Solano Stroll

Great annual community event. Bring a hat and water if it's a sunny day. There are so many stands related to the community businesses and high school organizations, as well as several vendors for food, crafts, cute trinkets. This event has a tradition of happening a week after school starts. Good way to discover the businesses and organizations in Albany/Berkeley.

Keep on Strollin'. There should be an official dance step called the Solano Stroll. It would look something like Robert Crumb's 'Keep on Truckin'' cartoon where the guy's left foot juts out as he saunters down the street. Even though it's 2018, the vintage vibe would work since this annual street fair has been around since the 1970's. There's also an unassailable reason to strut as it's the Bay Area's largest street fair according to Wikipedia, stretching nearly two miles from The Alameda to San Pablo Avenue. Carnival rides and game arcades flank the two ends of the street with food, live music, and informational kiosks in between. No spanking booths, no glory holes. This is family-friendly with a capital F, a Sunday Streets on steroids, and now it's all over until next September. See you next year.RELATED - Here's a collection of special festivals I've visited and reviewed: http://bit.ly/2Qcka9r

The next stroll will be in 2019. I have put it on my calendar and you might want to do the same. There is so much to see: food, crafts, carnival rides, live music, community groups, a petting zoo, pony rides, kid activities, and fun for adults. It is a great family event. If you a hankering for something other than street food; almost all of the restaurants along Solano were open.To fully enjoy this event I would suggest starting out early. I got there at two and did not walk the whole avenue before the police cars came down the street to announce the fair was over. Parking is difficult. I was able to park on a side street, but it took time to find a spot. Next year I might take the bus.

Date: 9/11/2016 Time: 1:10 PM 64° Mostly cloudyMy sister mentioned Solano Stroll to me last week. At first, I wasn't sure if I wanted to attend it. Sunday football or Sunday stroll? Undecided until about 12 noon and approaching half time of the Raiders game that stepping out and heading to Albany to get my walk in for the day would be more beneficial for me health wise.This event started about the same time as the Oakland Raiders game against the New Orleans Saints. Before I arrived at this event, I wanted to make sure I familiarize myself with the area. Which BART Station did I want to get off at - North Berkeley or El Cerrito Plaza? There is public transportation nearby the El Cerrito Plaza, AC Transit #72. That bus travels southbound on San Pablo Avenue and I can get off at the stop on San Pablo & Solano. However, after reading another yelper's review (Ann L), and thanks to her I exited the North Berkeley station and caught the Solano Stroll shuttle. Also on the search was, where is a good place to dine at without buying food from the outdoor vendors? Shuttle bus drops a bunch of us passengers off across the street from the Solano Stroll. First thing I see are the rides, kids' games and activities and the giant slide. As I am walking along, admiring the vendors selling their wares, the various food booths, musicians entertaining the audience, martial arts demonstration, information booths, the Solano Stroll is more than just a stroll. It is about a mile long up Solano Avenue. That is no stroll along the avenue...not like Park Street in Alameda. It is walking up a slight incline to get from San Pablo Avenue to Colusa. I have to stop along the way to get lunch at a cafe highly spoken of by my fellow yelper, Victor G. Thanks, friend, your reviews are always on point.It's wall to wall people with children and pets. Since I am not too much into the rides at the lower end of Solano Avenue, the further I walked up Solano, the better and more entertaining it was. Highlights along the way: Berkeley High School Jazz Band, the wooden horse and dinosaur ride, the folk dancers, bands that played different types of music, even a karaoke singer singin' the blues.The only disappointment: the weather. It was mostly cloudy and slightly cold. The sun came out briefly, but disappeared in about 10 minutes. However, I will return for next year's Solano Stroll, knowing how to get there to and from utilizing public transportation.The upside of the Sunday Solano Stroll: About 9,000 steps on my Zip Fitbit and 3.5 miles of walking.

My husband has been wanting to attend the Solano Stroll for years, only because his good friends who grew up in the area always talked about it. It was a big part of their childhood. We drove up parked at the Bart station because they provide a shuttle every 30 minutes to the event. It kind of depends on the driver what time the bus leaves. This is such a huge event, like a mile long of booths, a few rides and local shops. I had a good time, but got a little tired towards the end. I didn't bring my water bottle and was so thirsty. We did purchase water bottles and a fresh coconut to aid our thirst. My favorite thing to do was dog watch. I saw so many dogs!In conclusion, the Solano Stroll is something your should try at least once, a lot of hard work goes into this one day. Blows my mind.

I went to Solano Stroll in Sun 9/13/15. I woke up late and so missed the parade. Took the shuttle from North Berkeley Bart station and that was fine, not crowded at that time.Walked around and got a bunch of freebies:reusuable bagsKind barsJelly Belly pensbike reflectors for my pants when I'm out walkingMilk from Andronico'sRestaurants I need to try stil for future tripsl:House of CurriesBowl'dKathmandu RestaurantLao Thai KitchenThis yr out Kyoto - take-out sushi. Tasted ok, Cash Only.

