Immigrants' Day Festival is Canceled for 2012

The increasingly popular Immigrants' Day Festival staged annually in Redwood City’s Courthouse Square won’t be held this year, according to county historians who blamed lack of funds for the move.

“The Immigrants Festival is heavily dependent on Redevelopment Agency funding,” said Mitch Postel, president of the San Mateo County Historical Association, which sponsors the event usually held in May.

“As the status of the agency is so uncertain, we felt it necessary to cancel the event,” Postel told Patch on Tuesday. The State Supreme Court ruled last month that the state had the right to use $1.7 billion in Redevelopment Agency funds to help solve California’s budget problems. The court’s decision could threaten the existence of California’s 400 redevelopment agencies.

“It’s that simple,” Postel said. “Just a business decision.”

Postel said the redevelopment agency contributed $7,500, which accounted for about a third of the festival’s budget.

D. Michael Kastrop, president of the Redwood City Downtown Business Group, responded to the news with a statement:

"The loss of the Redevelopment funding will make it very challenging to host as many Redwood City concerts, festivals and other events at the level that people have come to expect.  In order to keep the renaissance of the downtown going, we will need local businesses to continue volunteering their help and seek out additional financial sponsors.  These events are vital for introducing people to our new downtown businesses and restaurants."   

Last year’s sixth annual festival drew more than 1,000 people, even though the threat of rain for the first time forced the event to seek shelter in the museum housed inside the courthouse.

Performing artists in past festivals displayed their talents on a stage set up on the square, a plaza lined with fountains and anchored at both ends by historic buildings.

The 2010 festival drew 1,400 people, up from 1,100 in 2009, an increase from 1,000 in 2008.

The festival highlighted music and dancers from China, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Portugal and the Philippines among other countries. It also featured foods from several nations. The dishes ranged from smoked salmon at the Irish table to traditional Chinese dishes.

“Today most people recognize that San Mateo County is a very diverse place, with close to 30 percent of its population born in another country,” Postel said. “However, most people do not realize that as far back as 1880, 30 percent of the people of San Mateo County had been born in another country.”

The festival was an outgrowth of the museum’s permanent exhibit entitled “Land of Opportunity: The Immigrant Experience in San Mateo County.” Each immigrant group has a display case that contains artifacts from the past, including clothing and musical instruments. Another gallery features the county’s earlier Native American and Hispanic pioneers.

Some exhibits on display may surprise. One recounts the well-known World War II internment of Japanese Americans, but it also reveals that some Italians on the San Mateo County coast were relocated.

The text at the gallery reads: “Every new wave of immigration to the United States has experienced alienation and discrimination. Newly arrived immigrants struggle with new customs, culture, values and language.”

The interest in the contributions of immigrants to the county led to the publication in the museum magazine - La Peninsula - of histories of several groups, including the Irish, Portuguese, Filipinos and Mexicans.

Related Topics: immigrants festival