The Encinitas Street fair had it all

NOVEMBER 24– The Encinitas Street Fair was in full swing last Sunday and the 101 was packed. 

The sky was clear and the sun was shining, but a cool breeze still blew through the crowds. Parents with young kids, groups of teenagers browsing the booths, and countless tourists milled through the streets. I was insanely surprised to hear not just English, but French, Spanish, and what I thought was Russian. 

The atmosphere was peaceful and beachy—people emerged from the sidestreets in swimsuits and towels, the squish of their wet sandals making the presence obvious. 

Our local Encinitas holiday street fair has really grown over the years. The fair seemed to stretch three times longer than the previous year, and there was a booth for everyone: vintage vinyl, beautiful pottery imported from Turkey, a jewelry stand selling ear cuffs shaped like little silver people. These stands do not even begin to scratch the surface of what was displayed that day. 

Fair patron Annika Maxwell, junior, found the wide selection very appealing, buying “a pair of mom jeans, a blue jacket that has some cats on it, and some kettle corn,” she said. She was even able to start her Christmas shopping off right. “I also got this really pretty ceramic like mug-pot-jar thing for my mother… it was fantastic!”

And the food! At each break in the long strand of booths there stood a kettle corn and lemonade stand. A person will start at one end of the fair, buy a lemonade, finish it just in time to arrive at the next lemonade stand, buy another drink, and the cycle continues. Ignoring the cyclical consumerism, I enjoyed my lemonade—it was the kind with undissolved sugar crystals still coating the cup so every time you took a sip you were blessed with even more sugar.  

“I thought the lemonade was actually fantastic… they squeezed it right in front of me and added cane sugar… they mixed it like a margarita,” Maxwell said. Magnificent. There was also plenty of barbeque, and even my pescararian self had to admit that it smelled amazing.

The day was the perfect place to hang out with friends, find that one rare album you’ve always had your eye on, or even go out on a date. 

Make sure you make your way down to the 101 for the next street fair in the spring!