Message from the Executive Director 
Community festivals are meant to bring everyone together to celebrate traditions, cultures and friendship. It is simply unimaginable what the city of Gilroy is going through after the senseless shooting on July 28 during their premiere event that coincided with our Island’s own Art & Wine Faire. This heinous crime attempted to undermine the efforts of thousands of volunteers, dedicated staffers and proud residents. 

Gilroy has shown the world that this type of act will not succeed. Next year as we hold the 36th annual Downtown Alameda Art & Wine Faire to celebrate our own traditions, culture and friendship I have no doubt that the 42nd annual Gilroy Garlic Festival will be bigger and better than ever. 
All of us at the Downtown Association stand with the community of Gilroy, the families that lost loved ones, those injured and the first responders. To each of them, we send our heartfelt love and support.  
— Janet Magleby, Executive Director, Downtown Alameda Business Association

Art & Wine Faire Brings Funds to the District
The 35th anniversary of the Downtown Alameda Art & Wine Faire was celebrated at the end of last month with tens of thousands of visitors who ate, danced and discovered more about why Alameda’s downtown district is such a special place. The Downtown Alameda Business Association (DABA) went through 50 kegs of Alameda Island Brewing’s locally crafted beer, 83 cases of Rock Wall’s premier wines, hundreds of pounds of sausages and more kettle korn than one can imagine. 

Many of the brick-and-mortar merchants enjoyed some of their best sales days of the year, while others dealt with hardship and financial burden during this two-day fundraising event. We are working to address the concerns of local merchants and look forward to future conversations and brainstorming.

The main goals of the event are to raise awareness of Downtown Alameda and its businesses while earning revenue that benefits the district and its programs, including the installation of more bike racks, recycling containers and other amenities. DABA staff is still calculating the expenses and revenue for the event, but at this point — thanks to an incredible amount of hard work by staff, board of directors, community volunteers and sponsor support — DABA will make its fundraising goal. These hard-earned funds go to support the members, their businesses and programs that help keep the downtown district clean, green and safe. 

DABA thanks everyone for what they contribute to allow this event to take place.

Next up, the Classic Car Show
The next big downtown event, the 26th annual Downtown Alameda Classic Car Show takes place on Saturday, Oct. 12. The one-day show brings more than 400 classic vehicles and their drivers to the downtown district, plus more than 30,000 visitors. 

Attendees will view all kinds of classic cars of parked along Park Street between Encinal and Buena Vista avenues: antique roadsters, coupes, hot rods, muscle cars and much more. Plus, take time to enjoy all that Downtown has to offer. The free event also provides family entertainment.

New this year, Alameda Municipal Power (AMP) and DABA are partnering to dedicate a section of the car show to the benefits of owning an electric vehicle. “EV Alley” will line part of Central Avenue. 

EV Alley’s sponsors include AMP, ChargePoint, Common Networks and Ben Carr State Farm Insurance.