An early-morning waterfront fog
was the only visitor to PortFest 2003 that didn’t stay long as the
sunny June 7th event attracted more than 30,000 couples, parents,
children, vendors, performers, and music lovers to Oakland’s Jack
London Square and adjacent Howard Terminal.
Coordinated by the Port of Oakland’s
Communications Division, PortFest 2003 was the largest-ever, as more
than 25-acres of the currently unoccupied terminal was used to
accommodate more entertainment stages, vendors, and exhibits.
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| Smiles
were aplenty at the main stage where local entertainers Faye
Carol and Lenny Williams kept the crowd entertained. |
The crowd’s early enthusiasm did
not wane as lines of people with cameras and windbreakers scooped up
the 1,000 free harbor tour tickets in less than 30 minutes, as
others, toting picnic baskets and blankets, scurried for good spots
near the main stage on the Square’s meadow.
"This was better than we had
planned," said Harold Jones, director of the Communications
Division, about this year’s annual party along the estuary which
also included an animal petting zoo, pony rides, an air show, muscle
cars, catfish, gumbo, and even bicycle parking
valet for those that peddled in. "It looks like everybody had a
safe, fun time and learned a little bit more about the Port of
Oakland and the important contributions we make in this
community."
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| R&B
and jazz singer Oleta Adams headlined for an overflow crowd
on the Jack London Square meadow who danced and sang along
during PortFest 2003. |
Port Day began in 1935 and was
celebrated in conjunction with National Maritime Day. During the
past several decades, PortFest has not only entertained thousands of
Bay Area residents, but also offered to educate them about the Port’s
maritime, aviation and commercial real estate divisions.
Representatives of those divisions
offered interactive and information booths that shared information
about their duties in the Port’s operation. Live crane
demonstrations and U.S. Customs container screening vans were also
in operation for those curious to learn more about the bustling
maritime activity.
 |
| Smiles
were aplenty at the main stage where local entertainers Faye
Carol and Lenny Williams kept the crowd entertained. |
The only thing that seemed to
rival the swooning of Oakland’s own Lenny Williams or the intimate
energy of headliner Oleta Adams’ performance, was the Kid’s
Kulture Korner’s face painters, who greeted the children who
waited in a long line to be canvassed.
Besides the fun, the Port of
Oakland and its sponsors awarded $25,000 to five Bay Area nonprofit
groups: Safe Passages for Youth, the Museum of
Children’s Art (MOCHA), the Native American Health Center, West
Oakland Community Collaborative, and the Unity Council Family
Literacy Project.
 |
| A
swashbuckling pirate, along with two fiesty parrots, mingled
among the crowd, entertaining with tricks and riddles. |
Each gr
