Street fair returns to Monkland Avenue after year hiatus

A street fair is returning to N.D.G., with a new organizer and a completely revamped vibe.

“We had the obstacle that people did not see the event on Monkland as feasible,” said Luca Palladino, of NDG Arts Week. Palladino is one of the principal organizers of this year’s street fair.

The street fair is the culmination of about a year’s worth of polling in an effort to find what sort of event residents in the neighbourhood would embrace. Previous events were marred by complaints about noise and garbage, and the event was cancelled last year.

Nicolina Servello opened a booth serving food at the first Monkland street fair. She said her success there convinced her to open a restaurant on the street. The return of a Monkland street fair means a lot to her business.

“We’re estimating that our sales will be bumped between 25 and 30 per cent over the next three days,” Servello told Global News.

Handcrafted art is one of the distinctive features of the street fair. A parade Saturday afternoon will involve handmade puppets, costumes and banners made by children and volunteers at organizations such as the NDG Art Hive.