Sunset Junction Street Fair

The Sunset Junction Street Fair was an event held annually in the Sunset Junction neighborhood of the Silver Lake community in Los Angeles, California. Occurring annually in late August, the two-day neighborhood festival was first held in 1980, as a way to quell tensions between the neighborhood's long-time Latino residents and the newer gay residents, who some felt were causing the neighborhood to become gentrified. (Los Angeles Business Journal, 2002-12-09)

The festival, put on by the Sunset Junction Neighborhood Alliance, closed off a large portion of Sunset Boulevard and features live music, rides, food and merchandise vendors. Over the years, many noted musicians and musical acts performed, including Beck, Elliott Smith, Sleater-Kinney, X, Camper Van Beethoven, Redd Kross, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Eels, Chaka Khan, the Ladies of The Supremes, and Nick Name and the Normals among others.

In 2011, the fair was scheduled to take place on August 27 and 28. After booking the talent the promoters failed to secure permits for the fair and it was canceled. In dispute was $260,000 owed to the city for unpaid fees for the previous couple of years. In a last minute ditch effort, the promoters of Sunset Junction were able to secure a $142,000 backing from Live Nation to at least cover this year’s bills, which would have gone towards cost of police protection, parking enforcement and other city services. The $142,000 did not include any part of the $260,000 that is due for previous years. Despite this, the permits were still denied by members of the Board of Public Works.

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