By Nathan Duke
More than 55 Queens artists will descend on 235th Street next week for the second-annual Douglaston Village Arts Festival, where residents will be able to view various types of arts and crafts as well as listen to music and sample food from the community.
The festival will be held Sunday, Sept. 26, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. along 235th Street near the Douglaston branch of the Long Island Rail Road.
Linda Manginaro, a spokeswoman for festival co-sponsor Station Realty, said the event will draw northeast Queens artists, who will display everything from handmade jewelry and photography to vases and oil paintings.
“We’ll have a little bit of everything,” she said. “We don’t do items like purses, molds or resale items. Everything has to be crafted or produced by the artist.”
Sponsors for the event include the Douglaston/Little Neck Historical Society, the Douglaston Manor Association, the Douglaston Village Chamber of Commerce and the Udalls Cove Preservation Committee, among others.
Several musical acts, such as a chamber music group and an a cappella act, as well as a dance troupe from the neighborhood will play during the festival and food will be provided from a number of Douglaston restaurants. Strawberry’s Grill, a new eatery owned by former Mets slugger Darryl Strawberry, will hand out ribs, while the Douglaston Market will also pass out samples of its food.
An autographed jersey from Strawberry will be raffled off during the festival, Manginaro said.
There will be a Girl Scouts table that is donating the money it raises at the event to Bayside’s St. Mary’s Healthcare System for Children as well as other children’s activities.
The festival’s sponsors are also hosting an art and poem contest open to all kindergarten students through eighth-graders in Douglaston and Little Neck. The theme of the contest is “Nature, The Way I See It.”
Artwork will be created with watercolors, markers, crayons or colored pencils and will depict birds, butterflies, ants, caterpillars, dragonflies or flowers.
The contest’s winners will be honored during the festival and the winning entries will be reserved for future display.
The rain date for the festival is Oct. 3.
Reach reporter Nathan Duke by e-mail at nduke@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4566.
