Festival brings life to Kerr Street
STORY BY SAMANTHA MAICH
The First Annual Kerr Festival, hosted by Kerr Village, is the largest event to come to Kerr since the Santa Claus Parade. Unlike the parade, however, the festival ran for 10 hours and a wide variety of onlookers crowded the streets of Downtown Oakville throughout the day.
“They ate fire!” Gabriella Wright, 9, said, referring to the fire dancers who performed at the festival. The fire dancing started out innocently with unlit hoola-hoops. Then the dancers suggested that they set the street on fire and, with the crowd cheering them on, did exactly that. Swirling hoops of flame danced along the two girl’s bodies for approximately the next half hour as they performed.
Fire dancers performed at the First Annual Kerr Festival on Sept.6.
Gabriella, Rikki Wright’s daughter, said that the festival was “awesome. It’s really cool cause there’s lots of things for kids,” and that her favourite part was, “that you get to experience a lot of different things.”
The Beat Heathens posed for a photo on Sept.6 after their performance at the First Annual Kerr Festival.
The festival on Sept.6 offered free music on two stages including performances by The Cowboy Junkies, The Beat Heathens, Wide Mouth Mason and Vanessa Maria Carter. There were also attractions such as fire dancing, carnival rides for children, skateboarding and Mayor Rob Burton did the ALS ice bucket challenge.
Scott Apted, 42, drummer for The Beat Heathens, said the festival was a good thing because “people will notice that there’s a lot of stuff going on here.”
Apted works at the Gear music store, and said its 17th anniversary was that day, and the store would be open until 12:30 a.m. “You tend to think of Downtown Oakville as Lakeshore and the festival brings attention to this area,” Apted said.
Mike Montgomery, 51, bass player for the Beat Heathens and Wayne DeAdder, 45, guitarist and vocalist for The Beat Heathens, agreed that the festival was a great way to generate revenue for the area and socialize. DeAdder used to live nearby and said the area has improved since he moved to Burlington.
“[Kerr Street] has inherited a reputation that it doesn’t deserve anymore,” said Rikki Wright, 38.
Wright mentioned a stabbing that occurred on Kerr Street, and said that bad things were expected on Kerr that wouldn’t be elsewhere. He also pointed out that the festival was a good way to create a new reputation for the street.
A press release by the Halton Regional Police Service from Feb.27, 2014 verifies that there was a stabbing on Kerr Street on Feb. 20, and says that participants have been charged.
“It’s gotten better. I just think that Kerr Street has just been growing in terms of getting better business… It’s sort of a building process. Maybe Kerr Street had been ignored a little by Oakville,” Apted said.
Apted said that Oakville had changed Kerr Street in ways such as putting flowers on the posts, changing the sidewalks, and creating a park area for residents.
Doug Sams, executive director of the Kerr Village BIA, said that Kerr Village has a new Streetscaping Committee that has recently beautified the area.
Sams also said, “We had a great turnout and everybody seemed to have a great day. We had people up and down the street all day and it was a positive thing for the Kerr Village.
“Kerr Village has changed a lot over the past 14 years, and from talking to merchants and residents in the area, it’s a positive vibe,” Sams said.
Wright lives close to Kerr Street, and said the festival was, “pulling the neighbourhood together.”
Alex Thompson, 15, a volunteer at the festival said, “This street has been known for having a bad reputation. They’re trying to get this street a better name.”
Thompson also said that her younger brother was having fun over at the kids’ zone, where there was a bouncy castle, a bull ride, and giant hamster balls.
A Bullriding station was set up for kids at the First Annual Kerr Festival on Sept.6.
Donovan Roossien, 11, a volunteer at the festival said his favourite aspect was “all of the authorities helping everyone. I want to be a police officer.”
Sams mentioned that they had a great lineup of bands and “we’d like to make it even bigger for next year.”
