Samantha Ku A red-nosed surprise for three young visitors to the Fourth Arts Block Festival Saturday.

The Fourth Arts Block, or FAB! as it’s known by the locals, held its seventh annual FAB! Festival on East Fourth Street on Saturday.

Jamie Newman Scenes from the festival.

On a balmy early autumn day, the festival showcased a wide variety of the neighborhood’s creativity from the performances of the Alpha Omega and Rod Rodgers dance companies, to readings by poets from the Nuyorican Poets Café.

There were also culinary offerings, including Akiko’s Cookie’s Green Tea cookie and Bao Bing’s Taiwanese-style shaved ice. The diverse program made for a fun and widely appreciated festival.

The Fourth Arts Block, on Fourth Street between Bowery and Second Avenue, is home to a large number of theaters and cultural organizations, and is one of only two communities to receive “cultural district” designations from city officials (the other is the neighborhood around the Brooklyn Academy of Music).

The festival is designed to celebrate the creativity of one of the most densely populated blocks for the arts in the city.

As Tamara Greenfield, the arts block’s executive director, puts it, “We see the festival as an opportunity to spill everything that takes place in our neighborhood year round out on the street so its accessible to everyone.”

Did you attend the FAB! Festival this year? What did you find most memorable about it?

Jamie NewmanPerformers from the Alpha Omega dance company.