Alright, so I gave Fete Boston a shot. You hear people buzzing about something, and eventually, curiosity just gets the better of you, right? So, I dragged myself out there to see what was what.
And, you know, it was pretty much what you’d expect from a “fete” in a city like Boston. Crowds. Everywhere. Like, trying to shuffle through a can of sardines. There were stalls, the usual mix of crafts that look nice until you wonder where you’d actually put them, and food vendors with prices that make your eyes water a little. Music was playing, or rather, several different kinds of music were sort of fighting each other depending on where you stood. It was that kind of organized mess that these things often turn into.
I spent a good chunk of time just trying to decide if any food line was worth the commitment. Seriously, some of those queues looked like they had their own postcode. I saw a couple arguing about whether a $20 hotdog was “an experience” or just, well, a $20 hotdog. That pretty much summed up the vibe for me.
It really got me thinking, why do we do this to ourselves? I mean, why do I still occasionally bother with these big public events? It threw me back to this one time, years ago, when I was still kinda fresh-faced in the city. I was all about “soaking in the local culture,” which meant I’d go to literally any event that had “festival” or “fair” in the name. I must have eaten a thousand mediocre sausages back then. Anyway, there was this one particular “neighborhood celebration” I went to. It was a total bust. Here’s a quick rundown of that disaster:
- It started raining cats and dogs about 20 minutes after I got there. No cover, of course.
- The “artisanal crafts” were mostly stuff you could buy online for half the price.
- And to top it all off, some genius managed to lift my wallet. In the rain. While I was trying to find a non-soggy pretzel.
Dealing with that aftermath was a pure joy, let me tell you. Canceling cards, trying to get a new driver’s license with zero ID – it was a bureaucratic nightmare. That experience, man, it really puts a damper on your enthusiasm for crowded public spaces, you know?
So, walking around Fete Boston, I had that whole wallet incident playing in the back of my mind. It wasn’t that Fete Boston was terrible, not like “get-your-wallet-stolen” terrible. I saw folks genuinely having a good time, laughing, kids running around. Good for them, honestly. But for me, it’s hard to shake that feeling of, “Okay, what’s the catch here?” Maybe I’m just jaded. I did find a lemonade stand with a surprisingly short line, and the lemonade was actually pretty decent. So, there’s that. But will I be clearing my schedule for Fete Boston next year? Eh, I’ll probably see if anything good is on TV first. And if I do go, I’m definitely bringing my own snacks. You live and learn, or at least, you try to.
