{"id":17503,"date":"2017-06-07T16:21:23","date_gmt":"2017-06-07T20:21:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=17503"},"modified":"2017-06-07T16:21:23","modified_gmt":"2017-06-07T20:21:23","slug":"inside-aurora-street-fest-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/inside-aurora-street-fest-2017\/","title":{"rendered":"INSIDE AURORA: Street Fest 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Scott Johnston<\/strong><\/p>\n

Once again thank you and well done to the Aurora Chamber of Commerce and their many partners for another terrific Street Festival.
\nSadly, the weather was kind of threatening early on with rain and thunder, which likely brought down the crowds, but there were still a fair number around midday when we were there.
\nIn previous years, attendance has usually been pegged at about 40,000 to 50,000 people, no matter what the weather. Recently, the number has been a more realistic \u201cin the tens of thousands\u201d.
\nThat\u2019s still a lot or people.
\nThe attendees were not the only ones that were a little lighter this year. Of the usual 500 plus vendors, there were obviously some who bailed at the last minute, based on the gaps that appeared in the usual wall of booths that traditionally line each side of the road.
\nDespite a few less booths, as always there was still a lot to see and do.
\nNot surprisingly, a number of groups were promoting Canada 150 in one form or another, which was nice to see with that milestone less than a month away. Unfortunately, but inevitably, some of them took this as an opportunity for a little self promotion.
\nOne thing you didn\u2019t see was any animals. It seemed strange that the parking lot that usually hosts the petting zoo sat unused.
\nYou may remember, last year there was concern about the wellbeing of the animals being housed there on that extremely hot day, so 2017 was an animal-free Street Festival.
\nThe exception to this was, of course, dogs.
\nIt seemed there was every variety of canine wandering up and down Yonge Street.
\nThere was an equally large number of booths dedicated to them offering food, treats, pet sitting, clothing, photography, and more.
\nIf you were more of a bird or hamster person, you were out of luck.
\nIn all the years I\u2019ve attended the Street Fest, there\u2019s always been at least one group giving away free trees, and that was happening again this year.
\nAs always, the species of choice was the spruce.
\nConifers are easy to raise in large numbers and look showy as seedlings, certainly compared to deciduous trees, which are pretty much just twigs when they\u2019re small. However, it would be nice if other species started being given away, lest Aurora become a monoculture of spruces.
\nThe product that seemed to be the top selling item this year, not counting fudge, which always has about the highest percentage of vendors, was the fidget spinner.
\nThese spinners are the latest fad, and consist of a small propeller-type device with a bearing that allows it to be spun quickly in one\u2019s hand. Whether these are stress relievers for adults, or toys for kids, they certainly seem to represent a large market. At least for now.
\nSomething else you\u2019re bound to see at the Street Fest is a neighbour, colleague or friend, and for us, this year was no exception.
\nI suppose if you wade through thousands of local people, you\u2019d need to be a hermit not to run into someone you know.
\nPerhaps the best thing about this annual event is the variety.
\nThere are lots of products and services for sale, but there is also food, music, buskers, community groups, arts and crafts.
\nAnd there is always something new. This year, in partnership with Activate Aurora, they introduced Open Streets, closing a few local roads in the cultural district to cars and encouraging pedestrian and cycling traffic.
\nThat pretty much sums up why the Street Fest is so successful; in one spot it offers old favourites, new experiences, and a chance to get to know your community a little better.
\nSee you there next year.<\/p>\n

Feel free to e-mail Scott at: machellscorners@gmail.com<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Scott Johnston Once again thank you and well done to the Aurora Chamber of Commerce and their many partners for another terrific Street Festival. Sadly, the weather was kind of threatening early on with rain and thunder, which likely brought down the crowds, but there were still a fair number around midday when we […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[29,28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-columns","category-opinion"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-4yj","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-03 05:48:25","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17503"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17503\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}