On Sunday, September 10, an enormous crowd estimated over 15,000 attended the Reading Fall Street Faire organized by Reading Rotary. This was the first year for the Rotary club hosting the event, which had been run by the Town of Reading for 8 previous years. The Town had initiated the Faire as a community event for raising funds for downtown improvements. The Town of Reading approached Reading Rotary to take over running the event in large part due to stretching thin of Town resources due to budgetary issues.Reading Rotary worked with many veterans of past RFSF Committees. Over 200 vendors rented "booths" along Haven, Main and High Streets in Reading. The RFSF also featured 2 stages of entertainment, a Children's Area, a Dunk Tank, an old fashioned penny candy tent, an Antique Car Show, Road Race, Pie Eating Contest, Basketball Tournament, Kick Off Breakfast, a Gala Cocktail Reception Saturday evening, kids amusements and a Jumbotron. Many vendors and community organizations were on hand either selling goods, refreshments or giving away promotional items.
Reading Rotary decided to replace its largest annual fundraiser, a fall auction, with the Street Faire. Reading Rotary President Brian Snell had served on the RFSF Committee as its Chair previously. Snell said: "We were so happy with how the Street Faire turned out in Rotary's first year of running it. We had the most vendors ever and had fantastic support from so many sponsors. It was a great event for the community and a huge fundraiser for Rotary. I couldn't think of more effective way to get Rotary's name out to the Reading community. The weather was perfect, too."
Reading Rotary was fortunate to have so many community volunteers help in the planning and on the day of the RFSF. The RFSF is held annually on the Sunday following Labor Day.