Summerfest

This afternoon I headed out to visit a couple of stores on 5th Avenue, and
as I crossed over to Lexington Avenue I was greeted by a busy street fair scene. The avenue was closed off for quite a few blocks, and there were all sorts of vendors set up with clothing, leather goods, food, the works. Of course this is Manhattan, so I figure they do this kind of thing a lot. What was curious to me was that as I looked around I couldn't see any visible sign indicating what exactly the fair was all about. Doesn't there have to be a reason to have a fair?

I thought the food might be a clue, particularly if the festival were related to celebration of a particular culture or nationality. As you can see if you look closely at the pictures, though, there doesn't appear to be any common theme in the edible fare. So, no ethno-culinary clues to help out. I walked all the way up and down the blocked-off area, and sure enough I found no identifying sign of any kind that would tell me under what common cause people had come out to eat gyros, meatball hoagies, fried chicken, tacos, and crepes.

Could it be in honor of National Aviation Day? Pakistani Independence Day? Left Handers Day? Did these people even know what they were celebrating? How can one in good conscience take part in an event of this kind without knowing what cause they are promoting. Was I the only one that was in the dark on this? I just moved into the area, so perhaps I didn't get the flyer under my door.

I was still thinking about it when I returned to the condo later in the afternoon, so with some quick research I discovered that in all likelihood I had stumbled into the middle of the Lexington Avenue Summerfest. There doesn't seem to be much other information about the specifics of why this particular festival is held, but apparently it doesn't go any deeper than eating street food and buying trinkets.