Another exuberant Cranberry Street Fair comes to Brooklyn Heights

October 4, 2016 By Mary Frost Brooklyn Daily Eagle

Mimi Soltana and her tribal belly-dance troupe returned to the Cranberry Street Fair in Brooklyn Heights this past Saturday. Locals enjoyed a day of homegrown entertainment, paraded their pets and had their fortunes told for the 45th straight year. Photos by Mary Frost

Share this:

On Saturday, Heights residents celebrated the coming of autumn at the 45th annual Cranberry Street Fair. Generations came out to guess the cranberries, get a belly-dancing lesson from Mimi Fontana and The Manhattan Tribal Belly Dancers, browse the books and treasures, parade their pets and have their fortunes told.

Organized originally by artists John and Richanda Rhoden, the fair is still overseen by Ms. Rhoden, now 100 years old, with the help of the Cranberry Street Association.

Part of the charm is the fair’s small size, Ms. Rhoden told the Brooklyn Eagle at a previous fair. “It’s so human. We don’t want it to get bigger. We don’t want people to come in and sell their products; we manufacture everything ourselves — with the exception of the belly dancers, but a lot of them come from Atlantic Avenue,” she added.