Hessler Street Fair

The Hessler Street Fair was an annual arts and music festival held the first weekend after Memorial Day on the historical wood-block-paved Hessler Road, in the University Circle neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio, United States. Bureaucratic difficulty in securing permits and event insurance were among reasons for the long-running free festival's end in 2019.

History

The first festival took place in 1969 and was held each year until 1984; following a ten-year hiatus festivals resumed in 1995. The event is organized as a fundraising event for the Hessler Neighborhood Association (HNA), which was formed in 1969 to save the neighborhood from being bulldozed to build student dormitories and parking lots for Case Western Reserve University.[1] The proceeds are used "to preserve and maintain the neighborhood." [2]

The festival, which according to its website attracts more than 10,000 visitors, is held outdoors, on Hessler Road (which is blocked off for the festival). It typically includes arts and crafts vendors, vegetarian food, and street performances, as well as main stage performances of folk music, reggae, and capoeira.

Hessler Road, a small one-way residential brick street, is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and was declared a historic district by the Cleveland Landmark Commission in 1975. The nearby Hessler Court is the only remaining street in Cleveland with Nicolson pavement, a.k.a. wood block or wooden pavement.[3]

In 2007 the Hessler Street Fair was not held, although a "Hessler Unplugged" reunion block party took place on Saturday, May 19, 2007. The Fair resumed on May 17–18, 2008.[4]

2019 marked the 40th Anniversary of the Hessler Street Fair and marked the end of the tradition. 21 bands performed over the final weekend.

Past acts

References
  1. "Encyclopedia of Cleveland History:HESSLER RD. AND HESSLER COURT HISTORIC DISTRICT". Retrieved 2012-01-15.
  2. "The Hessler Street Fair History". Hessler Street Fair. 2014.
  3. Leon Bibb (Aug 24, 2012). "Walking a Cleveland street paved completely of wood is walking a pathway to the past". NewsNet5 Cleveland. Archived from the original on 2012-09-03.
  4. Hessler Street Fair


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