Main Street comes alive

Children and toddlers watched a man blow and shape multicolored soap bubbles while they lined up to purchase balloon animals. Teens bought food from street vendors and watched hip-hop tap dancers and virtuoso Latin guitarists. And families young and old bought fresh produce from farmers’ market stands.

An all-ages crowd of mostly locals packed Main Street between Walnut and Orange avenues from 5 to 9 p.m. Tuesday as street performers and vendors filled two blocks for the first of 13 weekly Surf City Nights. Supporters and festival-goers are calling the street closure and festival a success.

“It was great,” said Gary Chavez, a nearby resident walking home from the festival with wife Lisa and son Kyle. “We loved the music and entertainment. We’ll definitely come again.”

Roughly 1,800 people were there at its peak, and up to 6,000 may have walked through the festivities throughout the evening, said Doug Traub, president of the Huntington Beach Conference and Visitors Bureau.

“This was very, very successful,” Traub said. “Some of our restaurants weren’t prepared for the crowd. And our retailers had business that would not ever have been there on a Tuesday night.”

Surf City Nights are the result of a compromise between supporters — like council members and the visitors bureau — of a permanent closure of a section of Main Street to create a pedestrian mall like the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica, and business owners who fear cutting off traffic will cut off business. The street fairs, along with five seasonal weekend festivals still in the planning process, are seen by some as a way of measuring the impact of such a closure.

From 6 p.m. on, every restaurant along the stretch of Main Street appeared full, some with lines out the door. Festival-goers said they were surprised by the crowds; some were surprised by the festival’s very existence.

“I had no idea this was even happening,” said Dwayne Lafon of Costa Mesa, who was surprised by the closed street when he arrived for a late dinner. “I love all this entertainment.”

Staff at the Huntington Beach Chamber of Commerce said Wednesday they had not yet received any feedback about the event.

Mild weather helped make the night a success, Traub said. It remains to be seen if it will continue to draw these crowds, but he said people were still hearing about the festival.

“Word starts to get out,” he said. “But time will be the ultimate judge. This could be a turning point in how downtown is perceived.”

Surf City Nights continue from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. every Tuesday night through May 22 on Main Street. Two hours of free parking are available at the nearby public garage marked by signs.