Stefani Dias: 2022 a strong year for growth, community investment

Dec. 29—This was a year of new restaurants, festivals and other entertainment. Nearly three years into the pandemic, people are returning to many familiar patterns especially when it comes to socializing.

It's a fool's errand for one person to definitively say what was most important in the "five hundred twenty-five thousand, six hundred minutes" that will have made up 2022 (any "Rent" fans out there?), but here is a look at some of what defined the year.

Downtown blooms: Downtown Bakersfield, especially the section often referred to as Eastchester, enjoyed a bountiful year.

As residential developments continued, restaurants sprang to life. From the remains of The Mark came Zama Latin American Cuisine and Cask Strength Bar and Kitchen. Across 19th Street, the spot last home to Metro Galleries is now Fredo's, which has been serving cocktails and pizza while it develops its full menu.

On 18th Street, Off the Rails, a new craft beer tap lounge and bottle shop, opened in the spot last home to Centro 18 (and Fishlips before that).

Head further east for the new restaurant and bar offerings 18th Street Bar & Grill and The Botanist, both taking over former restaurant spots (Goose Loonies/Scores Bar and Dot x Ott, respectively).

Downtown champion The Hub of Bakersfield started the year strong, hosting the Obscura interactive art experience in the warehouse space behind the Fox Theater for the January Second Saturday.

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

The Hub's Sounds of Summer concert series drew people out to venues including Narducci's Cafe, which reopened under new ownership in April.

By the end of the year, it seems the nonprofit was 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.

Saying goodbye: We lost a number of people in the community, including in the arts and entertainment scene.

Pedal-steel guitarist extraordinaire Larry Petree died in August along with his wife, Betty, a loss keenly felt given that he had performed in a sold-out benefit concert weeks before with fellow Bakersfield Sound musicians Tommy Hays and Sonny Anglin and rising star band The Soda Crackers.

His legacy and the resurgence of interest in the Bakersfield Sound among younger fans endures thanks to The Soda Crackers, who brought Hays and other legacy musicians Norm Hamlet and Jimmy Phillips back to the stage in November, and other local bands who value our town's rich musical legacy.

The theater community was shocked by the loss of Norman Colwell, who died in September not long after his wife, Marie. Even more than being an active performer, Colwell was a champion for local community theaters. Maintaining the Bakersfield Talent Facebook group, he diligently posted audition notices, performance announcements and preview articles for theaters in Bakersfield and the surrounding communities.

He and his wife were also loyal audience members, seeing as many productions as possible.

We also lost another champion of the arts, Camille Gavin, who died in October.

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

She was one of the founders of the Arts Council of Kern and she served as director of public affairs at KGET-TV before semi-retiring from news until she resumed a weekly arts column at The Californian, which continued from 2001 to 2014.

In my time working with her, Gavin provided a good example of how to support local arts through news reporting while also not taking the inevitable criticism of coverage to heart.

Big events return: It's been a wait-and-see year to determine the return of beloved festivals that had been on hold.

Village Fest brought the "party of the year" back to the Kern County Museum. The Latino Food Festival Menudo and Pozole Cook-off also returned to the museum grounds for its event in May.

The Bakersfield Basque Festival doubled down, not only hosting a musical performance by renowned Basque musician Mikel Urdangarin but also highlighting Cal State Bakersfield's new Institute for Basque Studies with an academic symposium.

The Greek Food Festival continued to thrive along with the Coptic Festival and the new Mediterranean Spring Food Festival, Food Truck Festival in Kernville and St. Elizabeth Heritage Festival.

Successful shows: A variety of local venues stepped up their game with musical acts, comedy and more. Certain shows made a big impact throughout the year.

Bakersfield had the distinction of being the first stop on Paramore's mini fall tour, which also included 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 by starting off in the town where it had, in past years, played Jerry's Pizza, the former Montgomery World Plaza and the then-named Rabobank Arena.

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

Another big draw to Mechanics Bank, this time the theater, was Snoop Dogg, who performed in May.

Hot off the Super Bowl halftime show, the "Drop It Like It's Hot" rapper brought his "Back on Death Row" tour to town along with friends Warren G, Tha Eastsidez, RBX and The Lady of Rage.

Bakersfield loves its comedy. And although this was a year we didn't get a show from Gabriel "Fluffy" Iglesias, we did get five shows with Kevin Hart.

The comedian and actor quickly sold out two shows for Jan. 16 at the Fox Theater. Promoters Live Nation and Color of Nine, based on the response, set up two more shows on Feb. 4, which also sold out and a final one on Feb. 5.

As the shows would allow Hart to test out material, they were cellphone-free, with attendees agreeing to lock away their phones in a locked Yondr pouch they kept throughout the evening.

Along with shows with Anjelah Johnson and Tom Segura in the spring, the promoters also brought fellow comedian John Mulaney to the Fox for a March 1 show, which was also cellphone-free.

A suite of "Nutcrackers": Along with the Civic Dance Center's annual production, celebrating 45 years with new Executive Artistic Director Erica Ueberroth at the helm, Bakersfield was able to enjoy two other "Nutcracker" outings.

Bakersfield City Ballet presented its "Nutcracker Suite" at the Woman's Club of Bakersfield a week after the Civic performances, using some of the same dancers for a highlight of dances along with themed treats.

For the first time, dance instructor Natalia Mallory brought together performers from her Mallory Academy of Dance and other area dance and cheer groups for what she called the first community-driven take on "The Nutcracker."

Like many local events, there is certainly room and the audience for more than one crack at "The Nutcracker," so here's hoping that we can continue to enjoy the bountiful gift of dance during the holidays.

Stefani Dias can be reached at 661-395-7488. Follow her on Twitter at @realstefanidias.