Street Fest event team grows

Jenni McNeill

With the South Boston Street Fest growing bigger and better each year, South Boston NDC and the South Boston Chamber added more manpower to the event planning team. 

Jenni McNeill has joined forces with Karen Stanley of Vibrant Event Productions to help with the event. 

With Jenni’s interest in fitness, the yoga instructor was put in charge of reaching out to the fitness and wellness studios to try and grow their presence at the Street Fest.

“This year there will be a bigger presence because it’s such a big part of the community,” Jenni said about the fitness industry.

She is also reaching out to vendors, securing characters, and doing whatever else needs to be done.

Jenni, who has lived in South Boston since 2012, is no stranger to the Street Fest, learning a lot about it from Cathe Walsh at Deja Brew. Jenni has been to the event on and off for the past 14 years – “I love any event that I can shop at,” she said.

She participated in the Street Fest in 2019 when she worked at Wears and Wares. Everyone who worked at that small business wanted to work Street Fest day, Jenni recalled, because “we got to see all the other shops outside.”

Now that she’s on the organizing end, she sees the amount of work it takes to put on the Street Fest. “I realized how much work and dedication that Karen and Donna [Brown, South Boston NDC executive director] put into it. It’s such a big event with only a small group behind it. I’ve been excited to come in and learn the back side of it.”

With a degree in advertising, marketing, and entertainment public relations from Emerson College, Jenni, 40, has done a fair amount of event planning, including parties, small business events, and more.

When she saw South Boston NDC’s posting for a Street Fest assistant, she knew she had to apply. “It was something I really wanted to do,” said Jenni, who is also a personal shopper, a decorating guru, a retail worker, and a jack of all trades.

She is enjoying making connections and reaching out to people she hasn’t met or hasn’t spoken to in a while.

Jenni, who taught herself how to make balloon arches and charcuterie boards, is most excited about the creativity of the actual Street Fest day, especially setting up the photo booth area.

“I am looking forward to seeing the neighborhood come out together,” she said.