Rochester, NY
As I’ve said previously, I have not spent an extended time in Rochester since my college days. Each time I tell my friends, “I’ve never been to that,” they can’t believe it. This goes for The Ten Ugly Men festival, the East End festivals, and in this case, Park Ave. fest. I will give this to Rochester, once the weather breaks, the city and the people take full advantage.
This summer has been great, if you have AC. I have AC, so it’s been awesome. This weekend was perfect for an outdoor festival. The temps were low 80’s and the sun was in full force. My friends were abuzz with Park Ave fest anticipation. I piggy backed off of that, but still wasn’t as gung ho. “Are you going to Park Ave?” they’d ask. And I’d say yes and then ask what it was like. They’d give me that surprised look and, “You’ve never been?”
Here is what I was told. Park Avenue is a well traveled street near downtown Rochester. There are a lot of art galleries, restraints and a few bars on the street. Once a year they shut it down to cars. On both sides, they line up with vendors of all sorts. Since I went, I can describe a lot of food vendors, from the Red Osier roast beef people, to a few pizza places (I sampled Pontillo’s and Chester Cab), some fried dough and that kind of stuff. There were booths with paintings and rugs and trinkets and such as well. I didn’t do much shopping.
I should say Park Avenue is not like a little neighborhood street where it was real tight quarters. Even with all of the people walking around, I felt like I had my space. The street is wide enough for two lanes and for parking on both sides of the street. It was wide when you were walking. And beautiful. The sun was trickling down through the tall, old trees that lined and overhung the street. As sunny of a day as it was, we were still protected. A lot of shade. And a lot of people. I think I read something like 150,000 for the weekend. That may not be right, but that is what is sticking in my head.
OK, OK, you may be asking why everyone is so excited about a closed street, food vendors, and art. Well, that is the advertised part of the festival. The unadvertised part are the hundreds of parties taking place at people’s houses on the tributary streets of Park Ave. This is why the 20’s and 30’s crowd were down there in full force.
I spoke to the Club 941 Boys and they had a cooler on wheels they were bringing from house to house. There were parties everywhere. Lady and I got down there around 2, where we dropped off a radio and her car at Jen’s. A drink was waiting for us.
I met some new people at Jen’s and then my phone started buzzing so we moved onto the next place. And the next place. And the next.
We met up with Picciotti and Mike D above the Cab. We went down an unknown street to a party. Stayed there for a few minutes and then headed out to meet my sister. They were at a party and still not near Park Ave, so we darted into another spot. I saw some people I hadn’t met up with in years. We met up with Caytie at about 4 and headed into beer alley. A lot of her friend’s were there. Sean met up with us and now we were 10 deep. Parties awaited. Sean, I and the lady went her roommate’s party where I didn’t really know that many people. Someone had gotten rowdy and broken the glass on the front door. They were sweeping that up when we got there. I forgot to mention the numerous beer pong tables that were set up at many houses we went to and passed by. This house had one, I didn’t play. A girl at the party wanted to go to a different one. The original 3, the roomie, and the girl walked down to a party. It turned out I went to high school with the host and my old neighbor was there. It was fun to see all of them.
I am not sure how may more parties I need to talk about. There were many and we went to as many as we could. The night wound down for us at around 11. We were worn out. A few beers during the day will do that.
I spoke to some of my friends and they rocked it until 4 or 5 AM. I am not sure how they did it, but they did. That my friends, is what Park Ave fest is about (for some people).
My plan was not to be in Rochester for as long as I’ve been, but to be here for the summer and to reconnect with my friends and make new ones, it’s been great. I now know what they mean about the summer in Rochester.