Seeing friends' recent reviews of the Solano Stroll, particularly Terry T's, reminded me I hadn't reviewed it. It's been several years since I've gone. Sometimes I've been down at KCSM-FM answering the phones for the Fall pledge drive. Sometimes the weather has been cold and rainy or otherwise inhospitable. But mainly, I've realized upon reflection, because it has grown so large.I loved the early days of the Stroll, back in the 70s. In those days it was held on Thursday evenings and was confined to upper Solano. Since my childhood there has been something festive about being out at night and the early Stroll had that feeling. The crowds were small and I remember running into friends regularly. It felt like a small town experience. After a few years some youngsters started acting up and the Stroll was moved to Sundays during the day on the assumption that the kids could be more easily controlled in the daylight, I assume. It was still small, w/ food and bands and booths selling a variety of goods, but over the years it extended into Albany and eventually filled Solano Avenue between The Alameda to the east and San Pablo Avenue to the west. The crowds got larger and now I see from photos that there are carnival rides and booths, along w/ the music and food. I'm a fan, I guess, but only in restrospect and in absentia.

BRING WATER FOR FIDO! In short, the Solano Stroll is an awesome annual mile-walk adventure on the closed-off Solano Street filled with tents for cool local organizations and companies, political candidate informational booths, local vendors, and food stands. There's a parade, and live music and dancers (see their website for scheduling). Transportation is easy, as it's about a mile from the El Cerrito BART station. We actually drove and parked about a half mile away. Beautiful neighborhood.The Solano Stroll an event that caters to families with small kids--there's lots of face-painting or crown-making opportunities, a couple epic rocking dinosaur or rocking horses, and even a few fair rides--and has lots of opportunities to support local high school or civic programs. This is a great event if you're looking to find ways to get more active and engaged in your community, whether that be by becoming a season ticket-holder to a local theater, or signing up to volunteer for a local non-profit. Many stores or restaurants on Solano have their own stalls--some giving out coupons. Lots of birthday or Christmas shopping opportunities--I know that I scooped up some cool socks, some discounted earrings, and a few flyers for local theater companies!Something that's really cool to me is that it's open to well-behaved dogs, which not many street fairs allow! However, when I went to this event yesterday (September 10th, 2017), I saw TONS of dogs and not a SINGLE water dish out anywhere. Dogs were stopping to lay down, panting, almost everywhere I looked... and their owners would usually just look around dumbly and let their dog rest. It was REALLY HOT yesterday, and if you are going to be bringing your dog to this event, please: bring your own water, both for you and your dog. And definitely bring sunscreen! An important tenement principle for anything like this is Have Fun And Be Safe--so be safe for yourself AND for Rover.

So much to see 2019. Great artist, food and live music.

I just walked home from the Solano Stroll for the 2nd time today. My son and I usually try to get there in the morning before the parade starts. And by the time the afternoon kicks in, it's almost wall-to-wall people.This IS my favourite street fair in the Bay Area or elsewhere, hands down. It's more of a community gathering that showcases a really great, diverse, and always changing Albany/Berkeley neighbourhood and what it has to offer. For anyone to say that this giant block party would be the same year after year, completely misses the point!Here are my own personal highlights from this year:1. THE COMMUNITY PARADE, led by this year's Grand Marshall - former Mayor Jewell!2. THE COMMUNITY. Where lots of people know your name! Great people and dog watching too. But watch out for the sometimes aggressive stroller moms and their adorable babies.3. THE COMMUNITY GROUPS. The ones that caught my attention was all the Green-related stuff, various churches and synagogues (but where were the Unitarians?), school and library groups, the Desert Survivors Hiking Group, the Berkeley Camera Club, the BAHA, and others too numerous to mention.4. THE FOOD. For lunch, I had a very tasty falafal from Zands and the day before had my pizza by the slice from Zachary's (try to stuffed spinach and mushroom). There was also pie from Walkers (sigh....they're closing) and coffee from Peets. Too bad I missed the Indian buffet and the Thai at the top of the hill and the outdoor seating at Fonda.5. THE BOOZE. Well actually, I didn't drink alcohol at the Stroll. However, the Ivy Room was giving out free drink tickets and what comes to mind Yelp-wise is the DYL Group and my desire to someday cover the Dive Bars of Albany.6. The ENTERTAINMENT. The belly dancers were back, as were lots of different bands, Akido demonstrations, etc. I didn't hear or see much Zydeco music this year. And some day, I will see Tim C. doing his Elvis imitation!7. THE POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS. In this neck of the woods, there wasn't a McCain - Palin campaign button to be found. There was of course an Obama booth and the Metro Dogs Barack poster for sale. And then there were all the local Albany and Berkeley council, school board, and initiative races going on. My only concern is that this Midwest Liberal feels a little left out in this sometimes elitist East Bay "Progressive" surge.8. THE EXERCISE. During the Stroll, it's so easy to walk up and down Solano. I have to do more of that the rest of the time. I also ducked into Fit Lite during the Stroll for a great workout in an empty gym. And they had cold water and other convenient facilities.9. THE CRAFTS. The Solano Stroll is really not an arts and crafts fair, although they have improved in this area over the years. This time around I enjoyed Gathering Tribes (thanks Pennie!), Elaine Chu's handcrafted papers and bindings, and Pacha World's Fair Trade products.My son had a great time too and spent a lot of his time at Dave's Dugout. And chasing him around was the big reason I didn't get the chance to meet up with the Yelp group at the Stroll. Sorry.....