Harvest Fest bigger, better than ever
COHOES, N.Y. » District 2 city councilman Don Russell is thrilled to be able to present the 4th annual Remsen Street Harvest Fest Block Party on Saturday.
When Russell first moved to the Spindle City more than three years ago, he knew he wanted to host a Harvest Fest and Spring Fest near his restaurant, Spindles on Remsen Wine Bar. Those festivals just continue to grow each year, he said, and he expects more than 500 people will enjoy everything that the block party has to offer from 1 to 6 p.m.
The festival will take place downtown on Remsen Street between Columbia and Howard streets, and guests will be able to enjoy browsing downtown shops and more than a dozen different vendors and sample food, beer and wine being offered throughout the day. Live music will be provided by Dublin Train Wreck from 1 to 3 p.m. and Emerald City from 3 to 6 p.m.
“We [upped] our music considerably since this is our fourth year doing it,” said Russell. “We’ve got over 20 vendors for this event, which is great. This is the most vendors we’ve had at this event before.”
Russell said he started hosting these events to bring residents and others from around the Capital Region to downtown Cohoes. Russell also noted these events wouldn’t be possible without sponsors and partners such as the city, Marra’s Pharmacy, Smith’s Restaurant and Cohoes House of Carpet.
“We started doing these events to bring people to our downtown, and obviously, it’s starting to pay off, between what we’re doing and what the city is doing,” said Russell. “Our numbers have grown considerably, and the weather on Saturday is supposed to be absolutely perfect.”
Russell said he wanted to increase the musical entertainment aspect of the festival this year, so he partnered with Vito Ciccarelli, an on-air personality and promoter for WVCR (88.3 FM The Saint), to get new bands to play in the city.
“We try not to book the same groups from event to event, so we reached out to Vito Ciccarelli, and he wound up getting us connected and booked us with Emerald City, which is a bigger band that’s been playing in the Capital Region for well over 20 years now,” said Russell.
Russell said he intends to expand his annual Spring Festival next year to stretch across two downtown blocks instead of just Remsen Street.
“The goal is for Spring Festival next year is to expand two blocks and to add an additional stage because my new restaurant is two doors from Smith’s [Restaurant], and the other new restaurant that is going to open later this year is right across the street from Smith’s,” said Russell.