Why Not Wednesday brings new twist to Fresno
FRESNO, Calif. – Something new is trying to replace Downtown Fresno’s Art Hop.
After Fresno City Council member Miguel Arias announced a ban on outdoor vendors at Art Hop, he followed up with announcing a new city-sponsored event called Why Not Wednesday.
In partnership with he Downtown Fresno Partnership, the city of Fresno created Why Not Wednesday to preserve the street fair energy that started to over shadow Art Hop. The event happens monthly on the third Wednesday.
Art Hop, still hosted by the Fresno Arts Council, happens on the first and third Thursday of every month and focuses on highlighting local art and downtown galleries.
Vendors now have a streamlined process for permitting online at Fresno.gov.
Why Not Wednesday allows vendors and makers to line the streets of downtown Fresno with everything from food to vintage clothing.
Marissa Arreguin, a senior event coordinator with the Downtown Fresno Partnership, said she and other people at the DFP felt the absence of Art Hop energy downtown after the outdoor vendor ban.
“Felt like we felt the impact of closure of Art Hop,” Arreguin said. “Myself and few other organizers in the Downtown Fresno partnership wanted to keep it going. Still bring the people out here.”
Why Not Wednesday kicked off in September and has been running for five months.
Compared to the event it grew out of, Why Not Wednesday is much smaller. Before the outdoor vendor ban, Art Hop used to take up several downtown blocks and draw crows of more than 1,500 attendees. Why Not Wednesday takes up about three streets from Fulton and Tulare to Fulton and Inyo.
Despite the smaller footprint, there is a community that wants to see the event grow.
Tess McClellan is Part of the Central Valley Camera Club. She thinks the word just has to get out to make Why Not Wednesday what people want.
“I think some people aren’t familiar with what we’re doing here,” McClellan said. “I also think that people still talk about Art hop a lot and they miss that sense of community but I think if people start talking about it more, telling their friends then it’d get to where we were.”
The Downtown Fresno Partnership is open to suggestion for how to make the event what people in Fresno want to see.
“At the end of the day, this event happens because people come out so whatever people want to see incorporated. We’re open to implementing.” Arreguin said. “We have the low-riders, live art, the food. Hopefully we can bring more stuff out once it gets warmer.”
Why Not Wednesday is preserving downtown Fresno’s street fair energy — one Wednesday at a time.
To keep up to date with the event, “why not” check out its Instagram @Whynotdtfresno