27th annual event begins with kick-off dance, is expected to
draw large crowds
Morgan Hill – Memorial Day Weekend will be busy during the celebration of the 27th annual Morgan Hill Mushroom Mardi Gras festival in the heart of downtown.
This will be the second year that the Mardi Gras has been held in downtown since it moved from Community Park in 2005.
Event chairwoman Sunday Minnich said she is excited to return to downtown and expects to have large crowds for the two days.
“We are just getting a great response from everyone,” Minnich said. “We have had the best response ever from vendors. We sold out in the first part of April.”
Last year’s event drew an estimated 40,000 visitors to downtown for the two-day festival.
This year’s event will be laid out over six-blocks in downtown Morgan Hill, on Monterey Road between Main and East Dunne avenues.
The festival will feature family-fun including gourmet food booths, arts and crafts, microbrews, wine tasting from local vineyards, a wide variety of entertainment and Munchkinland for the kids with rides, games and kids entertainment.
Festivities will begin with a kick off street dance Friday from 7–9pm at Monterey Road and West Third Street, a new addition to the Mardi Gras featuring the Sobrato High School Jazz Band and the South Bay Swing Band.
Henry Clements, leader of the Gumbo Band, will lead parades through the Mushroom Mardi Gras festival twice daily, donning his Indian costume during his Mardi Gras stage show.
Other entertainment includes street performers, strolling musicians and bands playing music from Swamp Rock to Rhythm and Blues.
Organizers say there will be more than 200 booths featuring items such as fine arts and handmade crafts, which include items sold from downtown merchants.
Food booths will be set up by local non-profit organizations, restaurants and caterers.
Downtown Morgan Hill was crowded with visitors during last year’s Mushroom Mardi Gras, the first year the festival was held downtown, not at Community Park; Morgan Hill Police have come up with a plan to deal with several potential problem areas this year.
Police Cmdr. Terrie Booten said one problem last year was people bringing alcohol into the festival. So this year, the department asked Alcoholic Beverage Control agents to be on hand.
“Someone who is 21 or older has every legal right to go into a store and buy a six-pack of beer; just don’t open one at the Mardi Gras,” she said.
Wine and beer are sold by vendors during the event, and visitors can walk around the event area drinking what they have purchased from the vendors. But last year, Booten said, visitors were purchasing drinks in restaurants and convenience stores and consuming them at the festival.
“The ABC folks will help us to keep an eye on that kind of thing,” she said.
Police presence downtown will also be bolstered by extra MHPD officers assigned to patrol the festival both days, plus parole and probation officers.
The extra officers, she said, will help regular patrol officers keep a handle on the crowd.
“We anticipate a larger crowd this year due to the fact that the Hollister bike rally was canceled this year,” Booten said.
MHPD’s new traffic enforcement will be conducting DUI patrol checks on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights, Booten said.
“We encourage folks to adhere to all laws regarding the consumption of alcohol,” she said. “We want festival-goers to have a good time, to drink moderately and to arrange a designated driver or walk to and from the festival.”
A mushroom display will aim to offer Mardi Gras goers a look at how the edible fungus is grown.
For the children, Munchkinland, located on Monterey between Fifth Street and Dunne Avenue, will offer a grassy area outside the Community Center. All ages are able to take part in the games and entertainment, which will feature demonstrations from local dance, karate and signing groups on the Munchkinland stage.
For the older kids, there will be games such as a rock climbing wall, water wars and Eurobungy.
Many businesses will be offering special rates, deals and giveaways on their services in the Marketplace Exhibit, located on Monterey Road, between Fourth and Fifth Street.
Admission is free, with free parking throughout downtown and surrounding parking lots. The Morgan Hill Bicycle Club is also offering free bicycle parking on East First Street during the festival.
The Mushroom Mardi Gras is a non-profit organization. Most of its proceeds, after operating expenses, go toward a scholarship fund and to assist non-profit clubs and organizations that participate in the festival.
The Mushroom Mardi Gras Committee awarded 18 students with $1,500 scholarships.
Scholarships will also be awarded to the Morgan Hill Adult School and Central High School, for a total of $30,000 in scholarships to be awarded this year.
For information call 778-1786 or visit www.mhmushroommardigras.com.
Marilyn Dubil covers education and law enforcement for The Times. Reach her at (408) 779-4106 ext. 202 or at md****@*************es.com.
Cheeto Barrera is an intern at the Morgan Hill Times. He can be reached at cb******@*************es.com.
