Manayunk Fall Festival Fills Main Street for Second Year
Main Street in Philadelphia’s Manayunk neighborhood filled with fall festival crowds on Saturday, Oct. 17, as the second annual Manayunk Fall Festival ran from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The free festival featured more than 50 local vendors, over a dozen food trucks and two outdoor music stages.
The midday temperature hovered around 50 degrees with a chilly breeze, and many in the crowd had bundled up more warmly than usual. But the smiles never left the faces packing Main Street, as people strolled with warm coffee, tacos, hamburgers, cheesesteaks, grilled corn and fruit in hand.
Long lines formed wherever restaurants and cafes set out free tasting samples, with young people and families with children queuing up throughout the day.
On the Cotton Street stage, Levan and Golden ran a line-dancing class, teaching the steps to festival-goers and dancing along with them.
The Mac N’ Cheese Crawl was another big draw. Eighteen neighborhood restaurants served their own cheesy creations to $20 ticket holders from noon to 4 p.m., with tasters voting for their favorite on the Rallie app. The crawl continues through Sunday, Oct. 18.
Vendors drew steady foot traffic. Auntie M’s, advertising everything at $15 or less, bustled with shoppers browsing fall decorations and accessories, while crowds gathered before street food stalls in a narrow alley strung with rainbow umbrellas.
There was plenty for children too. Lincoln Mill Haunted House brought out a robot dog to promote its Halloween attraction, and kids could not hide their curiosity and playfulness.
Its promo team, in grotesque costumes, chatted with festival-goers nearby, and a neighborhood restaurant decked out with giant inflatable aliens added to the Halloween spirit.
This year’s new Kids Market gave 40 young entrepreneurs, ages 5 to 17, a chance to sell products they made themselves at the Venice Island courts.
Live music played across the two stages all day long.