Oakland First Fridays returns after months on financial hiatus, weather postponement

OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- Oakland's First Fridays will return after being on hiatus since December because of financial difficulties.

The "welcome back" event was postponed from last Friday because of the weather.

"It's just good to be back," said Greg Harris, Oakland First Fridays festival director. "It's truly good. We're really excited about the actual festival coming back."

The event takes place on Telegraph Avenue between 22nd and 27th Streets in Oakland.

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Harris said they're expecting nearly 30,000 people.

They celebrated their 10-year anniversary last year.

But the event has faced some challenges.

Harris said the festival costs $35,000 to 40,000 every first Friday to put on, and he said they lose about $10,000 on it every month. Plus, they've been lacking a major corporate sponsor.

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And that's not all.

"We were living off of grants and PPP loans and things that we actually had from the COVID situation, so we balanced that out for a couple of years, and we watched the money dwindle," Harris said. "So it's been some challenges."

Harris said they are trying to raise money to keep this event going, such as hosting a golf tournament in June.

The event starts at 5 p.m. and goes until 9 p.m., with some surprises in store.

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