Once again, that time of year has rolled around. ASUO will kick off their biannual two-day street faire Wednesday, an event that spans between the entrance to the university on East 13th Avenue and the EMU.

“The ASUO street faire is a campus tradition which connects UO students, staff and faculty to the larger Lane County Community,” Rachel Rinelli, ASUO’s executive campus-wide events coordinator said in an email.

The ASUO street fair takes place twice a year, once in the fall and once in the spring. This year’s faire will take place from Oct. 16 to Oct. 18 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day. 

The two-day event brings a slew of food carts, vendors from around the Eugene/Springfield area and exhibits to the main street that runs through campus. The event is open to the public and offers students something to do between classes or on their own free time.

“The number of vendors vary depending on the size of booths and the spaces we are allowed to use,”  Nicole Nelson, office coordinator for student government engagement and success said. “So the students involved select more than thirty-five vendors for each faire.” 

According to an article from Around the O, ASUO donated half of its profits from the street fair to food insecurity and food pantry programs on campus in 2018.

When asked about whether this kind of initiative would stay around this year, Kaylie MacDonald, the ASUO Street Faire Administrator, said, “We’re going to do that again most likely.” 

ASUO President Sabina Pierre made it a priority to pursue budgetary funds for food insecurity during her campaign. It is unknown whether or not funds will be allocated to these programs.

The Emerald was unable to reach Pierre for a comment on the issue.

MacDonald is currently in charge of all the planning around the faire. She said students can expect the traditional set up of food and craft vendors.

“It’s going to be the same as usual,” MacDonald said, “We have the same bulk vendors returning, but there’s always three or four that are brand new.”

According to MacDonald, ASUO has decided to discontinue the Beer Garden event that had been accompanying the Street Fair the following Saturday. This decision came after the event started losing steam and turnout did not warrant the time and money spent on it.
Plenty of student volunteers have signed up to help out with the activities during the faire. There is always time to sign up and help out with the many events and tasks that need to be done. Anyone can sign up to volunteer here.