Street Fair to Return to East Hampton

Steven Ringel, the executive director of the East Hampton Chamber of Commerce, laid out plans for the village’s second annual spring street fair before the village board’s work session last Thursday.

Describing last year’s event as a huge success, Mr. Ringel said the game plan for the 2018 fair, which is slated for May 12, a Saturday, was largely to remain the same, with approximately 50 booths featuring artisans from the area and nonprofit groups set up back to back down the center of Newtown Lane stretching from Main Street to Park Place.

One big change from last year: The board has decided to allow the village’s retail stores on both Main Street and Newtown Lane to have sidewalk sales during the event. “The stores didn’t have their best day last year,” said Mr. Ringel. “This is a way to dissolve the line between the stores and the festival.”

Another new feature will be a designated food area, complete with picnic tables, bathroom facilities, and a cleanup crew, set up in the entryway to the municipal parking lot alongside Capital One bank. The time frame of the festival will be moved up by an hour, to 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., because “the village’s restaurants really needed their parking back,” Mr. Ringel said.