By Tim Branch

Sure, we’ll be sad to see summer go, but one of the best things about fall in New England is our festivals ~ and one of the best festivals around is right in our backyard, Worcester’s Canal District.

The Festival

The Blackstone Canalfest is a classic (free!) street festival complete with music, entertainment, vendors, food, tons of kids’ activities, horse-and-wagon rides, kayak rides, historic as well as current canal project information, a gigantic raffle, and much more.  The centerpiece of the festival will be an actual, re-created segment of the canal ~75 feet long and filled with over 4,500 gallons of water ~ recalling the era when it served as a cargo waterway to the sea.

Canalfest 2011 has three purposes ~ to celebrate the renaissance blossoming in the district, to promote public awareness of the Blackstone Canal Replication Project itself, and to give festival-goers a day of fun! Food vendors will represent the wealth of local restaurants, entertainment will reflect the multi-ethnic heritage of the district, information booths will promote the historical theme of the canal, and there will be good, clean fun at every turn. And for the 6th year in a row, we have the Canal District Alliance to thank for organizing and presenting the festival, giving all participants a taste of the vitality that characterizes Worcester’s most exciting and fashionable district.

The Canal

The Blackstone Canal connected the City of Worcester to Providence and the sea in the first part of the 19th century, catalyzing economic growth in the city and hastening the advent of the railroads. It was covered over in the 1890s, but its waters still flow underneath Harding Street. The intent of the canal replication project is to use the “unearthed” canal as the focus of a new, mixed-use neighborhood and visitor destination in what is once again referred to as the Canal District.

Interested in Helping Out?

Canalfest is staged by an all-volunteer crew, and it can definitely use your support. The first way you can show your support is to tell all of your friends to attend the event with you. The second is to volunteer your time and energy (email Dottie at dotdoyle@verizon.net). The third is to make a contribution of merchandise that will become part of our Giant Raffle (email Mary Ryan at mmryryn@aol.com). And the fourth is to send us tips ~ like potential food and artisan vendors, street performers, and any other leads that would help us make Canalfest 2011 a huge success (email Allen at afletcher@wpltd.com, RoxAnn at roxann_horton@yahoo.com, or Seth at 51855@yahoo.com).

The Details:

What: Blackstone Canalfest

When: Saturday, September 10th, 2010, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Where: Harding Street, next to Smokestack Urban Barbecue, between Temple and Winter Streets (Exit 13 or 14 off of Rt. 290) in Worcester (Parking will be available for $1 at the Union Station Parking Garage.)

Web: www.blackstonecanalfest.org

And did we mention… it’s FREE!!