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Boone Council Votes Unanimously in Favor of Howard Street Exchange Festival, Held Sunday, June 9

By Mariel Gambino 

June 6, 2013. Sunday, June 9, marks the second Howard Street Exchange Festival presented by Boone Community Network (BCN).

BCN is a social networking site intended to create social, civic and economic connections within Boone and the surrounding community.

The inspiration for a street festival in Boone occurred dsc_0525when a group of senior sustainable development students collaborated on creating a way to boost the local economy.

When Rio Tazewell, founder and president of BCN, proposed a second Howard Street Exchange Festival to the Boone Town Council, he received a unanimous vote in favor of the idea. Also, the council agreed to waive the $1,500 permit fee to host the event downtown.

The previous street fair was held April 7 and 500 people attended.

BCN hopes for a bigger turnout this June with even more to offer, such as food and drink vendors like Appalachian Mountain Brewery and Feastie Boys Gourmet Food Truck, nonprofit organizations, live music, artists and a community farmers’ market. Local shops and businesses such as Soul Shine Family Glass, Yosefa AntiquiTea and Antiques on Howard are open and offering a fun and tight-knit community atmosphere.

“We have such incredible technology to create connections.” said Tazewell. “This is a spectrum of what Boone has to offer.”

Just like the Downtown Boone Art Crawl occurs on the first Friday of every month, Tazewell is hoping this will become a “Second Sunday” type of event.

The festival occurs from 12 to 5 p.m. at the west end of Howard and South Depot Street.

Vendor slots are still open for the festival, but spots are going fast! For more information regarding the festival and requesting a vendor position, please contact Rio Tazewell at info@connectboone.net.