Culture, food, music and sun? Westcott managed to pack it all in Sunday as they celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Westcott Street Cultural Fair.
The day began at noon with a parade march from the Westcott Community Center. Booths of food vendors, community advocates, artisans and more lined the business district of Westcott Street and leaked off onto connecting side streets. Six different stages were set up to feature more than 30 musical and cultural performances.
Fairgoers came in droves and lined the closed off streets of the Westcott neighborhood. Some brought their dogs and strolled the fair leisurely, looking to see what new cultural experience they would find next. Some came with a mission to salsa dance to the vibrant music of Salsa Son Timba. Others were more focused on deciding whether to eat a hot dog, corn on the cob, a Cuban pastry or perhaps all three.
The fair is a "celebration of the diversity and uniqueness of the Westcott neighborhood through its culture: visual and performing arts, food, service organizations and activities geared to families and Syracuse and LeMoyne students returning to the neighborhood," according to their website.
For Sam Levey, owner of the Westcott Theater, the fair is essentially a “birthday party,” for them as they opened four years ago on the day of the fair. They celebrated their fourth anniversary by selling tickets to upcoming shows sans Ticketmaster fees and they also held a concert with Dark Star Orchestra and Jeff Bujak that night.
For Westcott residents, parking and navigating the streets was a bit of a nuisance as the clutter of cars and streams of people could not be avoided, but it was all in good fun.
The variety of the day was enough to keep anyone entertained and well fed until the events came to a close around 6:30 p.m.
Photo by Ryan Shanley
