By Rebecca Henely
Woodside on the Move Inc., the community organizing group, is holding its 19th Annual Summer Street Festival this Saturday. The fair will take place along Woodside Avenue between 59th and 64th streets from noon to 6 p.m.
“It’s to celebrate the neighborhood,” Lavern Mason-Howard of Woodside on the Move said of the festival.
Mason-Howard said 3,000 to 4,000 people were expected to come out for the yearly celebration in Woodside. She said there will be hundreds of vendors selling crafts and other merchandise as well as distributing informational pamphlets. The festival will also feature a flea market, inflatable bouncy castles and live music on a stage set up at 63rd Street and Woodside Avenue.
For the first time, the festival will include a chili cookoff. Mason-Howard said a few different restaurants will participate and individuals at the festival can vote on which chili they like the best.
As the festival has progressed it has come to reflect the increasing diversity of the neighborhood, Mason-Howard said. She added the wares and food offered will reflect the multiple ethnicities in the community.
“It is a cultural neighborhood and everything is represented,” Mason-Howard said.
Reach reporter Rebecca Henely by e-mail at rhenely@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4564.
