Well the big lie is that it's a free carnival.  Everything costs money!  The rides average about $3 bucks a pop, depending upon how many tickets you buy.  What's free?  The ability to walk through the money changers??  I live on Windward, and I believe in everyone having a good time.  But they are using my resources at no financial gain to me – why can't I use their resources at the same rate?  How is this profiteering for the benefit of the locals?

Attended tonight. Bought a bunch of tickets and ate a bunch of great carnival food. Fun giant slide and delish caramel/chocolate apples. Could have been better attended. I hope more people show up tomorrow.

Well, I am firmly on the side of "What a fantastic carnival that was"! I live on Grand Bl. and what a safe haven of parking those three days were! So well organized and executed by our LAPD. As residents, we were asked for our "permission" (meaning signatures of support), given parking permits and were escorted in and out by those lovely cadets who worked the whole weekend with diligence and enthusiasm. Yesterday I was approached by the officer who said he was the organizer of the entire venture (I regretfully neglected to get his name), and he genuinely wanted to know if, as a local, I approved of the carnival. I told him I thought it ran like a well-oiled machine and could we please do it again next weekend?

I'm just saying, the ferris wheel was awesome, the all-day happy hour at Hama Sushi was delicious, and the sound of screams of delight in the distance from our open front door… yes, priceless.

Dang, I didn't notice the happy hour at Hama!  (And I walked through the carnival a few times!)

I got a kick out of the squeals and the whoosh of the rides--really cute.  It was a great event.