Pecan Street Festival's move from 6th Street leaves some vendors with mixed feelings

AUSTIN, Texas - Austin's annual Pecan Street Festival is moving from 6th Street to Bee Cave.

The festival said the move is due to "recent restructuring of 6th St. and public safety concerns."

Historic Pecan Street Festival moves to Bee Cave

The backstory:

"We're very emotional about this move because we've been down here a long time, because of the changes on Sixth Street, we cannot have a festival there," Brian Joseph, vice president of the Pecan Street Association, said.

Organizers say the fencing on 6th Street brings down vendor space by a third. 

The fencing was installed in an effort to bring down crime. Preliminary data from the city showed a reduction. 

In a press release, organizers say the festival faces an unsustainable financial future at the original location. 

RELATED: Austin's Pecan Street Festival moving to Bee Cave after 50 years

Plus, rising parking costs and safety concerns made it harder for families and older attendees to go. Organizers say the new location will be "cleaner, greener, and more family-friendly environment" with lots of parking. 

The Hill Country Galleria in Bee Cave will be a temporary location for the 300 booths. Organizers say the Hill Country Galleria worked out because the promoter already had a relationship with them. 

"We intend to come back to Austin and find a new home here back in Austin, because it's an Austin festival," Joseph said. 

For organizers, it was important to still have a festival this year.

"It is very, very, very important to celebrate the 50th, the golden anniversary," Joseph said. 

The festival will be held May 3-4. 

What they're saying:

A statement from the city reads: 

"The City is open to working with event planners to identify locations within the City that will work. It is important to note that having the event on 6th Street in the future would require a new event site plan to accommodate updates to the area.

Other locations were considered--Riverside by the Long Center and Congress Avenue. Riverside was not available due to a conflict with the Sunshine Run. As for Congress Ave., there was not sufficient space due to the need to keep 11th St open between Colorado and Brazos, and the request for the use was denied by the State Preservation Board due to potential disruption of the Legislative Session."

Vendors shared their thoughts on the move

Local perspective:

Jennifer McNichols, co-founder of Not Nice Creations, has been a vendor at the festival for three years. The location change was part of the reason she's not taking part this year. 

"The event downtown has historically drawn good crowds. There have always been some issues with it being on Sixth Street, of course, but it had the feel of an event for the city," she said.

She says downtown meant more exposure and money coming in. 

"Local artisans tend to work on a limited budget and we're no exception. The move to a new location will be a bit of a risk for us," she said. 

Other vendors shared their thoughts.

"My feelings are mixed because there will probably be a lot less people, but the surrounding area will be much better than the disgusting 6th Street scene at 5:30 a.m. when we are setting up," Joseph Worth, artist and owner of South Austin Gallery said. "The prestige of the Pecan Street Festival is gone, and I think a new beginning might be good."

"Transitioning away from having Pecan Street in Austin takes away from what has been the heart and soul of the Art district in Austin. Many native Austinites or long-term Austinites grew up attending the festival in downtown Austin and while the move is to an area with significant growth, it does not have the infrastructure or the Keep Austin Weird vibe that downtown Austin does, especially as the Lakeway and Bee cave Area are more affluent, and less known for their artistic draw," Fiona Thomas, owner of Fairy Fire Creations, said. "The biggest killer to the Pecan Street Festival in recent years has been that of the homeless at the ARCH and the Salvation Army, because even with on-site security there has been an increase in theft at the festival for artists. Hopefully the move can solve that issue for attending artists."

McNichols says she'll see what this year looks like before taking part again. 

"We'll probably wait out this first festival and go visit and see how the crowds are and then decide," she said. 

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