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Sunday, September 28, 2008

All About Uptown Festival draws crowd to area

Saturday's inaugural Uptown street festival drew a crowd of hundreds, most of them casually upscale 30-somethings and many of them with dogs in tow, from Chihuahuas in danger of being stepped on to Great Danes in danger of bowling someone over.

Photo by MILTON HINNANT/DMN
A Hard Night's Day performed a tribute to the Beatles on Saturday at the first-ever All About Uptown Festival. The day also included cooking demonstrations, tours of the area and art sales.

Billed as a celebration of arts and living, the All About Uptown Festival featured rows of vendors' and artists' booths along either side of Fairmount Street from McKinney Avenue to Howell Street, where live music acts held forth on an elevated stage.

In a tent near Maple Avenue, chefs from seven Uptown restaurants hosted cooking demonstrations with food tastings and wine pairings.

There were trolley rides and guided bus tours of Uptown cemeteries and the State Thomas Historic District.

The historic district is a miracle of cooperation, according to Nancy Starr, who staffed a booth for her sister Judy Hearst, who was giving a tour for Friends of State Thomas.

"A lot of different people were involved – homeowners, city planners and developers – to develop an Uptown plan," Ms. Starr said.

She described the historic district as the orchestra, with downtown Dallas as the stage. From the one- and two-story buildings of the district, the plan called for gradually taller designs as the distance from downtown increased, culminating in upscale high-rises.

"It would be like theater seating, with everybody looking at downtown," Ms. Starr said.

The Uptown name was adopted about 15 years ago, according to material provided by the nonprofit Uptown Dallas Association, but the area was an important early part of the city's life, home to mayors and other civic leaders.

For a long time, it was the home of many blacks, and the Freedman's Memorial at State and Hall streets honors them.

Larry McCoy, 63, a festival volunteer, remembered when State and Thomas was one of the few places in the city where black people lived.

"We used to call it 'short North Dallas,' " he said.

There were rowdy bars and clubs at Hall and Thomas, and Henderson's Chicken on Hall drew loyal customers from throughout the city.

Growing up there and attending St. Peter's Academy, he said, he didn't realize the full effect of segregation as a youth, until friends and family moved to South Dallas and he was exposed to whites-only restrictions on buses and downtown water fountains when he traveled between South Dallas and his old neighborhood.

The Uptown Dallas Association put on the festival with the help of two dozen sponsors, mostly real estate and service companies, restaurants and local media outlets, with dozens of volunteers from the North Texas Food Bank, a nonprofit partner.

"It's great exposure for us in an area of town that is rapidly growing," said Julie Boehm-Turley, a marketing coordinator with the food bank. "And the restaurants are free to donate their proceeds.

More people than ever are coming to the food bank for help, and a recent study showed the need will likely continue to grow.

"With the economy the way it is, there's a growing need in our community," Ms. Boehm-Turley said. "By 2011, we hope to double our access to meals to 50 million a year in our 13-county area."

 

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By RICHARD ABSHIRE / The Dallas Morning News
rabshire@dallasnews.com