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With this year’s Park Avenue Festival canceled, some Rochester business owners, like Debbie Smith of Deborah Jean & Co., chose to attend as an alternative. The Park Avenue Merchants Association calls it Discover Park Ave.
“We want to make it big and fun and a lot of things to be involved in here at the store,” Smith said.
The Discover Park Ave event wrapped up the weekend for many businesses and included sidewalk sales, special offers and pop-up vendors, attracting community members to support local businesses and celebrate Park Avenue without the festival.
“So even though it wasn’t as crowded as Park Ave Festival, we didn’t have as many people as usual, we still had a great day,” Smith said.
Although many missed the Park Avenue Festival this year, those who attended were happy to still be able to do something for their community.
“But it’s a different experience,” says local author Diane DiProspero Cook. “I mean, it was better than nothing, but obviously if we had a regular festival we could have thousands of people come in.
Smith feels the turnout for Discover Park Ave could have been better if the community had known a little earlier.
“People I’ve talked to who don’t know about it are very excited and they’re very happy that we’re doing something,” Smith said. “And some people said they were happy that it was different from the usual Park Ave Fest.”
The Park Ave Merchants Association hopes to bring back the Park Ave Festival next year, but in the meantime, Smith is happy with the option.
“I think this is a great option, I want people to be aware of this in advance for next year,” Smith said.
“Hopefully in the future we can go back to the way things were,” DiProspero-Cook said.
“We are lucky to live in this area to find the wonderful culture, festivals [and] Community support”.
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