Make way for the rabbit.
Downtown San Pedro’s Seventh Street will be closed to traffic on Saturday, March 30, when an “Eggstravaganza” festival takes place with the Easter Bunny, rain or shine.
The 7th Street Market will be held on the 300 block of West Seventh Street — between Mesa and Centre streets — where there will be items for sale, booths for artists, restaurants and other vendors.
The event will run from noon to 4 p.m.
Youngsters will compete in a scavenger hunt for prizes, bringing cards to be stamped by area shops as part of the game.
The event follows a similar downtown San Pedro gathering — the Holiday Market in December — and is sponsored by the Business Improvement District’s Discover San Pedro brand campaign, which hopes to expand the events.
“There will be music and up to 20 vendors selling different merchandise for kids,” said Ryan Blaney, executive director of Discover San Pedro. “The (December) Holiday Market was so successful and the 7th Street Market is a brand (event) we want to have four times a year.”
There was a late-developing wrinkle with this one, though — a 75% chance of rain is predicted.
Blaney, though, said he remains hopeful the rain will hold off for part of the day, but added that arrangements have been made to move festival activities indoors if needed.
Changing the date was complicated because street closure permits and plans were already in place.
“It’s not that easy to close Seventh Street,” he said of the complicated process.
“(The city would) have to reroute a bus,” Blaney said, “and it took us some time to arrange for this, so we wanted to move forward (rain or no rain).”
Yolanda Regalado, president of the Discover San Pedro board and owner of Sirens Java & Tea on Seventh and Mesa streets, said the event will give businesses, artists and shoppers a chance to mingle.
“We are committed to making Downtown San Pedro the go-to destination for sustainable shopping, community engagement and cultural expression,” she said in a written comment.
Along with becoming known for its annual Dia de Los Muertos festival, the historic downtown corridor is also seeing rapid growth as mid-rise commercial/residential buildings go in, changing both the skyline and the number of people now patronizing the area.
The area already offers a monthly art walk, a weekly farmers market and Italian heritage celebrations. Los Angeles Fleet Week, coming to the waterfront over the extended Memorial Day weekend, has also brought more attention — along with tens of thousands of people for the first time — to the waterfront town.
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