This year, visitors can expect over 100 varieties of traditional, popular, and rare Chinese foods, including soup dumplings, dragon's beard candy, lotus root sandwiches, sugar-coated chestnuts, grilled cold noodles, iron plate tofu, fried skewers, milk cap tea, among others.
The Second Avenue Street Fair extends from Seventh Street to 11th Street, unless there's an afternoon shift later. Mainly the same traveling band of commercial sellers with stuff and tchotchkes (crystals, bonsai, baskets, bowls, rugs, jewelry, etc.) that clogged the former street fairs. If you're looking for new food experiences or any local vendors, you will be disappointed, as was I. I searched in vain for "The Pickle Guy." Sad, but it's a start.
Children and families can enjoy fall-themed activities like pumpkin painting, art projects, a bounce house, tie-dye t-shirt making, and a bubble station, in addition to local vendors. The Jerriese Johnson Gospel Choir, the Village Chorus for Children and Youth and other local artists will be offering entertainment in front of Middle Collegiate Church.
The Second Avenue Street Fair was started in the 1980s as a way to raise money for the "Celebrate Life Meal," the free meal the church offered to those living with HIV/AIDS. The meal continues today in partnership with The Momentum Project. Proceeds from the Second Avenue Street Fair benefit the pride ministries of Middle Collegiate Church.
Experience the 20+ Authentic food booths, Browse the 50+ merchandise booths that sell a huge variety of goods that range from handmade metal statues to African baskets to the year's hottest trends in jewelry & fashion accessories and much more.
Join us for our annual Second Avenue Street Fair on Saturday, May 6, 12-5pm! Children and families can enjoy activities like a bounce-house, tie-dye t-shirt making, sidewalk chalk, bubble station, Japanese calligraphy, and more!
From 1-5pm, hear live music on the Middle Church stage featuring celebrated East Village musicians, including the Jerriese Johnson Gospel Choir and Village Chorus for Children & Youth. Voter registration and election information will also be available on our block. It’s an all-day party with Middle Church, filled with art, justice and music — you won’t want to miss it!
Mayor Bill de Blasio's administration is proposing changes to the city’s street fairs intended to end the corporate flavor of many of the festivals, addressing a long-standing complaint from civic groups and elected officials that the fairs are a costly headache and do little to benefit the communities where they’re held.
Under proposed rules scheduled for a public hearing on October 13, at least fifty percent of vendors participating in a street fair would have to be businesses with locations inside the same community board where the event is being held. That proposal marks a major change that could remake the character of the roughly 200 street fairs the city currently allows each year.
