There are a few interesting facts about the Aurora Street Festival. First, you are free to walk in the middle of Yonge Street for about six hours. However, you could do that also if you were part of the Canada Day parade or Santa Under the Stars parade. Second, the Aurora Street Festival is the biggest festival in Aurora. Can I say in York Region? Maybe. Third, once people fill Yonge Street between vendors the crowd is continuously moving always keeping the street filled with visitors until the end.

“… the Aurora Street Festival event is the only event that allows me to walk in the middle of crowded Yonge Street.”

Then the Aurora Street Festival is the only event that allows me to walk in the middle of crowded Yonge Street. Every year for the past 19 years thousands of people walked the same path to visit the festival. This was my second annual Aurora Street Festival walk. It usually takes me about three hours to walk from Murray Drive all the way to Wellington Street and back. It’s a great opportunity to see familiar faces as well as meet many new ones. And that is why it takes me that long to walk – walk, talk and shoot.

You may think that the festival is the same every year. I can’t say that. There is always someone new or someone missing. We all know that one of Aurora’s downtown landmarks, the Aurora United Church, will be missing from the pictures from now on. The photos I shot this year are definitely different and I hope that this emptiness will be filled again in the near future.

How about the red crane on Yonge Street past Wellington Street? Yes we are going to have a new residential landmark. That crane will eventually be replaced with a high-density condominium which we may or may not see during next year’s festival.

A festival can not be called a festival if there is no music. Something I noticed – not much music this year at the street festival. I like music and I caved in this year and purchased two Latin music CDs. Yep, love Latin music. So according to the latest and greatest news this year we will not have an organized music festival in Aurora. However, you can enjoy concerts in the park at the Town Park every Wednesday throughout the summer.

“Festivals promote diversity, they bring neighbors into dialogue, they increase creativity, they offer opportunities for civic pride, they improve our general psychological well-being. In short, they make cities better places to live.” ~ David Binder

I have nothing else to write but to show you what moments I captured during this year’s Aurora Street Festival. Hope you can find yourself in the crowds and if not, perhaps next year. Enjoy!

Anna Lozyk Romeo
Aurora, ON