Business

Sunset Park’s Fifth Avenue Festival beckons

September 16, 2011 Heather Chin

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Summer may be over, but Brooklyn’s street fairs are still goingstrong!

This Sunday, September 18, the annual Fifth Avenue StreetFestival will be upon us, filling a 15-block stretch of SunsetPark’s Main Street with food, games, music, bargain shopping,entertainment and more, all from your favorite local merchants.

The festival is organized by the Sunset Park BusinessImprovement District (BID), where Executive Director Renee Giordanoand her staff have made sure to add some new programs to thetried-and-true events, vendors, local merchants and nonprofits, sothat there is something for everyone.

One of our staff put together a loteria – a lotto game – whereit is a Sunset Park version, said Giordano of one of the newgames. So all the cards are things from the community, such as thebuildings, the BID, elected officials and a Safe Stop logo – allthings people are familiar with.

There will also be that always-fun amusement game standby:color-coded rubber ducks in a pond that get fished out with afishing pole for a prize.

Prizes range from jewelry to accessories and gift certificates -all donated by local merchants. Our goal is to connect thebusiness owner with the residents and customers and give somethingback to [everyone], said Giordano.

Perhaps one of the biggest and most interactive additions to thefestival is the video game challenge, scheduled for 4 p.m. to 6p.m. at the 54th Street stage, and hosted by VC Games owner FrankXu. Challenge friends and strangers to rounds of your favoritevideo game and try to win an Xbox 360 and a Kinect console.Sign-ups start at 1 p.m.

Of course, there will also be hula hoops, bouncy houses, facepainting, pony rides, free popcorn and petting zoos, as well as twostages full of live entertainment – one at 44th Street and one at54th Street.

It’s very important for communities because it brings everybodytogether, said Chip Cafiero, the Brooklynite behind several of BayRidge’s street fairs and Giordano’s friend. She does a phenomenaljob. It’s a family-oriented event and that’s the way we try to keepit… That’s what makes these community festivals the best.

The fun starts at 11 a.m. and winds down at 6 p.m. Spend thewhole day on the avenue with friends, get some bargains and see thebusinesses, smiled Giordano. So whatever else you have planned forSunday, carve out at least an hour or two to make it over to thepremier community festival in Sunset Park.