Glens Falls Collaborative (2021)
Glens Falls and the Downtown Collaborative want local businesses to sign up for two festivals: Take a Bite! and the Wings Fest.
Take a Bite starts Wednesday, July 7 and runs every Wednesday through August 25, 5 to 7 p.m.
Robin Barkenhagen, owner of the 42° smoke shop at 206 Glen Street and a leader in the organization, says “it’s time” for restaurants to sign up for Take a Bite. He said the other springtime festivals that the collaborative has planned, such as the Wings Fest, were moved to the fall because of the pandemic.
“We think it’s going to be bigger than ever,” he said of Take a Bite, in a recent interview. He has the same attitude that restaurant-owners throughout the area believe: post-pandemic, people will be looking for places to go and spend money. “We feel like society is opening up again.”
With Take a Bite outside, there’s no need for a mask, he said, just days before the CDC said it is OK for fully-vaccinated people to congregate without one. “We’re really happy that we can do it.”
Vendors, offering small plates at reasonable prices, will set up in front of their brick-and-mortar stores along Glen Street downtown, running from Centennial Circle at Warren Street north to Bay Street. That section of the road will be cut off to traffic.
“We can stretch into the street, relax our lines,” he said, adding that he understood some people may still be nervous about the coronavirus.
Restaurants coming in from elsewhere, will set up in City Park at the corner of Glen and Bay, and along Bay and Maple. The Queensbury Hotel and Morgan and Co. will set up near their establishments, near the corner of Maple and Ridge. The restaurants along Ridge Street between City Hall and Glen Street will set up along the sidewalk, but traffic will remain open on Ridge, Barkenhagen said.
Bands will play in two separate locations, but the children’s bouncy-house, a perennial favorite, likely will be stopped because of COVID concerns, he said.
Restaurants wanting to sign-up and participate should go to: www.glensfallscollaborative.com.
The Collaborative also needs entries for the fifth annual Wing Fest, Saturday, Oct. 16, from noon to 3 p.m. in Downtown Glens Falls.
According to a press release:
Four prizes up for grabs: Best Wings, Best Visitor for those who are not serving from their storefront, Best Rookie for a first-time restaurant, and Best Meatless Entree for vegetarian or vegan offerings.
The fee to participate is $75 for those who are not-yet-members of the Glens Falls Collaborative, and free for current Collaborative members in good standing.
Participating Downtown restaurants will serve from their storefronts, and restaurants from outside the city will serve from locations along Glen, Ridge, Bay and Maple Streets and in City Park.
See www.glensfallscollaborative.com for the complete details.
Both events are sponsored and supported by the Glens Falls Collaborative, City of Glens Falls, the Glens Falls BID, and the Take A Bite Committee.