Community leaders join merchants as Hampdenfest co-sponsors

For the first time in at least a decade, the Hampden Community Council has joined the Hampden Village Merchants Association as co-sponsor of the upcoming Hampdenfest in September.

Some see the co-sponsorship as symbolic of a thaw in sometimes frosty relationships between merchants and community leaders in years past.

"That's sort of a milestone," said Susannah Siger, longtime owner of Ma Petite Shoe, on The Avenue. "That means we're got this unprecedented level of cooperation, at least since I've been here."

Siger said it's noteworthy that the community and business community "are working on something together" after years of the two groups distancing themselves from each other. Some of that might have to do with the gentrification of Hampden, once a mostly blue-collar neighborhood, into a more diverse community with new boutique stores, artists' studios and young professionals.

In the 1990s, residents wouldn't have been so quick to help, and would have said, "That's a merchant thing," Siger said. "In the past, there was a little bit of new versus old."

Genny Dill, secretary and past president of the community council, announced the renewed co-sponsorship at a meeting of the council June 27. She said after the meeting that although residents support the festival, having an official relationship with the merchants is significant.

Past president Allen Hicks said there used to be more involvement by the community council as recently as 2001.

"At one time it was joint" sponsorship, Hicks said.

Dill said merchants sponsored it exclusively in years past, because "there weren't enough young people (in the community) to come in and take it over."

And that put more pressure on merchants, Dill said.

"Merchants have a business," she said. "How much time do they have to organize it on their own?"

"I think it makes sense," said Benn Ray, president of the merchants' association and co-owner with Rachel Whang of Atomic Books. "It's always been a neighborhood festival," said Ray, who is organizing music acts at the festival. "It would be great to have the community get involved."

"They've (residents) always been there," said Whang, a festival organizer. "They've always had a booth and helped organize. It's just a more official partnership. I'm not sure why the community even dropped out."

The return of Hampden Idol

No one is sure how old Hampdenfest is.

"It's been gong on for decades," Whang said. It morphed from the Mayfair festival into the Hampden Village Fall Festival and then Hampdenfest

Unlike the more regionally popular HonFest, Hampdenfest — this year Sept. 10 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on The Avenue — has a more neighborhood feel and is a stomping ground for bands from the area. This year, it will have four music stages and possibly a deejay booth, said Ray, who is organizing the musical part of the festival.

This year's festival will mark the return of the Hampden Idol contest, a karaoke-themed takeoff on American Idol emceed by Keyboard Man, a.k.a. Kevin Hoffman. The popular event — and Hoffman — are both back after a three-year absence because Hoffman moved to Philadelphia.

"We're bringing him back" for Hampdenfest, Ray said.

New this year is a chocolate contest sponsored by Ma Petite Shoe, said Siger, who is recruiting local chefs and members of the media as judges. Contestants must use ingredients from her shop, which in addition to shoes specializes in chocolate.

Also being considered as a new event at the festival is a cook-off of some kind, Whang said.