Festival seeks to rejuvenate Village

By Kelly Haigh and Chris Moriates
Daily Bruin Senior Staff

Today Westwood Village invites all members of the community to
venture into their big backyard.

The Westwood Village Street Fest, featuring live musical
performances, free food, goodie bags and craft booths, is coming to
Weyburn Avenue today from noon until 8 p.m. The event will include
two stages and extended hours at the Westwood Village
Farmers’ Market, which is held every Thursday. Admission will
be free.

Perhaps UCLA students merely have to rediscover their
backyard.

“It’s to celebrate the Westwood community, and also
it’s a celebration of music, dance, and I guess life,”
said Dennis Sullivan, promoter for the event. “We’re
also bringing together several of the best area bands to help us
celebrate.”

The musical performances will cover a broad range of styles,
from the salsa of the Los Angeles band Orquesta Son Mayor to
Superdevoiche, a 20-piece choir from Bulgaria.

“(The bands) really fit the purpose of celebration; they
really bring something to the environment,” Sullivan
said.

The goal of the Village Street Fest is to foster a community
atmosphere and a type of convergence. Many of the featured
performers recognize the impact of their music and the arts on
society as a whole.

“I think the music can play a very vital part of it,
bringing the people together ““ people of different
nationalities, showing something that will let people acknowledge
that we need to start looking out for each other,” said Blay
Ambolley, a member of the African Hi-Life Band, who will be
performing at the event.

Westwood Village is famous for its big movie premieres, but in
recent years the community has seen a major decline in performing
arts and local events. The Village Street Fest is an attempt to
revive the vibrant, pulsating atmosphere of the Westwood Village of
the ’70s and ’80s.

“I think what we’re witnessing really is the village
returning to its historic roots,” said Steven Sann, UCLA
alumnus, attorney, real estate consultant in Westwood and
unofficial historian of the Village. “Its historic roots were
as a village that served the university community and served the
neighborhood.”

Sann associates the decline in Westwood entertainment with the
rise of local hot spots such as Third Street Promenade, Old
Pasadena and Universal Citywalk. The availability of on-campus
stores may further diminish student interest in exploring resources
off campus. However, with new businesses recently cropping up in
Westwood and events such as the Village Street Festival, the
community may be recapturing its spirit.

Perhaps UCLA students merely have to rediscover their
backyard.

“You can be sure that students at USC would give their
eye-teeth to have a place like Westwood Village next to their
campus,” Sann said. “They don’t have that; in
fact students at most universities don’t really have a
village like Westwood has.”