Uberdrome would be the best approach. Have a bunch of big tents with spaced-out picnic tables inside. There would need to be table service to prevent people from congregating in line for beer. Follow the same rules that many bars/restaurants are following -- visitors must wear a mask until they're seated, once they're seated they can't get up except to go to the bathroom or leave, and they must put their mask back on before getting up from the table.

 

While we're encouraging "distancing", why not spread the physical event out a little bit more? It would be fun if each local brewery sponsored a tent in a different location. Moerlein could have their a at Smale Park, Rhinegeist could have one at Washington Park, Braxton at Ziegler Park, etc. The streetcar should be up and running again by then, so it will be easy for people to visit multiple tents.

7 minutes ago, taestell said:

 

I'm not sure if the numbers will be low enough to safely hold Oktoberfest this year. I predict not.

 

But if they do hold it, a new model based on the Moerlein Uberdrome would be the best approach. Have a bunch of big tents with spaced-out picnic tables inside. There would need to be table service to prevent people from congregating in line for beer. Follow the same rules that many bars/restaurants are following -- visitors must wear a mask until they're seated, once they're seated they can't get up except to go to the bathroom or leave, and they must put their mask back on before getting up from the table.

 

While we're encouraging "distancing", why not spread the physical event out a little bit more? It would be fun if each local brewery sponsored a tent in a different location. Moerlein could have their a at Smale Park, Rhinegeist could have one at Washington Park, Braxton at Ziegler Park, etc. The streetcar should be up and running again by then, so it will be easy for people to visit multiple tents.

 

People are going to be using the same bathroom facilities, standing in long line, thousands of people at once...no way Oktoberfest will happen this year. 

 

2020, for the most part, is canceled. 

I don't think it should happen at all this year, but I suspect the "Cincinnati Business Community" will push really, really hard to try to make it happen.

 

We also might need to do a setup like this for Oktoberfest 2021, because there is a decent chance things are not back to "normal" by then.

Yep.

 

Quote

"As producer of Oktoberfest Zinzinnati, the Cincinnati Chamber does not take lightly its responsibility to businesses, communities and individuals in the Cincinnati region," Jill P. Meyer, president and CEO of the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber, said.

 

52 minutes ago, taestell said:

Yep.

Quote

"As producer of Oktoberfest Zinzinnati, the Cincinnati Chamber does not take lightly its responsibility to businesses, communities and individuals in the Cincinnati region," Jill P. Meyer, president and CEO of the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber, said.

 

 

So it looks like it's going to be claiming the title of "World's Largest Oktoberfest" by counting as participants everyone who participates from home and at all the different distributed sites across however large an area that is.  

 

https://www.oktoberfestzinzinnati.com/

 

 

It doesn't look like a massive concentration in any centralized location.

This youtube person is from Munich and lives in Cincinnati and talks a bit about the Cincinnati Oktoberfest:

 

Oktoberfest Zinzinnati 2023 moving back to 5th Street, extends to 4 days

 

Oktoberfest begins Thursday, Sept. 14 at 4 p.m. The festival previously was held over four days in 2021 after there was no festival in 2020 due to the pandemic.

 

Festival organizers said the extra day is in part for celebrating the move back to 5th Street, where it was held for years before moving to Second and Third streets.

 

“We’re excited to return to 5th Street, a location that is nostalgic for many of our long-time attendees,” said Chelsea York, Vice President of Events and Experiences at the Cincinnati Regional Chamber. “The move to 5th Street will refresh the event while maintaining a piece of its history.”

 

In terms of exact location, the festival will run from from Main Street to east of Sentinel Street and expand upon the Taste of Cincinnati footprint, and the Cincinnati Connector will continue to run. The city is working on establishing the final footprint.

 

_________________________________

 

I'm personally not excited for the move back to 5th. I never went to Oktoberfest when it was on 5th Street because the linear shape of it meant there was only one path to everything. Beer and food lines stretched from one side of 5th to the other, meaning just walking a block took forever as you were constantly weaving between lines of people. The 2nd/3rd location opened it up a lot IMO. We'll see how it goes, but I'm not optimistic. It seems like the reason for it moving was because of traffic trying to get to the Bengals game that weekend.

 

This also means Government Square gets interrupted, which causes a lot more issues than 2nd/3rd closing.

22 minutes ago, ryanlammi said:

Oktoberfest Zinzinnati 2023 moving back to 5th Street, extends to 4 days

 

Oktoberfest begins Thursday, Sept. 14 at 4 p.m. The festival previously was held over four days in 2021 after there was no festival in 2020 due to the pandemic.

 

Festival organizers said the extra day is in part for celebrating the move back to 5th Street, where it was held for years before moving to Second and Third streets.

 

“We’re excited to return to 5th Street, a location that is nostalgic for many of our long-time attendees,” said Chelsea York, Vice President of Events and Experiences at the Cincinnati Regional Chamber. “The move to 5th Street will refresh the event while maintaining a piece of its history.”

 

In terms of exact location, the festival will run from from Main Street to east of Sentinel Street and expand upon the Taste of Cincinnati footprint, and the Cincinnati Connector will continue to run. The city is working on establishing the final footprint.

