Rochester’s Corn Hill neighborhood was a very busy place over the weekend, with an estimated 150,000 or so attending the annual Arts Festival which is one of the city’s oldest festivals.
The more than 50-year-old festival is organized by members of the Corn Hill Neighbors Association, and the Chair of this year’s event, Robin Plummer said that grassroots support is what makes this two- day event so special.
“I think just the charm of our neighborhood and the fact that our neighbors just welcome you pretty much into their front yards,” said Plummer. “We can’t do it without all the volunteers that are on this committee, so we’re all volunteers, we just do this because we love this neighborhood and we want to give back.”
Plummer said that money raised from the festival goes back into the Corn Hill neighborhood, helping with a variety of projects and help for area schools.
She said that the festival has seen record crowds since they resumed holding it last year following a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Among the hundreds of artists participating was Gia Conti, a local artist who works in watercolors, and she has been participating in the Corn Hill festival for a while now.
“It’s a great neighborhood, everybody’s so friendly, it’s beautiful, you see lots of really cool stuff here, the quality of the art is superior to some of the other shows around Rochester; it just has a good feeling of community and just happiness here,” said Conti.
Plummer said this year organizers also tried to add a few new features, including a bigger focus on the performing arts.
