Grub Street Food Festival Returns to Hester Street

A celebration of the city’s culinary delights descends on the Lower East Side on Sunday, as New York Magazine and the Hester Street Fair team up for the second annual Grub Street Food Festival.

More than 100 vendors will spread out from the fair’s normal digs to the adjoining tennis courts along Essex Street, providing much-needed elbow room for the popular event that drew 13,000 tasters and shoppers last year. The list of 75 food vendors includes neighborhood faves like An Choi, Georgia’s Eastside BBQ and Souvlaki GR, as well as popular spots across the river such as Commodore and Pies ‘n’ Thighs. Sweets from the Macaron Parlour and Big Gay Ice Cream and other dessert booths will abound.

And this just in from co-founder Suchin Pak: This year’s edition of the festival will also feature a beer garden.

In a partnership with an organization called Community of Unity, the festival has engaged students from the New Design High School just up the block on Grand Street to jazz up the look and feel of the fair.

Santos Party House DJs will provide music to dance off those extra calories, and about 30 purveyors of non-food goods will offer lots of early holiday shopping opportunities when you just can’t eat any more.

The fair runs 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and admission is free. The full list of vendors is online here. This weekend marks the next-to-last Hester Street Fair of the 2011 season, which ends Oct. 29.