Get ready to party in the streets of Ridgewood this September as the community gears up for two annual street fairs, the Fresh Pond Road Street Festival and the Myrtle Avenue Fall Street Festival.
The four-day Fresh Pond Road Street Festival, sponsored by the Federazione Italo-Americana di Brooklyn and Queens, will take place from Sept. 3 to 6 along a five-block stretch of Fresh Pond Road, between Menahan and Woodbine streets.
One of the newest attractions for this year’s Fresh Pond Road Street Festival is the first poetry and art contest, hosted by the Federazione Italo-Americana di Brooklyn and Queens. This contest allows schoolchildren who are enrolled in a New York City public or private grammar, intermediate or high school to submit their art on the topic, “Growing up ______ American in Queens,” (i.e. Growing up Italian-American in Queens), with an alternate topic of “What community means to you.”
Prizes adding up to $1,200 will be divided among the winners of the contest.
“This contest is going to add a new dimension to the festival and the people who visit Ridgewood,” said Michael Conigliaro, managing director-adviser of the festival for the Federazione Italo-Americana di Brooklyn and Queens.
The Myrtle Avenue Fall Street Festival, sponsored by the Myrtle Avenue Business Improvement District (BID) in conjunction with Clearview Festival Productions, will host more than 200 merchant and vendor displays along Myrtle Avenue from Wyckoff Avenue to Fresh Pond Road on Sept. 13 from noon to 6 p.m.
The street festival is designed to showcase the community and attract more than 20,000 shoppers to Myrtle Avenue with children’s rides, game booths, health providers, local nonprofit and civic organizations and local artists.
Antique and custom cars will be on display from East Coast Car Association and Riviera Owners Association. Joe Fuoco’s Music Center and Ridgewood Dance Studio will provide entertainment at the 71st Avenue Plaza from noon to 5 p.m.
Representatives from the Department of Transportation’s Go Smart NYC Program will be on hand to register people for the program and inform them on how to get rewards at participating local businesses.
