STEFANI DIAS: 2022 a year of growth, strong community investment | Entertainment

Urban Blossoms: Downtown Bakersfield, especially the area commonly known as Eastchester, had a good year.

As residential development continues, restaurants have sprung up. From the remains of The Mark are born Zama Latin American Cuisine and Cask Strength Bar and Kitchen. Across 19th Street, Metro Galleries’ last home is now Fredo’s, which has been serving cocktails and pizza while developing a full menu.

On 18th Street, Off the Rails is a new craft beer tap lounge and bottle shop, opening at the last location of Centro 18 (and previously Fishlips).

Continue east to new restaurants and bars 18th Street Bar & Grill and The Botanist, both of which have taken over previous restaurant locations (Goose Loonies/Scores Bar and Dot x Ott, respectively).

Downtown champion The Hub of Bakersfield is off to a strong start to the year, hosting the Obscura interactive art experience on the second Saturday in January in the warehouse space behind the Fox Theater.

Its Innovation Lab hosted a Bites & Beats event in Kern Old Town in February, while The Hub opened on Eat Street in April, a monthly rotating food truck colony that unfortunately fell by the wayside by summer up.

The Hub’s Summer Sounds concert series drew crowds to venues including Narducci’s Cafe, which reopened under new ownership in April.

By the end of the year, the nonprofit seemed focused on rebranding its Second Saturday program downtown to further engage the community. Looking forward to seeing where it all goes as downtown continues to thrive.

Say goodbye: We’ve lost a lot of people in our community, including in the arts and entertainment world.

Extraordinary pedal steel guitarist Larry Petree and his wife Betty passed away in August, given his relationship with Bakersfield musicians Tommy Hayes and San Sonny Anglin and rising star band The Soda Crackers.

His legacy and renewed interest in the Bakersfield Sound among young fans is thanks to The Soda Crackers, who brought Hays and fellow traditional musicians Norm Hamlet and Jimmy Phillips back to the stage in November, along with others who value our town A local band heritage that enriches musical theatre.

The theater world was devastated by the death of Norman Colwell, who died in September shortly after the death of his wife Marie. In addition to being an active performer, Colwell was a champion of the local community theater. As maintainer of the Bakersfield Talent Facebook Group, he diligently posts audition announcements, performance announcements, and preview articles for theaters in Bakersfield and the surrounding community.

He and his wife are also loyal viewers, watching as many works as possible.

We also lost another artistic champion, Camille Gavin, who passed away in October.

Born in Bakersfield, Gavin worked as a librarian before moving to The Californian as a features writer.

One of the founders of the Kern Arts Council, she served as director of public affairs for KGET-TV before semi-retiring from journalism until she resumed her weekly arts column at The Californian, which ran from 2001 to 2014.

During my time with her, Gavin provided a great example of how to support local arts through journalism without taking the inevitable criticism of coverage to heart.

Return of the big event: It’s been a wait-and-see year to determine the return of the beloved festival that’s been on hold.

Village Fest brings “The Party of the Year” back to the Kern County Museum. Latin food festivals Menudo and Pozole Cook-off also return to the museum in May for events.

The Bakersfield Basque Festival doubled down, not only featuring musical performances by renowned Basque musician Mikel Urdangarin, but also highlighting Cal State Bakersfield’s new Basque Institute with a symposium.

The Greek Food Festival continues to thrive alongside the Coptic Festival and the new Mediterranean Spring Food Festival, Kernville’s Food Truck Festival and St. Elizabeth’s Heritage Festival.

Successful display: Various local venues step up their game with musical performances, comedy and more. Certain shows make a big impact throughout the year.

Bakersfield is the first stop on Paramore’s fall mini-tour, which also includes performances at Austin City Limits, When We Were Young and Corona Capital festivals.

The rock band hit the road for the first time since 2018, starting from the town that played Jerry’s Pizza in past years, the former Montgomery World Square and what was then known as Rabobank Arena.

Not surprisingly, the Oct. 2 show at the Mechanics Bank Theater (the band’s only California stop) sold out quickly.

Another highlight of Mechanics Bank, this time in theater, was Snoop Dogg, who performed in May.

After the Super Bowl halftime show, the “Hot Toss It” rapper took his “Back to Death Row” tour with friends Warren G, Tha Eastsidez, RBX and Daughters of Rage to in town.

Bakersfield loves its comedy. While we didn’t get a Gabriel “Puffy” Iglesias performance this year, we did get five with Kevin Hart.

The comedian and actor’s two shows at the Fox Theater on Jan. 16 sold out quickly. Based on the response, promoters Live Nation and Color of Nine scheduled two more shows on February 4th, also sold out, with the final show on February 5th.

Since the shows will allow Hart to test the material, they don’t have cell phones, and attendees agree to lock their phones in locked Yondr bags that they keep throughout the evening.

In addition to the spring shows with Angela Johnson and Tom Segura, the promoters are bringing comedian John Mulaney to Fox for a March 1 show, which also doesn’t have cellphones.

A set of “Nutcrackers”: With the annual production of the Civic Dance Center celebrating its 45th anniversary at the helm of new executive artistic director Erica Ueberros, Bakersfield was able to enjoy two more “Nutcracker” outings.

Bakersfield City Ballet presented its “Nutcracker Suite” at the Bakersfield Ladies Club a week after the Citizens performance, using some of the same dancers as dance highlights and themed treats.

Dance teacher Natalia Mallory has brought together dance and cheerleaders from her Mallory School of Dance and beyond for the first time in what she calls “The Nutcracker.” A community driven show.

As with many local events, “The Nutcracker” certainly has room and audiences for more than one performance, so hopefully we’ll continue to enjoy the rich gift of dancing throughout the holidays.