FRESNO, Calif. – Weeks after the city decided to split up the popular downtown arts and culture festival known as Arthop, officials have announced a new event to take its place.
Every third Wednesday of the month, the city will let artists, street vendors and performers take over the streets of downtown in a new event called “Why Not Wednesday.”
“Whether a local food truck, a unique craft vendor or an aspiring young entrepreneur – there's a place for you at this event,” Mayor Jerry Dyer said at a press conference announcing the changes.
The name of the event came from Jon McTighe, a bartender at Modernist – a popular cocktail bar in the brewery district.
“It seemed fitting to offer the name up to this event and really try and bring more revitalization and vibrancy to downtown,” McTighe said.
In July, the city announced the monthly Arthop festival would be sectioned off into two separate events in an effort to boost resources to regulate crowds. On average, Arthop would gather up to 15,000 visitors downtown each month, according to city officials.
The first Thursday of the month, when Arthop was normally held, will continue to be reserved for art galleries to open their doors to the public and showcase their art, the city said. It revives the original vision of the event from the 1990s.
According to Fresno City Council member Miguel Arias, who represents the downtown area, the new Wednesday festival, “would provide resources for the demand that [the city] has seen from residents in the Central Valley for an ongoing, well organized, secure and accessible street fair in downtown Fresno.”
Logistics for new Fresno events
During the new Wednesday event, the city will provide a boosted police presence, trash services and public restrooms. The FresnoHOP trolley service schedule will also be modified to accommodate riders during the revamped Thursday Arthop event, and now “Why Not Wednesdays.”
The Downtown Fresno Partnership will coordinate booths for vendors, artists and performers – up to 150 for each event. Retail vendors will have to pay $50 in order to secure a spot, and $100 for food trucks or larger booths.
According to the organization, the fees will go toward insurance for vendors, paying for staff, and paying street performers. The festival will remain free for attendees.
“None of the proceeds collected from these fees from the vendors will go to the city at all,” Arias said. “All this would just go back to organizing a much better event the following month.”
The city hopes to see the Wednesday festival bloom into a more frequent occurrence. At a Downtown Stakeholders meeting last month, Dyer said he envisions the event becoming a weekly happening – similar to Downtown San Luis Obispo’s Farmer’s Market and Downtown San Francisco’s First Thursday.
As the changes come, the city acknowledged there may be some pain for those who enjoyed the previous version of Arthop.
“Not everyone will be happy,” Arias said. “But change is something that we all have to be able to embrace.”
‘We don’t want Wednesday’
Numerous vendors and artists are – unsurprisingly, given recent outcry – skeptical of the new event.
Under the city’s Instagram post announcing Why Not Wednesday, hundreds of comments asking to bring back Arthop as it was.
Joseph Rodriguez and Crystal Rocha, two artists who are a couple, attended Wednesday’s press conference, holding signs that said “We don’t want Wednesday” and “Arthop for the People, by the People.”
The pair ran ReHop – a “mini Arthop” – in 2023 after several Arthops were canceled due to a series of winter storms. Since then, they have been organizing protests and demonstrations to call attention to the upcoming changes to the outdoor event.
Rodriguez said he and Rocha will not be participating in Why Not Wednesday and will continue to set up their business during First Thursdays. He said the city did not adequately seek out community input for the new event.
“It's not a bad thing, but to assume that it'll be successful is a stretch,” Rodriguez said. “Not every event, even if marketed well, can be a success for individual vendors.”
