Community members strolling through the Westcott Street Cultural Fair. © 2024 Fei Chan.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC NEWS) — The Westcott Street Cultural Fair is a cornerstone event for many in the surrounding neighborhood, locals and students alike, filled with a wide array of booths, vendors, live music, performances, art and more.
The event is held in Syracuse’s Westcott neighborhood annually every September and spans across several streets in the area within walking distance from Syracuse University.
Grace Newell and Carley DellaRata, seniors at SU, attended the fair for the first time this year and originally thought it was just a small flea market.
“We didn’t realize it was this big of an operation,” Newell said. “We’ve been stopping by the stands–we went to Boom Babies, I got a wind chime from this lovely woman who handmakes them…it’s a really mixed bag in a great way.”
Newell purchased her wind chime from Mix’s Glass Works, one of the many unique stands at the fair. It is a small business owned by Michele Ramos-Burrows, an alumna of the illustration program within the School of Visual and Performing Arts at SU.
Ramos-Burrows’s table was filled with her handmade upcycled glass products, including cork chimes, wine glass chimes, soaps, plates and dishes. She explained that everything is made with recycled glass, making each piece unique.
Megan Radakovich picked up two windchimes from Mix’s Glass Works on Sunday. © 2024 Fei Chan.
Niche arts and crafts and vintage shopping are big draws here, but a further stroll down the other streets of the fair will lead attendees to local organizations such as the University Neighborhood Preservation Association.
UNPA has been working in the university neighborhood for over 30 years to promote owner-occupied housing, quality housing and community events. Some of the ways they work to achieve their goals include low interest home improvement loans and homeowner grants for new homeowners in the area.
With several SU student organizations on campus working to bridge the gap between local Syracuse residents and the university, Heidi Hart-Gorman of UNPA explained that there are a number of ways students can get involved. One way is by attending an upcoming annual meeting and strategic planning session on Oct. 19 at the Westcott Community Center.
Hart-Gorman referenced the significant changes happening in the community, including the Micron Technology developments, the I-81 Viaduct Project and more private student housing being built.
“We’d love for community members to come and tell us what is helpful, what do people need, what do people want this neighborhood to look like going forward,” Hart-Gorman said. “Our diversity is really important to us and we want to maintain that.”
The importance of developing a mutually beneficial relationship with the surrounding Syracuse community has been stressed among students and many have yet to be introduced to the ones who actively work to improve the neighborhood.
The fair is more than what meets the eye and students have a fun opportunity to get a taste of what’s around them each September.
“It’s a peak engagement opportunity–there’s organizations here, Syracuse [University] specific stuff, but also just vendors,” Newell said.