Events to bring crafts, food and libations to downtown New Kensington

Crafters and artisans will be featured in two separate events Saturday in downtown New Kensington.

Knead Community Cafe, 1011 Barnes St., will host its annual fall harvest craft and vendor fair from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. That event will be followed by the city’s Downtown Market, sponsored by the Recreation Commission, from 4 to 8 p.m. along Fifth Avenue.

Knead will be open for breakfast, with a limited menu from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

More than 45 vendors from the Alle-Kiski Valley, Pittsburgh and Greensburg areas will set up in the cafe’s banquet hall and courtyard. They will include a variety of crafts, food, art, home decor, clothing, jewelry and personal care items.

The Downtown Market is based on the city’s previously successful wine and beer festival, which Mayor Tom Guzzo said was a precursor to the popular Fridays on Fifth. The latter event started in 2021 and held its last event for this year Sept. 23.

“For several years, we’ve had the wine and beer fest. In fact, the first year that we had it four years ago, well over 2,000 people showed up,” Guzzo said. “That’s when we really saw the potential for people wanting to come downtown and people wanting to have fun and community activities and things of that nature.”

Running along Fifth Avenue, the market will feature about a dozen artisans, eight or nine food vendors, and several breweries and wineries. City businesses will be open.

Guzzo said this year is the first time the event is being held in this manner, so that artisans can be included.

“It’s an opportunity for people to come down and shop in our shops as well as get some good food,” Guzzo said. “People come from all over. It’s nice to have all of our folks from New Ken come down and discover the new stuff going on.

“It’s nice to have people from out of town and surrounding communities coming down to enjoy an evening with us in New Kensington.”