SEATTLE — Tens of thousands of people flocked to Seattle’s University District this weekend, to take part in the neighborhood's 52nd annual street fair. Organizers said it's the longest-running street fair in the country.
"A lot of Seattle has changed, and a lot of people complain about that, but we got to embrace the change that's going on,” said Lu Badu, with Chaotic Noise Marching Corps, which performed on Sunday. “But there's still tradition and there's still things that have gone on a long time."
One of those long-time traditions is the University District Street Fair celebrating its 52nd year.
"This is the longest-running street fair in the country, it's also 10 blocks long so it's also physically quite long, we're shutting down streets all the way from 41st up to 50th street," said Don Blakeney Executive Director of U District Partnership.
Over the weekend more than 50-thousand people flooded the streets of the U-District for the two-day event, with visitors from all walks of life.
The fair featured hundreds of artists, vendors and food trucks along the way. All in hopes of bringing the community together and putting the spotlight on this neighborhood.
"Introduce them to a whole series of businesses they might not know and so we're hoping that when you come into this neighborhood you try four, five businesses, you have those businesses in your repertoire now and you're willing to come back," said Blakeney
Not only are businesses getting a much-needed boost but so are performers who are fully coming back after a couple of tough years.
"A lot of us lost our identity, we're musicians, we're performers, so being able to get out here like the old days with people smiling and they're enjoying getting out here to listen to live music again," said Badu.
It's this type of event that visitors hope will set the tone for an amazing summer.
"We thank U District Street Fair for having us again and it's just all of this liveliness in the street, it's what Seattle's all about," said Badu.