September Dates Announced for Carnival

The Fiesta Shows carnival is returning to Chelsea, but it will be a little later in the season this year.

Last week, the Licensing Commission approved letting the carnival operate from Sept. 8 to Sept. 11 at the Chelsea Commons parking lot from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. each day.

Initially, Fiesta Shows president John Flynn said the carnival was looking to come to town from July 21 through July 24, but there was a conflict with a large sale planned by Home Depot on the property on those dates.

“I met with the assistant manager (of Home Depot), and based upon what he told me, I’m sure everyone who has seen the site realizes parking can be a bit of a quandary there, I’m here to request a change of dates,” Flynn told the commission.

Police Captain Keith Houghton said Flynn will have to meet with the police and fire departments to work out a traffic plan, but said he otherwise had no issues with the request.

In other business, the Licensing Commission approved an entertainment license for the Kushala Sip Coffee House at 140 Pearl St.

The coffee house is also seeking one of five new on-site, all-alcohol licenses the city is expecting to receive, but those licenses have not been officially approved by the state legislature at this time.

The Licensing Commission was supportive of the license, but members said they could not vote on the license until the new licenses were approved by the legislature.

Attorney Michael Ford said applicant Dalia Valencia has owned the Kushala Sip Coffee House in Stoneham since 2015 and was looking to expand.

The Stoneham location does not have a liquor license.

“I’m from Mexico originally, and the coffeehouse is a concept that is very popular in my country,” Valencia said. “When I opened seven years ago in Stoneham, I wanted to (serve alcohol), but it wasn’t easy because it was a very small space that was not able to accommodate that.”

Valencia is proposing 50 seats inside and 10 seats outside and the coffee house would serve food in addition to craft coffees and alcohol.

Houghton said parking could be an issue in the area, but overall, he said he was supportive of the proposal.

“It does reflect the community having something different instead of a typical bar around the corner,” said Houghton. “So the business idea I think will do well, it’s just the traffic, and we can monitor that and report back if there is ever an issue.”

The commission did approve the entertainment license, which will allow the coffee shop to have a single acoustic performer on the premises.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *