The Main Block Party returns for its second year at the Fountain Plaza as part of M&T Bank's "Meet Me Downtown" initiative. The free community celebration will bring together over 75 local businesses, artists, entrepreneurs and community organizations to downtown Buffalo this Saturday.
The block party was born from a partnership with M&T Bank to help revitalize and reenergize downtown Buffalo by collaborating with locals, said Chad Williams, the event organizer and founder of Buffalo Fashion Runway.
A non-profit organization described as being at the intersection of fashion, community and culture, it will be the second year Williams’ organization is partnering with the bank to host the summer event.
Williams said last year's inaugural block party drew close to 1,500 attendees.
“We had folks from each side of Buffalo come together downtown to celebrate each other's presence, and then also we had different facets of the block party because we like to create experiences,” said Williams. “We had the Main Street Market, the fun zone, different food vendors, a main stage with performances. It was just a great, grand time for Buffalo.”
Looking to increase the success of this year’s celebration, the event promises new surprises, including a personalized giveaway.
“Our backpack giveaway will be giving away over 100 book bags filled with school supplies, and that will be in collaboration with RFN Rise from Nothing, a local collective,” shared Williams. “We worked with RFN, and they customize the book bags, making it something personable.”
Another new attraction comes from the organization Art House.
“They'll be creating all immersive installations/experiences for attendees to actually partake in and be a part of the process,” shared Williams.
The event will also provide a wide variety of food vendors with cuisines ranging from Haitian to Mexican.
“The Main Street Market is where the vendor marketplace will be, and that'll be inclusive of different local small businesses, and it's important to support those businesses because we're able to bring a whole bunch of people downtown into this space,” says Williams. “So, traffic that they wouldn't normally see on a regular Saturday, they're able to see it on this day.”
Williams said events like these in Buffalo are almost nonexistent.
“People haven't really experienced anything like this in Buffalo before, especially in the downtown area,” he said. “The fact that we're able to bring people all together downtown Buffalo from all different walks of life to come network and fellowship and support different local businesses — it was unheard of.”
Now organizers are optimistic numbers will double this year.
“This year we're going to do 3,000, and we do think that is possible,” said Williams. “We are very audacious about that number because Buffalo is doing a great job of activating downtown that day, there will be two other events happening downtown.”
The National Buffalo Wing Festival at Sahlen Field and the Tacos and Tequila Festival at the harbor also take place this Saturday, making for a busy day in the city.
“It's gonna be a good day for the creative economy because we want people downtown,” said Williams. “We want people supporting the different businesses downtown, and we want them to be bustling. So, we feel it's very important to activate our downtown.”
