New Haven Independent

Spanning from the street enclosure of Pitkin Plaza to Millennium Plaza, the New New Haven Street Festival coincided with Saturday night’s Arts & Ideas Festival. The festivals had markedly different vibes.

Hundreds of people milled about the Green at Arts & Ideas, most of them surrounding a stage with a buffer zone five feet wide due to a barricade, and six feet high due to stage height.

Across the street, at Ideat Village, there were no stages.

“We love to say yes to people,” said electrified festival co-founder Bill Saunders.

Those yesses played out in day-long musical plaza sets, performances in front of the street gallery, vendors and a bevy of half-pipes and rails set up in the street for skating.

Jon Stone put on a solo performance at the tail-end of a slot he booked during Saturday’s music.

“The fact that I can approach Bill at a gallery opening and ask him to play at this festival and then get to produce an hour-and-a-half of music is pretty cool,” he said. “And that can only happen in New Haven.”

“As you can see, it’s anarchy,” said Saunders, gesturing to the commotion behind him. “I think it’s a direction you’re going to see happening in this country, because art isn’t something that should be judged or controlled. Art is something that is inherent in all of us.”