
Breakdancing at Allentown Art Festival, June 1984. Photo courtesy Buffalo & Erie County Historical Society
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Allentown Art Festival
The Allentown Art Festival was founded in 1957 by a
group of business owners, residents, working artists and
craftspersons in the area of Buffalo known as Allentown. From a
modest first event featuring a handful of local exhibitors, the
Festival, now organized by the Allentown Village Society, has grown
into one of the country's largest and most respected outdoor art
and crafts shows. Earning the moniker "Buffalo's Rite of Spring,"
the Festival is held every year on the second full weekend in June
in the streets of what has now become the Allentown Historic
Preservation District. In a typical year, approximately 450
exhibitors from over 35 states and Canada exhibit original work in
all of the traditional art and crafts categories. Crowds for the
two-day free event number in excess of 300,000 visitors. The
Festival also incorporates an attractive assortment of food and
beverage concessionaires. It has become a featured attraction, not
only to residents of the Buffalo metropolitan area and their
families, but also to tourists in Western New York and Southern
Ontario. The project is documented by a report detailing the
history of the festival, 33 8 x 10 photographs with descriptions,
promotional brochures and flyers, and a Festival pin and patch.
Originally submitted by: Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Senator.
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The Local Legacies project provides a "snapshot" of American Culture as it was expressed in spring of 2000. Consequently, it is not being updated with new or revised information with the exception of "Related Website" links.
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