Children’s rides, a variety of live entertainment, a bluegrass music festival and 100-plus vendors of food and crafts will transform Raymond Avenue in Poughkeepsie into the 14th annual Arlington Street Fair on Saturday, September 21 from 12 noon to 6 p.m. This is a rain-or-shine event. Admission to the fair is free and open to the public. The fair stretches on Raymond Avenue from Collegeview Avenue to the eastbound arterial highway (Route 44/55). All monies raised will go to support local charities.
“The main purpose for this annual fair is to welcome new and current residents, merchants, students and families to the Arlington neighborhood,” said Andrew Meade, director of international services at Vassar College and special events chair for the Arlington Business Improvement District. “It is about revitalization, and it is also about having lots of fun.”
Children’s activities, located by the Arthur S. May School on Raymond Avenue, will include carnival and inflatable rides, a fingerprinting unit from the Town of Poughkeepsie Police Department and pony rides. The vendors lining Raymond Avenue will offer selections from local shops, crafts and restaurants, including a variety of international ethnic cuisines. The Arlington Fire Department’s Smoke House and a first aid station will be located at the intersection of Raymond and LaGrange Avenues.
The Hudson Valley Bluegrass Association will once again host a music festival throughout the fair, in the Garden Arts Space off Raymond Avenue between Collegeview and LaGrange avenues. The Vassar student Barefoot Monkeys circus arts group will also perform, as will a variety of people representing the Arlington School District.
Parking will be available at the Davis Avenue parking lot and the Prime Financial lot on Raymond Avenue, as well as on neighboring streets. For more information, call (845) 437-5831 or e-mail anmeade@vassar.edu.
Join the family! 
