Crowded streets, stores open until close to midnight, surprises at every corner. The Baixa Street Fest closed on Friday, in Baixa de Faro, with a new wave of entertainment, which attracted thousands of people to the traditional shopping area and to Jardim Manuel Bívar, in the Algarve's capital.
Concerts and street entertainment, wrapped in a lot of color, set the tone for another night of party, in Baixa farense. This was the last edition of this initiative by the Chamber of Faro, in partnership with local merchants, which began on the 8th of July and brought together, every week, a lot of people.
«We didn't do a count of the people who passed the Street Fest, in these eight weeks, but it will have been tens of thousands. Baixa was always full of people every night. The balance I am doing is extremely positive and exceeded our initial expectations», he confessed to Sul Informação the vice president of the Chamber of Faro. All this with a municipal investment of around 40 thousand euros, in other words, close to five thousand euros per night, on average.
«We are currently making a final balance, but we have already been talking to the merchants, over time, and the feedback has been very positive. This proved that the Low of Faro it is alive and very inviting», added Paulo Santos.
The proof of this is that, in addition to the 80 establishments that joined the initiative since the beginning, there were many others that decided to open their doors on Friday nights, to take advantage of the wave.
Among them are many of the new businesses that have sprung up in Baixa, which changed the scenario experienced until recently of closed establishments on Rua de Santo António and surrounding arteries. «There are more and more requests to open businesses in this area», guarantees Paulo Santos.
This event is now over, but that doesn't mean that there can't be similar initiatives soon. “Let's see what we can do in the future. Soon, at Christmas time, we can think of another initiative of the kind», anticipated the vice-president of the Chamber of Faro.
Everything will depend "on the will of the merchants", since, on the part of the local authority, "there is total opening to license an extension of the hours of traditional commerce".
In the next two weeks, even without Street Fest, there will be no shortage of entertainment in Baixa. On the 2nd and 3rd of September, Vila-Adentro hosts Festival F and a week later there is a fashion show at Largo da Pontinha, resulting from a collaboration between the Chamber and ACRAL – Association of Commerce and Services of the Algarve Region.
See photos from the last night of the Baixa Street Fest:
Photos: Nuno Costa|Sul Informação
Comments