The Best of the East Bay Party took place this past Friday, August 6 in the entire Jack London Square in Oakland, CA. It was a party, concert, shopping, food & drink mecca and the place to meet, see and speak with all the diverse, awesome people that are Oakland and the East Bay. The vibe was Home Grown just as the theme for this year event proclaimed with musicians, dancers, aerosol art and gallery shows.

Lots of food stands from snacks to treats as well as a meal could be had in the half circles surrounding the former Barnes & Noble pavilion. From omnivore to vegan, African to Mexican plus American delights could be had. The Cupkates Truck had the amazing Key Lime Pie cupcake plus Miggy’s Island Kettle Corn, tacos, BBQ and even cotton candy.

The Blues Pavilion gave off a sense of an era gone by. The amazing musicians that once ruled 7th Street in West Oakland were both melancholy yet electric with couples of all ages holding each close while dancing the night away. Speaking of dancers, there were a number of youth using this event as the opportunity to show off the amazing and sometimes gravity deifying moves that street competition has instilled in them by the DJ stage.

There was art at every turn, from vendors including t-shirt companies, a tattoo shop and other hand-made wares. A live aerosol art show, if these walls could talk, found many event-goers entranced in seeing how the vibrant images were created before their very eyes. Fifty-seven Thirtythree, an Oakland t-shirt company and the folks behind the live art had a second gallery show down the way on Water Street, A Decade with No Name. Multi-media at its best with video, a textile sculpture and so many images I needed to walk through it twice to view the space.

There was also a display of flags from different East Bay groups identifying local communities and districts in the East Bay including Oakland Grown, Buy Local Berkeley and Old Oakland leading to the corridor of community groups and Oakland Mayoral campaign tables. Jean Quan, Rebecca Kaplan and Joe Tuman volunteers were present.

All in all, after a tumultuous and hectic few weeks in Oakland generally not portrayed in the best light by mainstream media, this event was energizing. Oakland is not burning down, if anything its light is burning bright. Where else could you have a party with over 35k in attendance with so many ages, cultures and visions in a unifying space? That would be here, in the true community that is Oakland.

Saw something awesome and need to know the name? The East Bay Express Best of the East Bay party guide can be found here.