SFWeekly’s The Snitch has the low down on some un-family friendliness that went down in Golden Gate Park this weekend.
If you read the blog last week, you’ll know I mentioned the SF Bike Coalition’s annual Tour de Fat Festival, which celebrates all things bicycle with kid-friendly events including a bike parade, stage shows, games and more. It took place in Golden Gate Park on Saturday.
Why is it called Tour de Fat? Because it’s sponsored by Fat Tire Beer and at the event, they run a couple of beer booths, selling their brew for $5.
According to The Snitch, the Richmond District po-po and Golden Gate Park rangers said that qualified the event as a “beer garden” and as a result, all kids had to be in strollers or in their parents’ arms. The article has pics showing cops sternly talking to parents and park rangers barring kids from entering certain areas.
The half-dozen strong cadre of park rangers at Saturday’s event was supplemented by four cops, at least one of whom was seen patrolling the Tour de Fat grounds shooing away parents with kids from watching the event’s on-stage bananana juggling exhibition, playing ring toss, or observing a bicycle rodeo in defiance of police edict.
So I guess a kid has to be tied down seated in a stroller so they don’t wander off and start imbibing? Or so other drunken revelers can’t hurt them (never mind their drinking parents). Next year will they have to hand out those child leashes at the event?
One attendee, who’s been taking their young kids to the Tour de Fat festival for the last couple of years, called the change in policy “stupid”. Well, that about sums it up, don’t you think?
Sarah B.
Nitpick: It’s sponsored by New Belgium Brewing Co, whose flagship beer is Fat Tire.
Right you are, Troy. Didn’t copy that over properly from my original post. 😉
Sarah B.
Agreed. Ridiculous. Seems really out of proportion to me. We need a little more ‘Fairfax’ back in SF.
One thing worse than being told no kids at a kid event is having the overweight lazy cop sitting and nearly collapsing a folding table while doing it. dislike dislike dislike!
Obviously, the SFBC needs to have a serious talk with the cops about this and get things in writing. If it’s publicized as a family event, then the cops should allow kids. BTW, what are cops doing there anyway? The heat should be on the fringe, picking up drunks.
So many events such as Fat, PTTP, Zen, HSB, etc., get so large with so many rules, they’re not fun anymore. It wasn’t long ago all these events were casual with no or low drama. Success can really phuk up stuff.
There are plenty of small and rouge events to attend before they go mainstream, so you can say, “I was there when…….”
This is completely ridiculous. I noticed on the Tour’s website that dogs were not allowed, yet I saw PLENTY of dogs in the festival. I never saw anything about children not being allowed, yet saw them being told they can’t enter. Seems to me that if something didn’t get tangled up in the wording, they just didn’t seem to lay out these silly rules clearly enough. I feel bad for the parents that trekked out there on that hot and sticky day, only to be turned away for a free event. Please!
It’s no different than taking your child to a Giant’s game or any other event that sells beer.
As far as I know the New Belgium folks tried their best at making the stages viewable from outside the beer garden. The bike pit was also accessible to kids.
Fixing the messaging on the website sounds like a really good idea. Marking under 21 with a black X on the hand and still allowing them in would be ideal.
I don’t understand why there’s a beer garden at some city events (Carnaval, North Beach Jazz, Tour de Fat) yet at the Fillmore Jazz Fest they were just selling beer on the Street?
Something about different zoning? I don’t get it.