This Weekend At The Plaza Art Fair
By OWEN MORRIS
Click on the photo for a slideshow of the Plaza Art Fair!
I went to The Plaza Art Fair on Friday night and after spending an inordinate amount of time looking for a parking spot I seriously was considering the idea of driving right through one of the barriers, parking my car in the middle of the street and calling it art. Just then, a spot opened up so I never got to test my plan.
As for the fair itself, my friend Shawn put it this way: “It’s the same as last year’s. And the year before. It’s the movie Groundhog Day, except that if every morning he woke up, beer cost a dollar more.”
I didn’t think it was that bad and I saw some distinct differences. Cigarette smoke seemed much heavier this year than in the past. This is either due to the cigarette ban causing everyone to light-up whenever they can outside — or my head-cold, which made it very difficult to breathe in the cigarette fog.
I can live with a little cigarette smoke but what was inexcusable was the fact that Deffenbaugh closed the event toilets at precisely 10 p.m. At 10:01 I was opening the door to the portable trailer toilets when the lady shut it on me. “Sorry, bathroom’s closed.” Assuming it was full I told her I didn’t need to use the restroom, just get some paper to blow my nose. “Nope. Bathroom’s close at 10. Use a Johnny on the Spot instead.” She pointed to the Johnny on the Spot a block away. I could see the line from there.
I ended up blowing my nose in a cocktail napkin I stole from one of the stands (thanks Melting Pot!) and decided to go back to the Deffenbaugh trailer to see other people’s reactions. The lady was still there saying no to some girls who were putting up some resistance: “That’s so fucking gay,” one girl shouted as she turned to leave. While I don’t agree with her choice of phrasing, I do share her feelings. The fact is, vendors were serving beer — a lot of it — to people who live 20 or 30 minutes away. To close the bathrooms in this way gave people two options — use the bathroom at one of the Plaza’s restaurants (in which case you’d have to buy something) or hold it for the ride home.
Between the parking, the bathroom situation, the cigarette smoke and mainly the head-cold, I didn’t enjoy myself this year. I saw many people who were, though. Click on the slideshow for some photos.
