One of San Diego’s favorite summertime traditions, The Ocean Beach Street Fair & Chili Cook-Off returns on June 22 for it’s 44th edition. Taking place along Newport Avenue, there will be 13 musical performers on two stages, plus live music at Winston’s, The Harp and The Holding Company, an artists alley, an inflatables fun zone and plenty of great food to sample amongst the days activities. The days musical artists will include High Tide Society, Spacehall Sound Machine, Sara Petite, Bad Science Fiction and Band of Gringos.
This is the third year in a row reggae/funk/punk combo, The Resinators (92107 Stage, 4:30 p.m.) have played OB Chili cook off. “It always lands on or around our lead singer’s birthday,” said the bands bassist, Kyle Cameron. “So, it’s definitely a show and day we look forward to each year. Always a party!”
Acoustic guitarist Travis Oliver (92107 Stage, 10 a.m.) concurs. “There are so many things I love about the street fair it is hard to pick a favorite. The music, food, art vendors. But what I do look forward to the most is seeing all of my peers in the community coming together for a day of celebration and the start of summer.” How important does Cameron feel events like this are to San Diego? “It’s the corner stone of the community. Our church. Vital to the scene without a doubt!”
Grateful Dead tribute band Electric Waste Band (Main Stage, 3:30 p.m.) are veterans of the OB Street Fair. “I wish I recalled when we first played the Street Fair,” said the group’s guitarist Robert Harvey. “Certainly in the mid 90’s, at an early time slot, on a side stage. No matter, it was always so exciting to be a part of the event and still is.” He noted that in recent years, the OB Street Fair provided the opportunity for EWB to be joined by Bill Walton on percussion. “Bill played with the band at the 2014 OB Street Fair and has played most every OB Street Fair with us since. We got to know and love Bill over the years and always looked forward to having him join us at Street Fair. We were extremely saddened to hear that Bill passed away on Memorial Day.”
Does Harvey approach large outdoor events like this differently than the band’s indoor / club dates? “Not really,” he said. We understand we have time limitations and do a little more planning for what we might want to play than we do at a Winstons’ show, for example. But we will still play a crowd request if we think it would be a good song to play in the moment. “
What’s Harvey looking forward to the most on the day? “Playing a mid-afternoon set at a beautiful venue in the San Diego sunshine to a welcoming crowd that seems more like friends than fans.”
https://oceanbeachsandiego.com/attractions/annual-events/ob-street-fair-chili-cook
