Local shopping, music and food are set to take over Hillside Avenue on Sept. 21 for the annual Williston Park Street Fair.
“It’s great entertainment between the bands, the rides, the food, the different vendors,” said Barbara Baur-Rizzo, co-president of the Chamber of Commerce of the Willistons. “We try to have a little bit for everything for everybody.”
Well into its sixth decade, the fair runs from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. from Willis Avenue to the East Williston train tracks on Hillside Avenue. It includes roughly 200 vendors, about 60% of which are local to the three villages the chamber supports, Baur-Rizzo said.
“The Williston Park Street Fair helps promote businesses in Williston Park, East Williston and Albertson. That’s the main goal,” Baur-Rizzo said. “Their stuff varies. You have people selling spices. You have people selling clothes, jewelry, wreaths, pocket books. There’s a gentleman who spray paints T-shirts…Most of our vendors have been coming for years.”
Alongside local and outside vendors, there’s live music, performances, a craft brewery and a section of kiddie rides in the Bank of America parking lot from local groups, including the East Williston Fire Department, the Herricks Community Players, local dance and karate studios and more.
“Sally Black’s is going to set up outdoor TV screens for people to watch the football game. Memories always has their own band,” Baur-Rizzo said. “A DJ will be there all day…There’s always something to do.”
She said the chamber takes pride in its high turnout and large footprint.
“We usually get between 8,000 to 10,000 people,” Baur-Rizzo said. “It’s probably one of the better street fairs in Nassau County.”
Baur-Rizzo said the chamber continues to run the fair every year because of the enthusiasm of community members and businesses.
“It’s just grown and grown, and it really promotes the businesses. It’s probably one of their most profitable days out of the year,” she said. “Most of the community comes to the street fair. You get people from all over Nassau County and some from Queens, but the bulk of them are Williston Park residents, because they just look forward to it every year.
