The annual street festival returns Saturday, April 18, with almost 100 vendors, nearly double the number from last year. There will also be a Kids Zone where little Owls can enjoy family-friendly activities. Eliza Stasi, STH ’08, associate vice president of advancement and engagement and the executive director of the Temple University Alumni Association, shares her thoughts on what makes the event such a great highlight of Temple’s spring calendar.
Temple Made Fest returns Saturday, April 18, with almost 100 vendors, nearly double the number from last year. Just like last year, the Diamond Marching Band will be attendance to perform for guests.
Photo by Contributed photo
Whether it’s the food, the shopping or the outdoor environment, there is something uniquely appealing about a street festival and the setting it provides. The same line of thinking applies to the upcoming Temple Made Fest, but there is one caveat: This event is also uniquely Temple.
The second annual Temple Made Fest returns later this month and will be held Saturday, April 18, from noon to 3 p.m. on Main Campus on 13th Street and Polett Walk.
The vibrant street festival is a celebration of Temple’s entrepreneurial spirit and the incredible talent of the Temple community. The event, which is free and open to the public, showcases businesses owned and operated by Temple alumni, current students and former students. This year, nearly 100 businesses are registered to attend, almost double the number from last year. Jewelry, artwork and apparel that are both literally and figuratively Temple Made are just some of the items that will be for sale. There will also be a Kids Zone where little Owls can enjoy family-friendly activities and meet K-9 officers from Temple’s Department of Public Safety.
Temple Made Fest is the brainchild of Eliza Stasi, STH ’08, associate vice president of advancement and engagement and executive director of the Temple University Alumni Association. Stasi initially hoped to launch the event several years ago, but this was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Seeing it becoming a considerable success in just two years’ time is a testament to the efforts of Stasi, the Temple University Alumni Association and the entire Office of Institutional Advancement.
Temple Now recently caught up with Stasi to learn more about Temple Made Fest, its inception and why it has already grown into one of the hallmark events of Temple’s spring calendar.
Temple Now: Can you share a little about the genesis for the idea of Temple Made Fest?
Eliza Stasi: So, we first started pursuing this right before COVID-19 and tried to launch our first Temple Made Fest back in 2020, but that was canceled due to the pandemic. Then, inadvertently, it was placed in the backburner for a while. But the overall idea for it came from when we launched our alumni business directory, a hub for alumni to submit their businesses so they can then be promoted to other alumni. Our online directory has just grown and multiplied year after year since we launched it in 2021, but its growth made us realize that there is such an entrepreneurial community within the broader Temple community. The more we thought about it, the more we realized that a Temple Made Fest made sense. It’s an opportunity to bring this community together, and it’s also an opportunity to bring this community together on Main Campus, so our North Philadelphia neighbors can benefit, as well. This is an event that has very much been designed with our community in mind. Aligning it to Temple Made Days, our annual celebration of Temple spirit and pride, made perfect sense, too.
TN: Temple Made Fest is a unique concept, in that every vendor is either an alum or current or former student at Temple. It’s impressive to think an entire street festival could be built around businesses with Temple ties. Why do you think that is?
Stasi: With respect to the Temple community, we talk a lot about personal grit, and you truly see that here, too. We constantly hear stories from alumni about how capstone courses, internships or internal partnerships played a key role in inspiring them to pursue their own ventures. There is a unique environment at Temple that cultivates and empowers that entrepreneurial mindset and growth from the student perspective. Students build meaningful relationships, partnerships and collaborations across schools, colleges and beyond, and those connections often continue after graduation. Alumni actively support one another in launching and growing businesses. It’s a true Owls supporting Owls culture across our alumni base. That spirit of collaboration and mutual support is something special and deeply ingrained within our alumni community.
TN: From year one to year two, we have already seen Temple Made Fest experience tremendous growth. Is this now one of Temple’s new annual traditions?
Stasi: Absolutely, I do think so. We are already thinking about how we can build on this for next year. Expanding it, refining it and positioning it for continued growth in a way that best serves both Temple alumni and our Philadelphia communities.
This has quickly become a staple of our spring programming, but we want to stay flexible and thoughtful about what makes sense for the university. While we’ve seen great momentum in the spring, there may also be an opportunity to explore something similar in the fall and align it with Homecoming activities. In the meantime, we are excited for April 18, and what will be a celebration of all things Temple. I hope that many in our community will be able to join us.
