A street

fair A fair (archaic: faire or fayre) is a gathering of people for a variety of entertainment or commercial activities. Fairs are typically temporary with scheduled times lasting from an afternoon to several weeks. Fairs showcase a wide range of go ...

celebrates the character of a

neighborhood A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neigh ...

. As its name suggests, it is typically held on the main street of a neighborhood. The principal component of street fairs are booths used to sell goods (particularly food) or convey information. Some include carnival rides and parades. Many have live music and dance demonstrations. Fairs typically range no more than a few blocks long, although some fairs, such as the 9th Avenue International Food Festival in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and the Solano Stroll in

Northern California Northern California (commonly shortened to NorCal) is a geocultural region that comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California, spanning the northernmost 48 of the state's List of counties in California, 58 counties. Northern Ca ...

, extend more than a mile. A fair only one block long is commonly called a

block party A block party or street party is a party in which many members of a single community congregate, either to observe an event of some importance or simply for mutual solidarity and enjoyment. The name comes from the form of the party, which ofte ...

Variety

Street fairs vary greatly in character, even within one city. Annual street fairs in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, Washington, for example, include the University District Street Fair that feature the work of

craft A craft or trade is a pastime or an occupation that requires particular skills and knowledge of skilled work. In a historical sense, particularly the Middle Ages and earlier, the term is usually applied to people occupied in small scale pr ...

speople and require that the person who make the goods that are for sale must be present in their own booths. The Fremont Fair features crafts from around the world, as well as the Summer Solstice Parade and Pageant, famed for its painted naked cyclists. In the same city, the

Capitol Hill Capitol Hill is a neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., neighborhood in Washington, D.C., located in both the Northeast, Washington, D.C., Northeast and Southeast, Washington, D.C., Southeast quadrants. It is bounded by 14th Street SE & NE, F S ...

Block Party A block party or street party is a party in which many members of a single community congregate, either to observe an event of some importance or simply for mutual solidarity and enjoyment. The name comes from the form of the party, which ofte ...

fences off several blocks, charges admission, and features some of the city's best known rock bands, while the Chinatown-International District Summer Fair has a distinctly

Asian-American Asian Americans are Americans with ancestry from the continent of Asia (including naturalized Americans who are immigrants from specific regions in Asia and descendants of those immigrants). Although this term had historically been used for ...

and

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

flavor, with

taiko are a broad range of Traditional Japanese musical instruments, Japanese percussion instruments. In Japanese language, Japanese, the term refers to any kind of drum, but outside Japan, it is used specifically to refer to any of the various J ...

drummers,

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defence; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; ...

demonstrations and Hawaiian dance. In

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, street fairs are known as braderies, which translates to roasting, referencing the frequent roasting of meat at the events.

Fan zones

Accompanying sporting events are street fairs known as fan zones. Examples include the Olympics, American football, motorsports and major association football events particularly international tournament games.

List of street fairs

Atlantic Antic The Atlantic Antic is a street festival held yearly on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn, New York between 4th Avenue and Hicks Street. It is run and produced by the Atlantic Avenue Local Development Corporation (AALDC). The festival features food an ...

* Braderie de Lille *

Boishakhi Mela The Boishakhi Mela () is a Bengali culture, Bengali celebration (mela) which takes place outside of Bangladesh. It is celebrated by the Bangladeshi diaspora in the United Kingdom, United States, Canada as well as many other countries with sig ...

* Castro Street Fair * Chorley cake Street Fair * Dekalb County Free Fall Fair * Ephrata Fair *

Feast of San Gennaro The Feast of San Gennaro (in Italian language, Italian: ''Festa di San Gennaro''), also known as San Gennaro Festival, is a Naples, Neapolitan and Italian-American patronal festival dedicated to Saint Januarius, patron saint of Naples and Little ...

* Festa do Albariño * Folsom Europe *

Folsom Street Fair Folsom Street Fair (FSF) is an annual Kink (sexuality), kink, leather subculture, and Paraphilia, alternative sexuality street fair, held in September that concludes San Francisco's "Leather Pride Week". The Folsom Street Fair, sometimes refe ...

Gentse Feesten The Gentse Feesten (; in Ghent dialect ''Gense Fieste''; "Ghent Festival") is an annual music and theatre festival in Ghent, Belgium. Besides stage events, there are street acts such as mimes and buskers. It has been held for more than 50 years ...

* Giglio Society of East Harlem * Großheuriger in Austria * How Weird Street Faire * Kentucky Avenue Renaissance Festival *

Lesbian and Gay City Festival The Lesbian and Gay City Festival (''Lesbisch-Schwules Stadtfest'') in Berlin is Europe's largest street festival for lesbians and gays. It has been held in the traditional gay area around Nollendorfplatz in Schöneberg since 1993. In Berlin it ...

* Lilac Festival (Calgary) *

Northalsted Market Days Northalsted Market Days is an annual two-day festival in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Established in 1982, it's the Midwest's largest street festival with annual attendance exceeding 300,000 people over the two-day event. Description The fe ...

* Solano Avenue Stroll * St Crispin Street Fair *

St Giles' Fair St Giles' Fair (also St Giles Fair) is an annual fair held in St Giles', Oxford, St Giles', a wide thoroughfare in central Oxford, England. The origins of the fair can be traced back to medieval times where it became one of England's dynamic tr ...

* Sunset Junction Street Fair * Taste of Arlington * Up Your Alley Fair * Ohio Festival and Events Association lists Ohio fairs

Gallery

Image:Ballard Fest 2006 5.jpg, A street fair in the historically seafaring neighborhood of Ballard, Seattle, Washington Image:Feira.jpg, Produce at a street fair at

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

File:Quetschenfest.JPG, A view of the Quetschenfest street fair in the community of Geichlingen, Germany File:Mondorf Luxembourg Braderie 20090830.jpg, A braderie in

Mondorf-les-Bains Mondorf-les-Bains (; ; ) is a Communes of Luxembourg, commune and town in south-eastern Luxembourg. It is part of the Remich (canton), canton of Remich. Mondorf-les-Bains is a spa town (hence its name), and has the only casino in Luxembourg. , ...

, Luxembourg, 2009

References

{{reflist Fairs Street culture

Variety

Fan zones

List of street fairs

Gallery

See also

References