Bird Perspective: LarkFest 2011

It's LarkFest in Albany, today.  70,000+ people (on average) on the street outside my window.  This isn't going to be a Pedestrian Perspective.  If you would like one of those, you can go to the Albany Times Union site tomorrow or Monday and check out a link that says "Were you seen at LarkFest?"  They may even have a totally separate collection of pictures from the day.  In essence, there's really no reason to repeat that here.

But I do have a third-story window on Lark Street, so I can add some pictures from there!

Tents and festival-goers in front of the Trinity Methodist Church at Lark and Lancaster Streets.

It doesn't seem to be as well-attended as in the last couple of years.  The weather is certainly nowhere near as nice as it was then, which may have kept some people away.  Last year, the crowds were simply oppressive.  It was not a fun time at LarkFest.  Maybe next year will be a balance of the two scenarios.

Then again, I'm not attending this year either, other than from my window.  After this is posted, I'll be going to the uptown SUNY campus to do some school work, and maybe finish my blog about the campus itself, which will be posted tomorrow or Monday. (Also next week will be my story of a trip to the hospital a couple of weeks ago, pictures included.  And maybe even the second installment of the Albany Highway System series...going on a month and a half now...my apologies.)

Anyway, too many words for so few pictures.  Let's get to them:

Looking north toward Washington Avenue.

Tents selling fun things in front of my building.

Snail and Turtle Fork Art that I got at last year's LarkFest.

Looking south toward Madison Avenue.

Lark and Lancaster Streets.

LarkFest is a huge boon for the businesses on Lark Street, one of the busiest days of their year.  There are other street events that close the street and open it up to vendors, such as Art on Lark.  To a much lesser extent is the Capital Pride Parade, as the festivities occur in Washington Park itself after the parade (although the businesses in the area, and I don't mean just Oh Bar, do benefit greatly from the two-week annual festival) and the Santa Speedo Run, a winter event where attractive and not-so-attractive men generate equal attention and donations to the Damien Center for people living with HIV/AIDS by running up and down Lark Street in a .3km dash in Santa hats and speedos.  Ahem, maybe I should say only Santa hats and speeds (and bikinis for the ladies).  

People hanging out on the stoop of my building.

Another shot of the crowd right out front.  You can see it's quieter than usual, because it's possible to move through this crowd. :)

That's all for this year.  Hopefully next year will be more packed and fun, because I'd like to go again!  I'll be less sensitive to the things like cigarette smoke then, so it will be much better.   It's sad to be missing it this year, but health concerns and the amount of work I'm backed up on due to those health concerns are requiring my attention.

In the meantime, Jackson the Stuffed Squirrel has decided that if we're going to stay inside, he's still going to party with my pills instead:

Enjoy the rest of your Saturday, everyone!