The Westheimer Block Party has gone through a long series of changes since the 1970′s. The event emerged as an offspring of the Westheimer Colony Art Festival which was established in 1971. The Westheimer Street Festival, as it was called then continued to grow next to its sister event, called the Westheimer Art Festival. Alot of people remember when the festival spread for a dozen blocks and 300,000 people immigrated to Montrose for a few days each year. However, as the event became more popular and unmanageable the cohesive organic nature of the festival was destroyed. The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission decided that they would no longer allow the ‘picnic-permit’ style festival and moved to issuing one alcohol permit to the person holding the permit for street closure. The last authentic “WestFest” occured in October 1999. Since, the event has moved to a park off of Allen Parkway for a couple of years, calling itself The Westheimer Street Festival in Exile. Another year, it was held during the Annual Gay Pride Parade, however neither were a runaway success. The latest reincarnation headed by Omar Afra, founder of Free Press Houston will occur on March 28, 2009. The Westheimer Block Party in it’s current form is at the intersection of Westheimer and Taft Street. The party will play home to 50+ bands, many of them local. 2009 will see a major shift in the structure of the block party as several national touring bands will be headlining. The first portion of the day, showcasing much of the regional talent will be free. The evening portion of the festival will require a wrist band. This move as the HFP notes is “ambitious” and “risky”. However, the long term pay off for the community will be huge. Tickets for this event are on presale for $20 and can be purchased here.
For a full list of the bands visit here.
Related posts:
