Four-year-old Isabella Dumbrosky, who was attending the festival for the first time, said she was enjoying her time on Rockaway Avenue. “It’s very fun,” she said.

Dozens of festival-goers took part in Zainab Danish’s research study on diversity and understanding. The Pratt Institute graduate student’s setup had several highlights, including interesting facts about Valley Stream, a map for people to show where their ancestors are from, and a place for participants to write what they believed in. Danish said that Valley Stream is a great place to conduct her research because it is so diverse, and added that most people who walked by were happy to participate and answer questions.

David Sabatino, president of Envision Valley Stream and head of the festival’s organizing committee, took part in Danish’s study, and made several other stops as well. Sabatino said that the biggest payoff of organizing the event was seeing so many people enjoying themselves and promoting the community. “Once everything was set up, and I could take a breath and walk up and down the block to talk to people,” he said, “it was a wonderful feeling.”

Envision Valley Stream’s vice president and one of the festival creators, James Giordano, said this year’s event ran smoothly. And Giordano had a chance to enjoy the day with his family this year, unlike last fall, when he was running around all day. “It’s a lot of work,” he said, “but I’m definitely looking forward to next year.”

According to Sabatino, the organizing committee will meet in October to discuss areas to improve on, and start planning next year’s Community Fest.