Stretching close to 2 miles long and bringing between 250,000 and 300,000 attendees in a single day, it has been called the oldest and largest street festival in the San Francisco Bay Area[1][2] and the "world's biggest block party".
Klein owned and managed "The Iris", a Solano clothing and jewelry store formerly based on Shattuck Avenue[5] that sold dress goods made primarily by local fashion designers, among the earliest including Laurel Burch.
Since the 1980s, a grand marshal has been chosen to head the parades; previous leaders have included Buffalo Bob Smith (of 1950's NBC television show Howdy Doody) in 1996,[10] 1972 Olympian and sports writer Craig Van Collie in 1998,[11] sixties counterculture icon Wavy Gravy in 2000,[12] and former Noah's Bagels CEO/founder Noal Alper in 2010, whose namesake deli still has a location on Solano Avenue.
Famous past acts at the Solano Stroll have included The Uptones, Operation Ivy, Rancid and Piranha (during the 1980s); and bands (or creative members of) Blue Öyster Cult,[13] Blind Illusion,[13] Heathen,[13] Alphabet Soup, Primus,[14] The Charlie Hunter Trio,[14] Furthur,[14] RatDog[14] and Country Joe and the Fish during the 1990s and 2000s (decade).
"[15] Although the Solano Stroll continues the original objective of celebrating local entrepreneurship, the event has had a more political theme in the last decade, featuring social activism and get out the vote booths of a mostly liberal leaning.
The same year, U.S. Representative Barbara Lee (D-CA-9) participated in the parade but left early due to excessive heckling by onlookers, apparently in relation to her sole "Nay" vote against AUMF following the attacks on September 11, 2001.
[12] In addition to the politically related controversies, the event has recently been affected by the financial shake-ups of various Solano businesses, including long-time Stroll sponsor Andronico's, the upscale supermarket chain which filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Before the 2011 festival, the East Bay Express reported that live musicians would either take a pay cut or have to play for free due to the recession and lack of revenue generated from The Solano Avenue Association.