Modified Coventry Arts Fair Returns In July

The Coventry Street Arts Fair will return in a modified version in July after the event was cancelled last year.

Coventry Family Arts Day is scheduled for July 21 from 1 p.m. until 5 p.m.. It will be a one-day event only, and Coventry Road will remain open. The event will feature about 40 vendors, live music and children's activities.

"What we'd like to see happen is to bring back a taste of the Coventry Street Arts Fair," said Steve Presser, the owner of Big Fun who handles marketing for Coventry. "What happens this year will be a testing ground."

The Coventry Street Arts Fair was cancelled in 2012 after police arrested 16 teenagers for fighting or drinking alcohol after the 2011 fair, and hundreds of kids congregated in the street.

Besides cancelling the fair in 2012, city council also established a 6 p.m. curfew law for minors in the Coventry and Cedar Lee business districts, which were later amended to make exceptions for kids patronizing businesses and concert venues and expanded to Severance.

The chaos was coined a "flash mob," and it led to debates and discussions among local police forces and city officials about how to prevent the large gatherings, as other cities had similar issues.

Presser said the family arts day will have music and performers throughout the Coventry district, and that the parking lot between Marc's and Heights Cleaners will be closed and used for performers and some vendors.

"We're going to have music up and down and throughout the district," Presser said.