30th Avenue Festival Attracts Seekers Of Ancestors

Photo Carol Marino Hopeful festival-goers waited to be interviewed and perhaps chosen to participate in the National Geographic Genographic Project at the 30th Avenue Street Festival on Sunday, July 13. The Genographic Project is a globe-spanning effort to collect more than 100,000 DNA samples, representing a worldwide image of human diversity. Astoria, the home of immigrants from more than 120 countries, was noted as a prime location for sampling.

Street fair aficionados strolled along 30th Avenue from 29th Street to Steinway Street, enjoying children's rides, pony rides, arts and crafts, quality merchandise and food provided by more than 300 vendors at the Summer Fest street festival on Sunday, July 13. The festivities, sponsored by Community Board 1, lasted from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. A highlight of the festival was the booth manned by staff of the National Geographic Genographic Project. The project follows the migratory paths of early mankind through tracing the DNA of the current population of the earth.