By Jeremy Walsh
The warm, bright weather Sunday brought thousands of faces out for the 30th Avenue Astoria Festival, which proved to be a boon to merchants and researchers alike.
More than 180 vendors lined 30th Avenue from 30th Street to Steinway Street for the festival, which was co-sponsored by the TimesLedger Newspapers. Colorful booths offered belts, hats, T-shirts, jewelry, baubles, houseplants, international music, gyros, kebabs and even oil paintings.
But the fair was also host to a more curious exhibit. The National Geographic Society and IBM were recruiting people for their Genographic Project, which uses residents' DNA as a study tool to help chart mankind's migration around the globe from earliest times.
The project, which was launched in 2005, has studied the DNA of more than 250,000 people from 130 countries. When the study is complete, its findings will be made public so researchers can use the data.
Lucie McNeil, one of the project's communications directors, said the society chose Astoria because of its diversity.
“The objective is to trace humankind's migratory past in a single block of Queens,” she said.
The line of prospective DNA donors stretched half a block. For Astoria resident Kelly Chajka, 25, it was a chance to trace her ancestry much farther back than her great-grandparents.
“It seemed really interesting,” she said, noting the fair and the DNA project completely distracted her from her jogging. “It's great [living in Astoria]. Every time you walk down the street, you see different kinds of people.”
Vendor Theresa Galdino also praised Astoria's diversity. Galdino, a Richmond Hill resident who runs an Italian sausage cart at fairs all over the city, said she looks forward to the Astoria Festival every year.
“This is one of our favorites,” she said, noting she has been attending the fair for a decade.
Manhattan residents Laura Tomlinson, 20, and Magdelin Marlowe, 18, stumbled upon the fair while looking for some lunch after attending church in Astoria.
“It was ready and waiting,” Tomlinson said.
Reach reporter Jeremy Walsh by e-mail at jwalsh@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 154.
