I got pepper sprayed at the 2007 Festival Latino, so did my mother, my boyfriend, and the families standing around us.
The pepper spraying in 2007 was at best annoying. My boyfriend and I had gone to help my mom tear down her booth, where she was a vendor. The police came through telling the crowd that the festival was over and it was time to go home. My mother’s booth was located on the bridge, of the outdoor festival. The crowd was slowed down by human gridlock on the bridge, by people trying to get back to their cars. There were many families including those with strollers.
Can you imagine trying to get through a large crowd of people condensed on a bridge without losing your kids? And because the crowd didn’t disperse “fast enough” (that crowd including not only families but vendors too) was pepper sprayed. I felt bad for my mom, having worked a 12 hour day on her feet, in the sun, standing on pavement, only to get pepper sprayed.
Similar large festivals are held here in Columbus, like Comfest, and I don’t ever recall getting pepper sprayed at any of those.
Last year Festival Latino became part of CAPA programming and instead of being free, Friday had an admission fee of $1 and Saturday had an admission fee of $30. Thus pretty much ensuing no one would show up on Saturday and limiting the number of people compared to previous years. I still think this was a racist backhanded way to keep people of color form coming.
This year the city of Columbus (claiming budget cuts) has completely stepped away from the Festival Latino. CAPA will solely be running the event. The hours of the event will now be from 11am-8pm (instead of until 11pm as in previous years). Is this a fear of brown people at night?