ROCHESTER, N.Y. — For the second year in a row, artists and vendors Saturday lined the streets on and around Park Avenue for the Park Avenue Summer Stroll. The outdoor event takes the place of the Park Avenue Festival, which hasn’t taken place since the COVID-19 pandemic.

There was a steady flow of foot traffic out on the sidewalks all afternoon. But for those who remember the Park Avenue Festival, this was certainly a smaller and more intimate event.

In the Park Avenue Festival days, streets would be closed down and crowds would be up and down the streets all weekend. But after the COVID-19 pandemic, the Park Avenue Neighborhood Association had trouble raising enough sponsorship dollars to put on the festival. That’s why they came up with the Summer Stroll.

News10NBC spoke with one of the many artists who have a booth set up along Park Avenue. The artist said he has enjoyed the steady flow of neighbors coming to check out his paintings — which he was inspired to create during the pandemic.

“I’m very much a COVID artist. So when everything shut down. I was alone in a one-bedroom apartment in a new city. So I picked the paint back up, and it’s been four years going on now,” said William Rivera, owner of WCRB Design.

News10NBC also spoke with event security and Rochester Police, who said while the scale of the Summer Stroll is much smaller than the Park Avenue Festival, everyone seems to be enjoying themselves — and neighbors seem to enjoy the smaller, quieter setting.

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