Cloudy skies over Valley Stream Community Fest 2024 and the start of a new chapter.

Last Saturday, one of Valley Stream’s biggest business events drew hundreds of vendors from across the tri-state area to Rockaway Avenue. But this wasn’t just about handing out business cards. It was an event steeped in the spirit of bringing the community together. The name says it all: Valley Stream Community Fest.

“The hope was and is to create a day for everybody to come and just hang out and spend time together and get to talk to their neighbors and local businesses and such,” said committee member Joosoo Kim.

The event, Kim noted, is a massive undertaking, driven by her and five other dedicated members. But every segment of the community —local school districts, village government, the fire department, and the chamber plays a part, whether big or small, in bringing the event to life.

A highlight of this year’s event was the booth manned by the Valley Stream Fire Department.

“They performed a demo showing how to rescue people from a wrecked car and then how to handle a kitchen fire. They even set up a small kitchen with a stove and everything,” said Kim. 

But the event didn’t completely live up to expectations due to one glaring hang-up: the rain. The weather no doubt put a damper on things, said Kim and made logistics a nightmare. She watched fellow committee member David Sabatino race up and down the main street, repeatedly redrawing the chalk numbers marking vendors’ designated spots. There was less of a turnout it seems than in previous years. And some vendors had packed it in and left earlier than usual.

The rainy day, Kim contended, could not be helped. “If we had the luxury to make a rain date, of course, we would, but we are dealing with like over 150 different vendors and community organizations,” said Kim.

The event is the culmination of months of planning, scores of phone calls to vendors for confirmations, an extensive advertising campaign, ensuring compliance with village code regulations, and getting inflation-era event insurance. 

Weighed by so much heavy lifting done by so few people, the committee has decided to make a historic move: to disband and hand over the event’s operations to the Valley Stream Chamber of Commerce.

“The Community Fest has grown to host thousands of people. Vendors throughout Queens, Nassau, and Suffolk County are aware of our presence and are always waiting for the next date,” said Kim. “This is all because of our dedicated residents, but it’s hard to expect all that work, year after year.”

Kim, a member of the Chamber, is committed to ensuring that its successors uphold the event’s legacy.

“Marie McNair is really the whole brains of the operations. I’m not sure how we’ll cope without her, but the Chamber has taken a lot of notes from her and she is open to help,” she said.