This weekend, the annual University District Street Fair will stretch up University Way, from Northeast 41st Street to Northeast 50th Street,.The fair will feature arts, crafts, music and food.

“This is an arts and crafts fair with no imports or mass produced art,” said Teresa Lord Hugel, executive director for the Greater University Chamber of Commerce. “I like to pitch it as an urban retail corridor meets country fair.”

This year, there will be three music stages, a children’s stage and a dog contest stage. Additionally, there will be street performers along the Ave.

“The street performers are exceptional,” Hugel said. “There is a whole balloon family, a juggler, a great face painter from New Orleans, an instrument petting zoo where kids can try new instruments and more.”

The dog contest stage is one of the local favorites, Hugel said. Three dog contests — an owner and dog look-a-like contest, best-dressed dog, and best dog tricks — are scheduled from 2-4 p.m., both Saturday and Sunday.

More than 400 crafts and food booths will occupy the road, selling original pieces and recipes.

“We always have a huge stack of applications to be vendors at the fair,” said Kian Pornour, a chair for the event. “There are so many people applying to be here that it becomes a mind-boggling thing to judge.”

Most vendors are locals, but others come from Montana, Idaho, Oregon, Arizona and Utah. Organizers, though, care more about what the vendors are bringing.

“A vendor’s work has to be original, and anything that has good originality or substance, we usually pick,” Pornour said. “We have to try and remember not to pick redundant items.”

The fair is known as a fun community event that brings people together, but there is a lot of history in the fair itself.

“The street fair was started to alleviate community tension during the Vietnam War protests that were creating violence on University Way,” Hugel said. “The fair has evolved into an annual event to energize the economy and celebrate the community. It’s kind of grown up into a 21st century major event.”

The Chamber uses the fair as a fundraiser for the community and usually makes about $30,000, after all expenses are paid.