North Beach Jazz Festival Battles with Rec/Park CommissionHarrison Chastang, KPOO FM Radiobyline‚ May. 05‚ 2006"We got slammed man" were the words of Sunset Promotion's Allister Monroe, producer of the North Beach Jazz Festival, considered to be one best street fairs and festivals in San Francisco. Monroe was reacting to the vote by a San Francisco Recreation and Park Commission committee to reject a liquor permit for this summer's North Beach Jazz Festival in Washington Square Park. The vote came the same day the committee reinforced its decision not to grant a liquor permit to organizers of the North Beach Festival, held on Father's Day weekend and not associated with the North Beach Jazz Festival, usually held in late July or early August. Groups supporting the liquor ban claim that both festivals discourage park access to kids and encourage public drunkenness, a position Monroe says is not supported by any facts or documentation, and that his festival has received few, if any complaints from North Beach residents. |