The Johnston St Spanish Fiesta – a victim of its own success?
The Johnston St Spanish Fiesta celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2008. The fiesta on the weekend of 15-16 November was incredibly busy, with thousands of people filling Johnston St on both days. During the day it was so packed you could barely move. On Saturday night the music pulsed loudly and could be heard from blocks away, though I had no problem with it.
I was going to critiques the marketing because their website is not very informative, though it has lots of photos of previous years. The more professional looking brochure was only available on the Yarra council website (1.76mb PDF), but as the event was so well attended none of this matters.
I was away in 2007 and missed it but the 2008 fiesta seemed far busier than in 2006. Some excellent pics by Goony and Atariboy capture the flavour of the 2008 event.
There was a good variety of food available, though the Dutch and Indian stalls were confusing. I gather that all Johnston St businesses could have a stall, which why the Indian food was included, but why Dutch cakes? I also went to the Polish festival in Federation square on Sunday morning, and the similarity between the Polish kransky sausage in a white bread roll to the Spanish chorizo sausage in a white bread roll left me suspicious about the authenticity of both.
It was sad to see the ‘for sale’ sign on the Spanish club given the ongoing popularity of the fiesta, and this got me to thinking about the future of the Spanish precinct on Johnston St. It survives as a strip of Spanish restaurants and the amazing Casa Iberica food shop.
The Spanish club is owned by community group Hogar Espanol and has, in recent years, been leased out to professional bar operators who rejuvenated the venue. There were significant problems with noise and liquor licensing, and there was also conflict between the youthful bar culture that emerged and the aging community over the appropriate use of the venue. Now it is closed and for sale and its future is unknown.
The fiesta is focused on food, drinking and music. It’s more of a street party than a cultural festival. It seems to make no great claims to bring cohesion or identity to the Spanish and Spanish speaking communities in Melbourne. It seems the bigger the fiesta becomes, the less cultural relevance it has. Unlike the declining Greek precinct in Lonsdale St, Melbourne, however, at least the Spanish precinct in Johnston St seems stable and viable.
Spanish food is increasing in popularity in Fitzroy. In recent times we have seen the arrival of Los Amates Mexican restaurant on Johnston St, Añada tapas restaurant on Gertrude St, and the De Los Santos restaurant and Juanita’s latin cafe on Brunswick St.
It’s notoriously difficult to artificially manage culture. Cultural beliefs, values and practices survive ruthless oppression and also dissipate despite comprehensive efforts to maintain them. The future of the Spanish precinct in Fitzroy is unknown.
Posts you may find relevant and interesting
- the Spanish history of Fitzroy, 22 May 2009
- Johnston St fiesta 2006, 21 November 2006
- an inner city evening, 5 October 2006
- come back La Mirada, all is forgiven!, 17 May 2009
- crepes and coffee at Breizoz Crêperie, 1 June 2009