Eric Richardson [Flickr]

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — The first Los Angeles Town Crier Competition happened this weekend. The brainchild of Los Angeles Town Crier Don Garza, the competition was sponsored by several local organizations, including the 9th Council District and DLANC. We had six criers participate, from California, Washington, and Canada. It was a great time, and I really look forward to the next time, when those of us organizing will actually have a sense of what we're doing.

Media response was very enthusiastic. The Downtown News has a great picture of the criers that they took Friday midday and got into this week's edition. The LA Times has a fun piece in today's Calendar section, and I'm told the print edition has pictures that don't appear online. Today's All Things Considered on NPR also had a report on the event, including samples of the cries.