Thousands of people are expected to come out and enjoy the Village of New Hyde Park’s 23rd annual street fair on Saturday, Sept. 15—an event that takes approximately three months to plan according to New Hyde Park village clerk Janet Bevers.
Northwell Health will be returning as the official street fair sponsor for their third year in a row and will be setting up a health and wellness pavilion on Lakeville Road.
“They typically set up a 100-foot tent and they fill it with lots of great exhibits, demonstrations and information that are all health and wellness related,” said Bevers. “So we’re certainly very pleased that they’re returning as a sponsor this year.”
The Northwell Health Pavilion will include 25 tables representing several medical specialties and facilities throughout the health care system, from Long Island Jewish Medical Center and North Shore University Hospital to Cohen Children’s Medical Center and the Katz Institute for Women’s Health.
“This is a yearly event highlighting our ongoing partnership with the Village of New Hyde Park,” said Matthew DePace, Regional Director of Community Relations for Northwell Health. “Recently, we sponsored and participated in the local Voices of Veterans concert with our Office of Veterans Affairs and we are also glad to announce our collaboration with New Hyde Park Memorial High School with our Medical Career Day program in October. We recognize how important of a stakeholder we are in our towns and this is just an example of the commitment we have as a health system to the communities we serve.”
This year, the village has also added a live musical performance by the popular local band, His Boy Elroy. The band will have two musical sponsors from the New Hyde Park Funeral Home and the Katie McBride Foundation. His Boy Elroy will be performing at the west end of the fair, which is down by Covert Avenue.
Approximately 130 sidewalk participants will be at this year’s street fair as well. The participants include village merchants, chamber of commerce members, service groups and charities.
“In addition to the 130 [participants] that are expected to come, we’re expecting about 150 specialty merchants that will wind up on Jericho Turnpike,” explained Bevers. “These are people who have a livelihood of selling their wares, their crafts and their specialties.”
The village partners with a company called Craft A Fair, who is a promotions company that has worked with the village for the past 22 years. The promotion company’s job is to sell Jericho Turnpike to the local merchants and crafters to drum up business.
New Hyde Park Mayor Lawrence Montreuil will open the street fair with the Pledge of Allegiance and the National Anthem to welcome everyone who is attending in front of Village Hall.
“Returning again this year will be our children’s carnival,” said Bevers. “It basically is set up in the Central Boulevard parking lot, which is right across the street from Village Hall. We have a company that comes in and sets up inflatable rides there. It’s a traditional feature.”
This year—at the mayor’s suggestion—the village is also opening up the resident parking lot on South 12th Street and Second Avenue to all fair-goers to park for free.
“It was the mayor’s idea to try and accommodate more of the central location for some folks to park there during the day,” explained Bevers. “It’s easy, breezy and no hassle since it’s only a two-block walk to the fair.”
The Village of New Hyde Park’s 23rd annual street fair kicks off on Saturday, Sept. 15, from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Jericho Turnpike between Covert Avenue and New Hyde Park Road. The fair’s raindate will be the following week on Saturday, Sept. 22.
