Local art, music and food turn Westcott to ‘vendor village’ at 315 Thursdays
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The typically quiet streets of the Westcott neighborhood were filled with lights and live music as the second 315 Thursdays kicked off on Thursday. Locals milled around Westcott Street shopping, dancing and talking to their neighbors.
Chazz Black, an attendee from Liverpool, wandered between the stage and Alto Cinco, a nearby Mexican restaurant, taking in his first 315 Thursdays.
“Look at all the people,” Black, 83 years old, said. “Look at the diversity.”
315 Thursdays, a free outdoor summer concert series in Syracuse, kicked off on Aug. 6 at Hanover Square and moved to the Rise ‘n Shine parking lot in Westcott for September. Whether it’s August in Hanover Square or September in Westcott, the event brings together musicians, eateries and pop-up vendors from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Thursdays.
Tyler Allen, bar manager at Alto Cinco on Westcott Street, said he shows up nearly every Thursday to listen to the music and chat with neighbors and regulars — even though he no longer lives in Westcott. Allen said the addition of the September dates in Westcott in 2024 was perfect given the neighborhood’s artistic character.
“Westcott is definitely a very local hub for art and music and stuff like this. It makes complete sense to have it here,” Allen said. “Art and music go hand-in-hand, and I think it’s nice that there’s a little vendor village.”
Gabi Coll, owner of Love & Libros Bookshop, sold books at her first-ever 315 Thursdays last week in Westcott. The queer Latina-owned pop-up business sells used books, games and toys. Kai Pavlova | Staff Photographer
That vendor village includes Madalyn Ledesma, who has sold her work at Westcott Thursdays for three years. Ledesma owns War Paint Artwork, selling acrylic pour paintings, jewelry and bookmarks. Ledesma began selling art in Syracuse around 2018, before making it her full-time job in 2022. She also sells pieces at Wildflowers Armory, a multi-vendor artist collective in downtown Syracuse.
Ledesma said she’s shifted away from relying on pop-up markets for income, leaning more on events like Westcott Thursdays as supplemental to the painting classes she teaches around central New York. Selling her own work in person still matters to Ledesma, though.
“I get to make my art, my jewelry, my paintings,” Ledesma said. “It’s fun, and this is very much me.”
A few tables down from Ledesma, Gabi Coll sold books at her first-ever Westcott Thursdays. Coll owns Love & Libros Bookshop, a queer Latina-owned pop-up business that sells used books, media and nostalgic games and toys, all for $10 or less.
The shop’s goal is to keep reading accessible, Coll said. It also gives out free banned books through a partnership with Rebel Readers, an organization run by a former library colleague who collects the titles for distribution at community events.
Coll said last week’s turnout surprised her — by early evening, the diner’s lot was packed. She said the appeal of tabling in Westcott is bringing books directly into the neighborhood, rather than waiting for people to make it to a bookstore on their own time.
Raj Kamal serves food to a customer at last week’s 315 Thursdays. Kamal, who owns Indian restaurant Raj Saffron House, said 315 Thursdays attract new customers to his business. Kai Pavlova | Staff Photographer
Food vendors found a similar boost. Raj Kamal, who owns Raj Saffron House, an Indian restaurant at the corner of Westcott and Dell Street, said he picks up new customers each week the series runs.
“Let them just try our food so they can see who we are,” Kamal said.
But the main event is the music. Felix Harris, who performs under the name Felix Free, played his first Westcott Thursdays on Thursday, after moving from Los Angeles to Canandaigua in 2016. Rapping is his passion, but he also owns 6 Point Flower Shop, a dispensary in downtown Rochester.
Harris said performing in Syracuse at venues like Funk ‘n Waffles has brought a level of support that still surprises him at this stage of his life.
“I’m a dad with two kids and a wife, and I never thought that I would be supported this way at the age of 48 as a rapper,” Harris said. “It’s weird, but I’m here, and as long as people support it, I’ll show up.”
For some attendees, the series is a rare reason to leave the Syracuse University campus area. Sadie Graham, a senior studying biochemistry at SUNY ESF, said she came out to Westcott with Rebecca Ingrassia after spotting the setup from a bus and remembering the series from last year.
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Ingrassia, an SU graduate student, said Westcott’s walkability sets it apart from other parts of the city. She said the series helps pull students from what can otherwise feel like a campus “bubble.”
“Westcott is a lot of students’ first experience of Syracuse as a city, and it’s great that it could be at one of these events,” Ingrassia said.
Ingrassia and Graham walked through several of the pop-up vendor tables set up along the block, particularly admiring the jewelry and the splatter art.
Graham, who said this is her fifth year living in Syracuse, added that being able to meet the people who actually live in the neighborhood is part of what draws her to events like this.
“It’s not just students in this neighborhood,” Graham said. “It’s a whole community of people, and I really like being able to connect with the actual people that live here.”