 

_________________________________

 

I'm personally not excited for the move back to 5th. I never went to Oktoberfest when it was on 5th Street because the linear shape of it meant there was only one path to everything. Beer and food lines stretched from one side of 5th to the other, meaning just walking a block took forever as you were constantly weaving between lines of people. The 2nd/3rd location opened it up a lot IMO. We'll see how it goes, but I'm not optimistic. It seems like the reason for it moving was because of traffic trying to get to the Bengals game that weekend.

 

This also means Government Square gets interrupted, which causes a lot more issues than 2nd/3rd closing.

 

Personally I hated it being on 2nd and 3rd Street just because of the concrete valley of heat and sun all day long. But it was nice and wide to enjoy walking around and avoiding the beer lines meeting in the middle of the road. Maybe if we ever get caps on Fort Washington Way it could move back to 2nd and 3rd street. You mentioned bengals game which i hadnt looked up yet. Reds are out of town and no major concerts so that must be a big reason is Bengals game. 

5th is terrible for Oktoberfest as it's way too small. 

Agreed - it would be better if it was 5th and 4th or 5th and 6th ... all on one street is chaos. You cannot navigate at all. 

42 minutes ago, savadams13 said:

 

Personally I hated it being on 2nd and 3rd Street just because of the concrete valley of heat and sun all day long. But it was nice and wide to enjoy walking around and avoiding the beer lines meeting in the middle of the road. Maybe if we ever get caps on Fort Washington Way it could move back to 2nd and 3rd street. You mentioned bengals game which i hadnt looked up yet. Reds are out of town and no major concerts so that must be a big reason is Bengals game. 

 

The National Homecoming Festival is taking place at Icon Stage at Smale Park that weekend.

The Second/Third St. setup was terrible.  There was no shade meaning the concrete was hotter, and the festival was oddly centered toward the edge of downtown rather than centered around it.  Instead of the music reverberating between buildings, it was drowned out by highway noise. 

 

Oktoberfest was on Fifth St. for like 30 years.  Nobody voiced any complaints about it.  The rides were always on the wider section of Fifth St. near P&G.  I recall that when the Imperial Gardens were first built that the festival was actually partly in the gardens. 

Oktoberfest Zinzinnati moves again, this time to a Cincinnati park

 

Quote

 

Oktoberfest Zinzinnati is changing locations again.

 

Mayor Aftab Pureval and the Cincinnati Regional Chamber announced Tuesday, March 19, that the annual celebration of the region’s German heritage will move to Sawyer Point for 2024. The festival will be held Thursday, Sept. 19, through Sunday, Sept. 22.

 

Last year, Oktoberfest made its return to Fifth Street after six years of being held on Second and Third streets. The event moved from its longtime Fifth Street location in 2016 to allow use of the Cincinnati Connector streetcar.

 

 

 

Incredibly disappointed to hear this, @ryanlammi. Thought the exclusive rumor I told you about was gonna come true. ☹️

 

Edit: In all seriousness, this is actually really great news. It’s in a much better/more scenic/more shaded space with plenty of room to host people… and… I don’t have to deal with as much vomit on the ground when I walk my dog during the event weekend.

Edited March 19, 20241 yr by Gordon Bombay

I think this will be a great site for Oktoberfest. All the trees will make for a pleasant environment. The WEBN fireworks demonstrate that this area can handle large crowds. 

 

I hope they have good signage helping direct people to the streetcar. It's not entirely obvious, but I think the best walking path from the streetcar stop to the edge of the park is via the elevated platform between the Reds stadium and the coliseum. You only have to cross traffic at Main St, and it is just a bit over a quarter mile:

 

I'll be interested to see how it goes.  I still think 2nd and 3rd with FWW capped is the best spot, but who knows when that will happen.  If all the vendors are going to be pushed off the grass we need more tents.  

Shouldn't they combine this with the bridge and The Levee for a bi-state Oktoberfest?

I think it’s a great location. We’ll see how it holds up to the crowds. Usually am down there during pride and it’s gets very cramped. Hopefully it won’t end up that way. 

On 3/19/2024 at 2:04 PM, Gordon Bombay said:

more shaded space

 

It's like everyone the media interviewed this weekend remarked on the "shade".  Since somehow 50-foot trees create more shade than 350-foot skyscrapers. 

16 minutes ago, Lazarus said:

 

It's like everyone the media interviewed this weekend remarked on the "shade".  Since somehow 50-foot trees create more shade than 350-foot skyscrapers. 

Oktoberfest on the park was fantastic this weekend. The trees made a huge difference, shocker! I think the only compliant we had going two days, one with adults and one with kids. They need to separate out the soda/water sales from the beer vendors. Standing 40 people deep to get water/soda for kids is insane. There were also some def. dark spots in the park that could have used some additional rental lighting poles. Other than that small kinks to easily be worked out. 

1 hour ago, Lazarus said:

 

It's like everyone the media interviewed this weekend remarked on the "shade".  Since somehow 50-foot trees create more shade than 350-foot skyscrapers. 

Trees provide a cooling effect beyond just getting you out of the direct sun. Buildings and hard surfaces like concrete/asphalt absorb the thermal energy of the sun and create a minor oven-like condition known as the urban heat island. Vegetation like trees and grass reduce the urban heat island effect by preventing that thermal energy from being absorbed by the hard surfaces. Also, trees further cool an area by a process known as transpiration cooling. Water is released from tree leaves into the surrounding air which slightly lowers the air temperature when the water changes from a liquid state to a vapor.

 

The media isn't going to spend the time explaining this in a 45 second interview about a local festival's new location.