Second Bell Blvd. music festival comes to Bayside
May celebration expected to draw hundreds for a day of great tunes and delicious local food
BY JENNA BAGCAL
A popular Bayside outdoor
festival is coming back for its
second year.
The Bayside Village BID
announced the return of the
Bell Boulevard Food and
Music Fest, which drew in
over 1,000 hungry foodies last
year according to executive
director Christine Silletti.
This year, attendees can
sample cuisines from over 35
of the boulevard’s restaurants
and bars while enjoying local
musical talent.
Tickets for the May 19
festival go on sale on Thursday,
April 4, and will run from 2 to
6 p.m. Diners can purchase
tickets Eventbrite or in person
at several to-be-confirmed
businesses along Bell
Boulevard. Silletti highlighted
the positive feedback following
last year’s event and shared
that diners will get to choose
from even more eating
establishments this year.
“We’re advertising 35
restaurants for $30, but it’s
higher than that now,” Silletti
said. “I’m working with a
young man who’s designing
our ticket and was wondering
how we’re going to fit all the
restaurant names on it.”
The restaurant stroll
includes eateries along Bell
Boulevard between 38th and
43rd Avenues and also down
41st Avenue. Participating
restaurants include Avli The
Little Greek Tavern, Nippon
Cha, Papazzio, VI Pizza of
Bayside, Bourbon Street
and Krave It Sandwich Shop
and Eatery.
For a $30 flat rate,
attendees can taste food from
every eatery and will receive
a food “passport” to track
each restaurant visited. Adult
tickets will also come with
complimentary alcoholic
beverage tastings.
Attendees will also get to
enjoy a range of live musical
acts across several genres
including jazz, American
standards, country, rock and
salsa. Silletti said that the
salsa band’s set will include a
The Bell Boulevard Food and Music Fest are back for a second
year. Photo courtesy of Bayside Village BID
free salsa demonstration and
lesson. Music acts were sourced
locally from Bayside and other
Queens neighborhoods, but
Silletti said that other acts hail
from Manhattan, the Bronx
and Long Island.
Other free activities at the
family-friendly event include
a pop-up park, a Skee-Ball
arcade, ping-pong and a giant
spirograph that uses street
chalk to draw.
Silletti shared that the
Bell Boulevard restaurant
stroll was something she had
wanted to do “the minute I got
here” due to the abundance
and variety of the food
establishments in the area.
After a successful first run,
the BID executive director
said that she began planning
for the second festival the day
after the event ended.
“I got a lot of great feedback
from the business owners
about what went well and what
we should do more of,” she
said.
As per business owner
feedback, Silletti and the other
event organizers decided to
expand the festival to make
it two blocks longer and close
off the entire festival off to
car traffic.
“It’s heartening to hear that
people have tried restaurants
they’re never tried before.
That’s exactly what we want,”
Silletti said.
The event will be held on
Sunday, May 19, from 2 to 6
p.m. For more information,
visit baysidevillagebid.com
or find Bayside Village BID
on Facebook.
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