What’s Going On?

The first ever Eat Real Festival was held at Jack London Square in one of Oakland’s most famous historic places. The event spanned over a three day period, but there were a few events held that led up to major festivities. Friday at the festival was pretty much an ice cream night with a late night film. Saturday was an all day event where everyone can enjoy live performances, foods galore, a farmers market, cooking demonstrations and talks, a beer shed, a butchery contest, scenic views of the marina, and local shopping at the outdoor mall. Sunday was a shorter day, but still filled with good food and live music.

I visited the festival on Saturday and the day started off in extreme heat. I’m not use to hot weather so any opportunity that I had to take shelter under some shade or inside a building was the key to staying cool and away from heat exhaustion. As I entered the festival near about the time the festival started lines for food vendors started building up and crowds of people came swarming in. The amount of diverse representation of foods and desserts at the festival were mind boggling.

Compared to San Francisco’s Street Food Festival that took place a week before the Eat Real Festival, the festival was able to accommodate the amount of people that showed up. Jack London Square proved to be a venue where many people can come to check out local good eats without having to wait astronomical amounts of time for food. San Francisco also had to cram everything within one block so that didn’t help things. The food festival at Jack London Square was about two blocks long, utilizing the waterfront, the water fountain plaza, and the newly soon to be farmers market building.

Performances on the music and film stage were also diverse. Different types of music performed or played on stage ranged from Hip Hop to contemporary Pop. They had a small orchestra, dancers, and even a guy playing a shovel (make-shift guitar) on stage.

Some people took advantage from the heat by going inside the new farmers market building to check out local grown fruits and vegetables, as well as other goodies. Only the ground floor was open to the public with two aisles of vendors. A small indoor theater was created for visitors and a couple street food vendors set up shop inside also.

The food at the festival was reasonably priced between $1-$5 per portion. Of the food that I was able to try, they were pretty good. I loved the idea of this festival that I hope to see more festivals like this more often. One huge benefit that I saw this festival having was the fact that a large amount of diversity can be brought to one location where you’re given endless choices of food to decide on eating. I think the next time I come to a festival like this I will come with a huge appetite because everything looked so good to eat, but the stomach can only take so much in.

In no particular order, the following is a list of food vendors that represented at the festival: Zella’s Soulful Kitchen, Sam’s Chowder Van, Chaac Mool, Estrellita’s Snacks, Los Cilantros, Urban Nectar, Pizza Politana, Botanas , elicitas, Gobba Gobba Hey, Phatt Matt’s BBQ, Sweetface Bakery, 5e5 : Farinata on Wheels, SF Pie Truck, Wholesome Bakery, Nieves Cinco de May, El Porteno, The Creme Brulee Cart, Gelateria Cici, Roli Roti, Ritual Coffee Roasters, Localicious, 4505 Meats, Saul’s Restaurant & Delicatessen, Liba Falafel Truck, Oren’s Kitchen, Society of St. Vincent de Paul of Alameda County: Taste of Home, Tim Luym From Poleng Lounge, Soul Cocina, Amuse Bouche, Los Angeles de Pueblas Frutas, Laloo’s, Adobo Hobo, Aisu Pop, Gerard’s Paella, Sexy Soup Cart, Jim ‘N Nick’s Bar-B-Q, Chop Bar, Seoul on Wheels, Straus Family Creamery, Jon’s Street Eats, Fruit Cart by Cecilia Lopez, Pepito’s Ice Cream, Amanda’s Feel Good Fresh Food, Shuga Hill Catering, Fat Bottom Bakery, Yanet’s Desserts, and Kara’s Cupcakes.

More information on the Eat Real Festival can be found here.

Photos from the Eat Real Festival can be viewed by clicking the image link above.