The tenth annual Blackstone Canalfest will take place Saturday, September 12th at Kelley Square in Worcester.
Fall is the time for festivals in New England, and Saturday, September 12, will see one of the most exciting of them all – right on Kelley Square in Worcester. It’s directly accessible from Rte. I-290; and it’s free!
The tenth annual Blackstone Canalfest will bring the city’s Canal District alive with a classic street festival complete with music, vendors, street performers, f...
The tenth annual Blackstone Canalfest will take place Saturday, September 12th at Kelley Square in Worcester.
Fall is the time for festivals in New England, and Saturday, September 12, will see one of the most exciting of them all – right on Kelley Square in Worcester. It’s directly accessible from Rte. I-290; and it’s free!
The tenth annual Blackstone Canalfest will bring the city’s Canal District alive with a classic street festival complete with music, vendors, street performers, food, a children’s tent, horse-and-wagon rides, kayak rides, balloon rides, historic displays, a gigantic raffle and much, much more. At the center 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 the Blackstone Canal provided a commercial waterway to the sea.
Canalfest 2015 has a dual purpose: To celebrate the renaissance that is occurring in the district and to promote public awareness of the Blackstone Canal Replication Project itself. Food vendors will be drawn from the wealth of local restaurants, entertainment will reflect the multi-ethnic heritage of the district, and information booths will promote the historical theme of the canal. Most importantly, however, the purpose of the Canalfest is good, clean family fun; and with street performers, multiple children’s activities, horse-and-wagon rides, and food and entertainment galore, it stands to accomplish just that. In this its ninth year, it is organized and presented by the Canal District Alliance.
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 – creating a traffic-free, destination district where the pedestrian is king.
Canalfest 2015 will celebrate the rebirth that is already happening in this historic neighborhood. Once again, it will recreate a portion of the historic waterway that preceded Harding Street, and it will give all participants a taste of the increasing vitality that characterizes Worcester’s fastest-growing entertainment district today. It will be free, it will be festive, and most of all, it will be fun. Canalfest 2014 attracted some 7,500 participants, and more are expected this year.
Parking will be available for $1 at the Union Station Parking Garage, in addition to abundant street parking.
Blackstone Canalfest
Saturday, September 12th, 2015
11 a.m.—5 p.m.
Harding Street, at Kelley Square
Exit 13 or 14 off of Rt.290
Worcester, MA