A holiday weekend of fairs ahead

The Bristol Merchants Association is reviving the State Street Fair and Art Festival, Wood Street is having its 3rd annual Fair, and Warren will be hosting a big party for some really big pumpkins

By Christy Nadalin
Posted 10/4/18

The extended forecast is looking good, and a lot of people around the East Bay are hoping it holds for the upcoming long holiday weekend of fall-themed fun and community events. One highlight is the …

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A holiday weekend of fairs ahead

The Bristol Merchants Association is reviving the State Street Fair and Art Festival, Wood Street is having its 3rd annual Fair, and Warren will be hosting a big party for some really big pumpkins

Posted

The extended forecast is looking good, and a lot of people around the East Bay are hoping it holds for the upcoming long holiday weekend of fall-themed fun and community events.

One highlight is the rebirth of the State Street Fair, an event that was once a highlight of the downtown calendar, but languished several years ago when organizers could not muster enough volunteers to pull it off.

"2007 was the last year of the State Street Fair, and at that time it was just the fair," said co-organizer Lynn Shaw. "Now we're adding an art festival to it. "

They tried to bring it back last year but ran into the same problem — not enough volunteers. "We couldn't get a bevy of people to run it," said Linda Arruda of Paper, Packaging and Panache, and one of the original organizers back in the late 1990's. So how many volunteers are they pulling the event together with in 2018?

"You're looking at them," they said. "And Joe," added Ms. Arruda, referring to jeweler Joe Caron, who they credit with organizing the musical entertainment.

This year they were ready, and they came armed with extra ambition.

"Our hopes are to hold it along State Street, between Hope and Thames, then next year, with the blessing of the town, we would like to extend it to the State Street Dock. Then, just as Wickford did, we'd go from there."

Kathleen Seguin, of Bristol House B&B, shares Ms. Shaw's vision. They would love to eventually see the Fair & Art Festival run all weekend, and stretch as far north as Independence Park.

But for now they're happy to be bringing it back. "We have so many artists in town, we have so many great ones lined up," said Ms. Shaw. Less than two weeks out, applications from crafters and artists were still rolling in.

"This is the perfect time of year to do it," said Ms. Seguin. "We (Bristol Merchants Association) don't have much of anything during this time, until the Halloween Walkabout. It gives residents and visitors another way to enjoy Bristol over Columbus Day Weekend."

"We have Grayson coming from Silent Soapbox, he will be on one of the corners for 4 hours;" said Lynn Shaw. "We have several musicians, face painting, and the Steel Yard will be doing blacksmithing demonstrations in the lot on the corner of Thames and State streets." Rogers Free Library will be running a kids area with two ongoing art projects.

Food vendors will include kettle corn and Chelsea's Ice Cream, but with several local restaurants in the immediate area around the event, sourcing outside food wasn't a priority. Organizers are hoping that establishments that don't usually open for lunch might make an exception for the event.

The fair will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 6; with a rain date of Sunday, Oct. 7. For more information, find the 2018 Bristol State Street Fair & Arts Festival on Facebook.

The following day, just a couple of blocks to the east, Mosaico CDC and the Common Pub & Grille are once again joining together to sponsor the 3rd Annual Wood Street Fair on Sunday, Oct. 7 from noon until 5 p.m.   

New this year and building on the success of previous Wood Street Fairs, this year’s event will feature a chili cook-off, an antique car show, and a beer & wine garden with Lagunitas Brewing Co. products.
Chili Cook-off tickets are $10 for all the chili samples you'd love to try. Tickets are available at the Common Pub and Mosaico office. Other than food and drink purchases, the event is free to attend.
Music all day will be provided by local bands Dagwood and the CBGB's; there will be a huge vendor market, kids' games & crafts including face painting by Linz, pumpkin decorating, slime making, Halloween sand art, cornhole and more.

Delicious food will be provided by the Common Pub & Grille Blount Fine Foods, and Chelsea's Creamery.

"This Fair is to continue to benefit the Wood Street Improvement fund," said Diana Campbell of Mosaico CDC. "Eventually the plan is to build enough funds so we can help some of the businesses in the neighborhood make improvements."

For more information, find the 3rd Annual Wood Street Fair on Facebook.

Also happening on Saturday, Oct. 6, but with an earlier start time, is the Southern New England Giant Pumpkin Growers annual weigh-off at Frerichs Farm, 65 Kinnicutt Ave., Warren. Pumpkins start arriving 9 a.m.; there will be a pumpkin drop at 11:30 a.m., and the official weighing will begin at noon.

The event will feature music from 9 a.m. to noon with the Big Red Barn Blue Grass Band, farm activities all day, and food trucks on site; so it's very possible to get your fill of pumpkins before wrapping up the day on State Street. For more information, visit www.frerichsfarm.com.

State Street Fair, Wood Street Fair, Frerichs Farm

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