BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Organizers of the Elmwood Village Association are determined to keep the legacy of the Elmwood Avenue Festival of the Arts by bringing artists and Buffalo community together.
This announcement comes after 12 days organizers of the Elmwood Avenue Festival of the Arts tell 7 News reporter Yoselin Person it would come to an end.
“We’re not taking over the Elmwood Ave Festival of the Arts,” says James Cichocki, an Executive Director of Elmwood Village Association. “We’re presenting a brand new festival to the village.”
But Cichocki says this new festival won’t feel as if the original is gone.
“It will still have a kids zone. There will still be food, beer, and tons of music and other forms of performing arts,” he says. “And most importantly there will be hundreds of local artists and crafts people selling their art that weekend.”
Yet, there’s one very important piece of the puzzle missing: sponsors.
“Unfortunately this is a hard realization for people to accept that’s one of the main reasons why Joe and Tanya ended their festival,” says Therese Deutschlander, President of Elmwood Village Association. “Because it became so cost prohibited and Canal Fest had similar reasons. We’re a nonprofit we need sponsorships.”
Meantime, the plan is to still have the festival feel as if it never left but many might walk through some changes this summer.
“So we won’t be closing off any of the streets in the village,” says Cichocki. “Instead, all of the artists will be doing pop ups in front of the local small businesses on Elmwood, but also on the porches and front lawns of private residences, and you’ll find art and music wherever you go.”
The Elmwood Village Association says it plans to keep the festival on the last weekend of August, and they’ll release more details about it soon.
