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Van Duzer Days Festival Returns to Staten Island

By Nicholas Rizzi | July 9, 2013 8:20am
 The fifth annual Van Duzer Days will be held on July 13 and July 20, and will close off Van Duzer Street between Beach and Wright streets.
Van Duzer Days 2012
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STAPLETON — The fifth annual Van Duzer Days festival will return to the streets of Stapleton on Saturday.

The festival, which closes a portion of Van Duzer Street on two Saturdays, will feature live music, art and crafts for kids. Artists will be creating work at the event.

“It’s really good, in general, to give the artists a day they can just hang out in their own neighborhood,” said Gena Mimozo, organizer of the event.

“It’s always a nice, relaxing event.”

Instead of painting on boards like the previous years, this year the live painters will bring their own materials to use, which can range from hubcaps to ukuleles.

“We're asking people to bring things that you wouldn't necessarily think of painting,” Mimozo said.

The festival will be held on July 13 and July 20, and will close off Van Duzer Street between Beach and Wright streets from noon until 7 p.m.

On July 13, the event will feature yoga practice, bike repairs, live bands and a recording of the Super Live Adventure Podcast.

The night will end with a performance by jug band the Wahoo Skiffle Crazies, who’ve written songs about the event, Mimoza said.

Other bands playing both weekends are Yeti, The Mick Watley Band, The Rising Sun Allstars and Kilgore Trout is Dead.

The next weekend will feature the annual Skatedown in Stapleton skateboard competition, hosted by Richmond Hood Company with ramps from 5050 Skatepark, Mimoza said.

Also the festival will have the newly renovated Stapleton Library hosting children’s events, GrowNYC, Green Mountain Energy and Transportation Alternatives.

The event will continue its downsizing from four weekends in July to two that started last year.

“It definitely worked out better for the staff,” Mimoza said. “It feels more full, it feels like there's more people there all the time.”