50th Hessler Street Fair Could Be Its Last

On his last day of the 1982-83 school year at St. Ignatius High School, Packy Malley joined his friends at the Hessler Street Fair. Soaking in the clamor of arts vendors, street performances, bohemian poetry and eclectic music, Malley was enchanted by the event’s laid-back atmosphere. 

“I was blown away. It was a free-spirited environment with music I hadn’t heard, food I had never eaten and people I had never seen before,” says Malley, who, in 2017, jumped at the chance to take over the fair’s operations. “There was a real countercultural feel to it. I bought my first tie-dye there.”

On June 1 and 2, Cleveland’s OG hippie gathering celebrates a bittersweet 50th birthday at its original University Circle spot on Hessler Road and Hessler Court. The event, which has resisted commercial influences since it began and has no sponsors, goes on indefinite hiatus after this year due to increased security costs.

In its original form as a beatnik block party, the fair was the flagship event of the Hessler Neighborhood Association, a nonprofit formed in 1969 to prevent the bohemian haven from being bulldozed to build Case Western Reserve University dorms and parking lots. 

“It started out with acoustic instruments on front porches,” says 76-year-old Pat Holland, a longtime HNA member who moved into the neighborhood a year prior to the first fair. “We stretched an old parachute across the street between two row houses and it had an incredible visual effect. It was a very mellow event.” 

Funds from the first fairs were used to restore and maintain local residences. 

“It was a free-spirited street,” says Malley. “People moved there for that reason.”

The fair also helped permanently preserve the neighborhood. Its success helped encourage the city to designate Hessler Road and Hessler Court as Cleveland’s first landmark district in 1975.

During the 1980s, the fair began to draw 20,000 visitors each year. But for the most part, the spirit stayed the same. Today, vendors still pay the same low fee to rent space and the only major profits come from lemonade sales. “It’s become a much more professional production,” says Malley, “but it’s still a breath of fresh air.”

Resident participation has changed significantly, with the neighborhood’s demographics now largely consisting of Case students. 

“But the fair has maintained the same feeling,” says Holland. “We see the same faces coming back year after year. It’s like an extended family.”

Music remains the fair’s centerpiece: this year, 21 acts play, including Hessler veterans such as Carlos Jones and the P.L.U.S. Band, JiMiller Band and Alex Bevan, who return to give the gathering a proper send-off.  Despite the hiatus, there are hopes of reviving the event soon. “It’s been a great tradition,” says Malley,  “and it would be sorely missed if it went away.”

Fair Play
To make the most of a Cleveland classic for what could be the last time, seek out these Hessler hot spots.

Harmony Park
An attraction for kids of all ages, Harmony Park features a life-sized Twister game made out of an oversized painter’s tarp, a giant chalkboard and a live butterfly tent. “It’s a giant wonderland for the younger crowd,” says Chana Gates, who oversees the park. Visitors can also go back in time by taking instant photos with a vintage Polaroid camera.

Yesterday and Today
With a nod to past fairs, Irene Gaspar, the fair’s food vendor and nonprofit coordinator, welcomes back former Hessler Street favorite Pali Kala, who first served his homemade Indian food at the fair in 1995. In addition, 3 Aprons Bakery will be making its first appearance. Other first-time participants include the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland and the Alive Inside nonprofit.

Band Stand
Playing Sunday at 11  a.m., the Swing Time Big Band channels the original fair’s street musicians by performing from chairs on the pavement. As is tradition, reggae mainstays Carlos Jones and the P.L.U.S. Band close the evening.