The fight to save Oakland’s beloved First Fridays got very real yesterday, as community members, small-business owners and city leaders packed Cloud Park on Telegraph Avenue for a town hall that quickly became a referendum on the festival’s future. Councilmember Carroll Fife called the meeting, and Mayor Barbara Lee and Interim Police Chief James Beere were among the officials in the hot seat, fielding questions as organizers warned that sponsor withdrawals and rising operating costs have pushed the long-running block party to the brink.
The forum was sparked in part by a March mass shooting at EZ's Lounge that left two people dead and five others wounded, according to ABC7. Tensions rose further after a separate incident on May 2, when a car jumped the curb near Telegraph Avenue and 18th Street and injured seven people during First Friday celebrations, according to KTVU.
City leaders convene
Addressing the crowd, Mayor Barbara Lee laid out an ambitious vision: "I want Oakland to be the safest, cleanest, greenest city in America," she said, adding that violence is not an option in Oakland, according to KTVU. Tony Leong, general manager of the Fox Theater, urged the city to get more hands-on with planning, calling for monthly coordination meetings with First Fridays organizers to knit together safety and programming. "We can have fun and we can have culture and we can still be safe," he said, per KTVU.
Organizers say sponsorships are fraying
Behind the scenes, the finances are as shaky as the security situation. Organizers say several sponsors have already walked away, pulling crucial support that helped cover operations, as reported by SFGATE. Festival director Venessa McGhee told Oakland North that First Fridays runs in the red most months, with lost vendor real estate and rising costs squeezing the nonprofit that puts the event on.
New experiments and alternatives
As First Fridays scrambles for a lifeline, other promoters are quietly testing new approaches. Sean Sullivan of Fluid 510 is rolling out a monthly activation called Oaktown Thursdays that will land on third Thursdays starting June 18, according to Visit Oakland. Supporters of these smaller, more targeted events say they could keep downtown foot traffic and commerce alive while dialing back the kind of late-night crowds where many of the recent incidents have happened.
What’s next
For now, First Fridays is still officially alive. The event’s own webpage lists the next gathering for June 5. The city has already added extra patrols and stepped up enforcement, but a city spokesperson told Oakland North that guaranteed municipal support is tied to the current fiscal year, and officials anticipate a change in support after June unless a longer-term plan comes together. Some vendors and residents say they are in a wait-and-see mode, watching the next few weeks for real movement on safety and funding before they commit fully to coming back.
The town hall ended with vows to keep talking but few hard answers. Organizers and venue leaders walked away with a familiar to-do list more meetings, clearer rules, firmer funding promises. Whether Oakland’s summer season of First Fridays actually happens now depends on whether those promises turn into dollars and visible safety improvements on the street.
