Berkeley International Food Festival-April 30, 2006

Berkeley Public Library had a table at the Food Festival? Yes, but it didn't sell food of course. We were there just to give out some information about programs at the libraries (Central, North, South, West, and Claremont.) After an hour at Central to show some people how to do origami, my sons and I took the bus to the Food Festival in West Berkeley. According to the Daily Californian newspaper over 5,000 people attended the festival. It was fun to see so many people. Anh Vu, Hong Bao and I tried some Haiwaiian, Puerto Rican, and Indian food. After that I joined my co-workers at the library table. We worked as a pair, one hour each. The day was sunny, warm, beautiful, and we had such a good times. Here are some sight and scence of the festival.






University Avenue










A massage booth-$1 a minute. The kid in the middle is holding a timer and timed it for his mom.








An Indian store and some booths on University Avenue



Anh Vu and I at the corner of University and San Pablo Avenue. (Bao took this picture)





Anh Vu, Bao and I tried some Puerto Rican food of rice and beans, but it was too salty. It was a waste of $3. Then we tried our luck with the Indian vegetables and snacks, and they were good.
Booth owners should have included English on the menu as well, so we didn't have to ask: "What is number one? two?" and so on.




I wished the food was much better than the sign and the decoration, the price was outrageous ($6 for a scoop of rice, pasta salad, and a small piece of cold, bland BBQ chicken.)




Andrea and Colleen



Duc and Andrea



Marge and Andrea




Marge and Nga



Marge and a library patron



Nga and Andrea









Visitors at the library's table



Nga and Duc





Dancer and musicians


COMMENT:

May 5, 2006

Hello Nga,

As an organizer of the festival I really appreciate your coming out with the library and then blogging about it. May I copy some of your great pictures for our archive? Also, did you share your thoughts about food with the booth owners? I was sorry to hear the Haiwaiin BBQ wasn't as good as what I tasted from them a few weeks before. You might try again at the Templebar Restaurant on one of their luau nights sometime.

All the best,

Betsy M., President
West Berkeley Neighborhood Development Corporation