PHOTOS: Sidewalk Sale Draws Crowds to Downtown New Canaan

2023 Village Fair and Sidewalk Sale

Scores of bargain-hunters headed to downtown New Canaan on Saturday for the annual Village Fair & Sidewalk Sale.

Crowds of shoppers milled about on Elm, Main and Forest Streets on a warm but mercifully unsticky summer day, flipping through racks and rummaging through tables set out on sidewalks and streets by New Canaan and seasonal merchants. 

“We are thrilled,” said Laura Budd, executive director of the New Canaan Chamber of Commerce, which organizes the annual Sidewalk Sale. “We have a terrific mix of vendors and organizations here, and Mother Nature has cooperated 100% with some beautiful breezes. We’re really pleased. It’s just a classic New Canaan event.”

One local family, the Falsettas, counted themselves among those sharing information about nonprofit organizations—in their case, the  Gracie Fund for Pediatric Cancer, which will be the beneficiary of this year’s Oct. 1 Combine, an athletic contest between local police and firefighters that also brings in members of the community.

“It’s been terrific,” Chris Falsetta said outside the Grace Fund tent at South and Elm. “People have been stopping by and asking a lot of good questions. Some folks have heard about it from our discussion. Other folks have not heard about it. But they seem to be pretty excited. Police and fire department folks have come by. A few that we know and a few we don’t, saying, ‘Hey I’m going to be on the field.’ ”

Town resident Phil Williams, owner of New Canaan Music, noted that he had musicians playing rock ‘n roll in the morning and that some of his instructors would be playing jazz starting at 1 p.m.

“Foot traffic has been pretty good for us,” Williams said of the New Canaan Music tent, set up outside Gofer Ice Cream. “I can’t complain. A lot of people showing interest and keeping us busy.”

Music also is provided by the Town Band and New Canaan School of Rock, both in the former “Pop Up Park” area at South and Elm.