Wednesday Night Market celebrates its 25th anniversary with a rock band, BMX bike demonstration and prize giveaways along two blocks of Fourth Street on — naturally — Wednesday night.
Wonderbread 5 will perform on the main stage at Fourth and E streets, with the BMX action at Fourth and D.
Petaluma Pete will be playing and pedaling his way around the market, and people can spin a wheel at the information booth to win T-shirts, gift cards and discounts at vendor booths.
The market, which runs for 16 weeks through Aug. 21, is drawing 6,000 people or more per night with all or nearly all 120 vendor booths occupied, said Drea Schulze, a market board member.
"The streets are the cleanest they've ever been after the event," Schulze said, attributing the tidiness to a cleanup crew that works during and after the market from 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Problems that plagued the market and irked city officials in the late 1990s — including a gang member presence and post-market bar brawls — appear to have been resolved.
"So far it's been a very uneventful market, going well," Santa Rosa Police Capt. Hank Schreeder said.
Schreeder said he could not recall any arrests this year, in stark contrast to the late '90s, when the market was on Thursday night and extended past the bars on Fourth Street down to B Street.
In 1999, the market shifted from Thursday to Wednesday night and made other changes leading to kudos from city officials.
"Moving one day made the biggest difference," Schreeder said, recalling that police used to keep two patrol teams in the market area until 2 a.m. "It was crazy," he said.
Now the market is staffed with six officers and a sergeant, he said.
Schulze said the market this year has occasionally turned away vendors after reaching capacity along the two blocks of Fourth Street between Mendocino Avenue and E Street.
About 20 of the vendors are certified farmers who travel from as far as Fresno, Modesto and Sacramento to sell at the market.
Fourth Street merchants give the event high marks for promoting downtown, but there are mixed reviews on how it affects the brick and mortar businesses.
"We love it," said Sharon Strom, assistant manager at Rendez Vous Bistro on Old Courthouse Square, with a patio dining area overlooking the west end of the market.
On Tuesday and Thursday nights the restaurant assigns two servers to the patio, and adds a third server on Wednesdays, she said.
The restaurant's general manager often heads for the farm stalls to buy ingredients, such as raspberries for special cocktails or salad ingredients.
Keven Brown, co-owner of Corrick's on Fourth Street, said the market is a "terrific event" for bringing people downtown, but most come for food, drink and gifts in the street and not for stepping inside the permanent stores.
"They're definitely here to enjoy the market, to get a turkey leg or some Thai food," he said.
Brown said he takes advantage of the market to tell people about other downtown events, and Ancient Oak Cellars, which pours wine inside Corrick's, sets up a booth in front of the store.
Jeweler Tim Patrick said the market "definitely hurts business" for merchants who do not sell food or beverages. But he is "still pro-market" due to the crowds it draws.
"The exposure is good," said Patrick, who's had businesses on Fourth Street for 22 years.
The market crowds also suggest that downtown Santa Rosa has adequate parking, especially considering that all the spaces along two blocks of Fourth Street are cut off.
Patrick and Brown both said they wish the market booths could be aligned back-to-back in the middle of Fourth Street, allowing people to stroll between booths and stores.
They've been told that fire regulations prohibit such an alignment.
"It's a safety issue," Santa Rosa Deputy Fire Chief Tony Gossner said. Fourth Street needs to stay open for emergency access, he said.
You can reach Staff Writer Guy Kovner at 521-5457 or guy.kovner@pressdemocrat.com.
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