Upper East Side's Third Ave Fair Returns This Weekend: What To Know

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — One of Manhattan's longest-running and largest street fairs is coming back to the Upper East Side on Saturday.

The Third Avenue Festival, officially called the Community Benefit Festival by the event's organizer, the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce, will host 20 blocks of fun, food and small business vendors on the wide avenue.

The more than mile-long fair stretches from East 66th Street to East 86th Street and offers a day of fun for thousands of neighbors and visitors who can stroll along the avenue and check out the hundreds of vendors.

Starting at 10 a.m., the fair will be open to all until 6 p.m. rain or shine.

The festival will have music all day, with a special vocal performance from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. from MORE Opera, featuring Cheryl Warfield and Arthur Lai.

The Chamber of Commerce also calls the annual street fair the "Shop Small Biz" street fair, since many vendors are local small businesses.

The group has managed the Third Avenue Fair — and the similar 20-block-long Second Avenue that happens at the start of the summer — since 1993, their website states.

And of course, Third Avenue between East 66th and 86th streets will be shut to traffic during the festival, though the closures are "at the discretion of NYPD," according to police officials.

For questions, email Miranda.Levingston@Patch.com.