Hessler Street Fair

I counted two henna tattoo stands, three stands selling everything tie-dye, and one skirting the line of legality and selling ‘hemp seeds’. There were two men in superhero costumes strutting around the crowded street, one woman in a clown outfit working as a ‘living statue’ (pictures are free, but tips are appreciated), and several children running around with rainbow hoola hoops. The year was 1969- or at least it felt like it could have been. It was actually May 18, 2014, and I was at the Hessler Street Fair.

The Hessler Street Fair began in the early 1960’s as an attempt to save historic houses that were in danger of being torn down by University Circle Inc. in order to build student dormitories and parking lots. In order to raise money to buy the houses and save them, a group of people got together from the Hessler Neighborhood and put together a small fair in the mid sixties, which grew into the large event it is today.

We decided to include the Hessler Street Fair in our guidebook as a way to link the East Side and the West Side of Cleveland. Just as I didn't know much the West Side and am still learning a lot about it, many people on the West Side are not as knowledgeable about events and institutions on the East Side. Hopefully, by including the fair in our book, people from a different part of the city can learn about it.

The week ahead includes a lot of visiting different events and places and starting to write the guidebook, as well as continuing to work at Esperanza (the big volunteer appreciation event we have been working on is coming up on Thursday). I'm excited to see what we will be doing!