BY GABE HERMAN | The Hester Street Fair will wrap up its 10th season with a closing party on Oct. 26. The Saturday event, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. in Seward Park, will include a collage activity, coffee from local cafe Round K, music by Mari MacDowell, Nice Groove and Zebra Blood, and plenty of food and fashion from local vendors. The fair was launched in 2010 by MTV host SuChin Pak and local architect Ron Castellano, with the goal of bringing new cultural programming to the Lower East Side, along with promoting local businesses. The fair was taken over in 2016 by David Komurek, who said that what surprised him most during his first year was “The sense of community with all the vendors and the power of making real-world connections with people.” Komurek added several regular events, including an Ice Cream Social, Kid’s Day, Coffee Competition, the city’s first CBD fair, and an all-female Girl Power event.
Some of the fair’s events also promote charities like the Lower Eastide Girls Club, Trinity Place Shelter, Green Beetz and Equality Florida. Local businesses continue to be featured, including the new cookie company baKD, which was founded by an LES local and was recently profiled in The Villager.
“I would definitely say that the fair is continuing to grow and that this current season, our tenth, shows solid proof,” according to Janine Ciccone, the fair’s producer. “We have gained the attendance of many new vendors and the interest of more creatives who would like to use our space as an extension of their vision. It’s been fantastic.”
The full lineup for the fair’s Oct. 26 closing event can be found at hesterstreetfair.com.
