By Clarence Cromwell
The Los Gatos Kiwanis Club will bring will bring fine art and wine and beer tasting in the form of the Fiesta de Artes to the Civic Center Aug. 23 and 24.
But it may require closing the library for those days.
The Town Council decided at its regular session Feb. 18 to allow the event, provided the Kiwanis Club keeps a close watch over wine and beer vendors to assure that neither overconsumption nor purchases by minors occur.
In the past, the town has usually refused to allow alcohol sales on town premises, but council members said they believe the fiesta will be a low-key, tame event.
The fiesta will occupy the Civic Center grounds and the Neighborhood Center parking lot, across the street. Art-lovers will be able to stroll through the Fiesta area with their drinks
and view numerous works of art.
Town Manager Dave Knapp said the library has been closed during past festivals at the Civic Center because festival-goers tend to traipse through the library with their food and drinks on the way to the bathrooms.
The fiesta was sponsored for many years by the Los Gatos Chamber of Commerce, which went out of business several years ago. Last year, the Kiwanis Club brought the event back and staged it in the parking lot of the shopping center at the corner of Los Gatos-Saratoga Road and N. Santa Cruz Avenue.
When the Eastfield Ming Quong decided to move its annual Strawberry Festival from the Civic Center to West Valley College this year, the Kiwanis Club approached the town to see if moving the fiesta to the Civic Center would be feasible.
The event is to take place from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. both days.
This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, February 26, 1997.
©1997 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.