BOISE, Idaho — Board members of the North End Neighborhood Association (NENA) voted Tuesday to cancel this year's Hyde Park Street Fair due to COVID-19 concerns. This is the first time in 40 years the Fair will not be held in the North End neighborhood.
The event was scheduled for September 18 through 20 at Camel's Back Park. Organizers say the decision to cancel was difficult.
“Ultimately, it’s the right thing to do. The Board felt like we had a responsibility to safeguard the health of our neighbors, loyal fairgoers, community, and vendor participants,” said NENA President Mark Baltes.
Boise needs to be in stage four of the reopening plan for The fair to go on, and with the recent move back to stage three, it is unclear when that might happen. The Hyde Park Street Fair makes up around 95 percent of NENA's annual income, allowing the neighborhood to take part in supporting local schools, residents and community organizations with yearly donations.
Recent recipients of NENA funding include Washington, Lowell, Longfellow, North Junior and Boise High schools, as well as Neighborhood Improvement Project grants. Through the NENA Aid Program, donations of more than $20,000 were given to local organizations supporting local residents impacted by COVID-19, including Jesse Tree, Interfaith Sanctuary, Faces of Hope, City of Good, Life's Kitchen and City Light.
Applications fees will be returned to vendors who applied to participate in the 2020 fair. Notification of cancellation was sent to vendors on July 1 via event coordinators at Gruntwerks, Inc.
NENA looks forward to gathering in Camel’s Back Park on September 17 through 19 to resume the Fair tradition. In the meantime, NENA remains committed to supporting our community and is working on a pivot plan to include t-shirts and other memorabilia which will be available for purchase on the NENA website. Other partnerships and events will be announced in the coming weeks.
