Hamden Fest Grows Roots

Hamden Fest returned for a second spin after a pandemic pause, planting its roots Saturday in Town Center Park.

The Hamden Regional Chamber of Commerce brought local businesses, bands, artists, and governmental departments together as part of a fall extravaganza capping a summer of unprecedented public programming.

Chamber President Nancy Dudchik said that the town has hosted a business exposition for the past 15 years, but it wasn’t until 2019 that the Chamber integrated that tradition into a larger event designed to celebrate other sectors of the broader community and economy.

In 2019, Hamden Fest served as the June kick-off for seasonal concerts and activities. In 2021, it was the grand finale for a choppy come-back summer aimed at celebrating moving beyond the pandemic.

For Jean Marie Sanchez, founder and owner of the greeting card company Little Feet’s Opus, the festival was one of the most profitable events she has attended in her hometown this year.

Her cards, bags, and paintings sell regularly out of Books & Co. off of Putnam Avenue, an she has been looking for other ways to get her name and artwork into the community. She set up shop twice at the Hamden farmers market since June, but that it was rained out every other week.

After a stormy summer, Saturday was sunny and warm enough to draw hundreds of people out of their homes for over 12 hours of activities based around Hamden’s central area, including the Miller Memorial Library’s annual book sale, morning road races on the Farmington Canal Trail, and shopping, performances, and games at the park itself.

The festival was structured in such a way to keep all residents occupied and cared for.

Next to the business expo was a ​“kids zone,” led by the Hamden Youth Services Bureau and featuring giveaways and crafts at stations put together by local organizations like The Village, one of Hamden’s most prominent youth centers.

Meanwhile, three girls were busy manning their own booth far away from the designated children’s area. Gopika Sheth, a Hamden seventh-grader who attends the Foote School, was networking as an elected representative of Ms President US, a Ridgefield based nonprofit that aims to prepare girls to take on high-level civic positions. Sheth travels two hours to get to each meeting with the organization. She said she’s been thinking for two years about how to start a Hamden chapter. Then she discovered Hamden Fest during an online search. On Saturday, she got Hamden youth to sign up to join the group and began forming partnerships with the Hamden Rotary Club, The League of Women Voters, and the library.

Hamden Library Director Melissa Canham-Clyne said that she gave Ms President US the go-ahead to meet in the library once they got enough interest for a Hamden faction. Canham-Clyne was at her own tent signing people up for library cards and informing passersby of the new fall library schedule — which includes, for the first time since 1981, evening hours at all branches.

One week after a Democratic municipal primary, politicians a little older than Sheth were also milling through the crowds and setting up tents to talk to voters in anticipation of the Nov. 2 general election.

Democratic mayoral candidate Lauren Garrett hopped between two booths that were gathering signatures to get a new charter referendum on the ballot. (Read more about that here.) Republican and Independent mayoral candidates Ron Gambardella and Al Lotto collected emails for potential campaign volunteers.

“There are people from all over the place!” exclaimed Andrew Tammaro, a Republican running for a council at-large position. ​“This shows Hamden is an attractive place to bring a business.”

Though most of the businesses at the event were local, some did hail from nearby states. Arimis, Lisa, and Barry (all of whom declined to give their last names) were out selling cannabis edibles, marijuana plants, and smoking accessories through their Bronx based shop Alchemist 420. They said the town responded positively to their booth. Seniors came by to ask questions and try out their products.

One goal of the event was to help local businesses that were negatively impacted by the pandemic. The company hosting the celebration was one of the businesses that actually became more robust in response to Covid-19: NQ Industries is a family owned air purification company that moved to Hamden in 2020 after outgrowing their space in Rocky Hill. Since the start of the pandemic, they’ve outfitted Hamden public schools, the police department, and the Children’s Center of Hamden with their air purification systems.

“All this new stuff is going on in Hamden,” said Vice President of Operations Elizabeth Carey, referring to the progressive slates sweeping win in the Sept. 14 Democratic primary and changes catalyzed within town by the pandemic itself. ​“It’s a new field, a new world,” she said. ​“And my whole goal is to educate people on what air quality and safety are. No one really knew what that meant three years ago.”

Consumption will take on a more literal meaning starting next week in town: the Chamber’s business expo advertised Hamden’s upcoming restaurant week, scheduled to take place between Sept. 27 and Oct. 2. Find out the participating eateries here.