This week in Stamford: Bedford Street closes for 60 artists, two ceremonies for the 25th anniversary of 9/11, and 350 tables of cards at Chelsea Piers

Bedford Street is the story this Saturday. Stamford Downtown runs Arts and Crafts on Bedford twice a year, in June and September, and the September one lands on a weekend that already has a free wellness expo at Harbor Point and the biggest card show in Connecticut filling 45,000 square feet at Chelsea Piers. Before any of that, Friday is the 25th anniversary of September 11, and Stamford is marking it twice: once at one o'clock in the afternoon at Mill River Park and once at seven that evening outside the Woodside firehouse.

Best for families this week: the free fitness classes at the Health, Wellness and Lifestyle Expo at Harbor Point, and Arts and Crafts on Bedford, where kids get a street with no cars on it and 60 artists to look at.

Arts and Crafts on Bedford, Bedford Street in Downtown Stamford, 10 AM to 6 PM. More than 60 local and regional artists set up along the street, and the Bedford Street restaurants extend their patio cafes into the afternoon, which is the part that turns a craft fair into a day out. Free to walk, and it is one of Stamford Downtown's two signature street events each year. Free, all ages, outdoors. Details.

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The Northeast Sports Card Expo at the Chelsea Piers Athletic Club, 1 Blachley Road, 9:30 AM to 6 PM with early entry at 9. Over 350 vendor tables across 45,000 square feet, sports cards and Pokemon and memorabilia and Funkos, on site authentication from JSA, CGC, PSA and TGA, free celebrity autographs with paid admission, and UConn names among the guests. Trade Night runs 6 to 8:30 PM and is free with admission. General admission is $20 Saturday, early entry $25, and children under 12 are free. Parking is free. It runs again Sunday, 9:30 AM to 4 PM, at $15. Ticketed, all ages, indoors. Details.

The 15th Annual Health, Wellness and Lifestyle Expo at Harbor Point, 1 Harbor Point Road, 10 AM to 5 PM. Free group fitness and yoga classes run all day, led by local instructors and pitched at every level, and admission costs nothing. Run by TMK Sports and Entertainment. Free, all ages, outdoors. Details.

Rhythm and Rumba Salsa Nights at Mill River Park, 1010 Washington Boulevard, 6 to 9 PM. The Mayor's Multicultural Council and the Mill River Park Collaborative put this on for Hispanic Heritage Month, and it is free. Free, all ages, outdoors. Details.

The Friends of Ferguson Library Book Shop Sidewalk Sale, Ferguson Library, 1 Public Library Plaza (96 Broad Street, downtown), 10 AM to 5 PM. A pop up on Bedford Street timed to the street fair, with art and photography books, cooking, crafts, music and history, plus DVDs, vinyl, puzzles and children's books at 50 to 75 percent off. Cash, check, Apple Pay and cards. Proceeds go back to the library. Free, all ages, outdoors. Details.

Karaoke Thursdays at RIZZ Lounge and Grill, 121 Towne Street (Harbor Point). Weekly, and it runs three hours, which is either generous or a warning depending on who gets the microphone first. Adults, indoors. Details.

TechXel Stamford Venture Expert with R.J. Kornhaas in the Ferguson Library Board Room, 1 Public Library Plaza (96 Broad Street, downtown). A venture attorney's seminar on business formation, contracts and insurance, which is a narrow room but exactly the room some people in this city have been looking for. Adults, indoors. Details.

The 9/11 Meditation Garden and Memorial Dedication at Mill River Park, 1010 Washington Boulevard, 1 to 2 PM. A new permanent place in the park to sit with it, dedicated on the 25th anniversary. Free, all ages, outdoors. Details.

Stamford's 25th anniversary 9/11 remembrance ceremony at the Woodside Fire Station, 1620 Washington Boulevard, 7 PM. The Stamford Fire Department hosts, the public is invited, and the southbound lanes of Washington Boulevard close at 6:30 PM to open up on street parking. The department's invitation is to "honor and remember the lives lost on September 11, 2001, and pay tribute to the courage and sacrifice of the first responders who answered the call that day." Free, all ages, outdoors. Details.

Eighteen months after a four alarm fire pushed it out of Bedford Street, the Women's Business Development Council opened a new Stamford headquarters. The nonprofit cut the ribbon on 5,000 square feet at 422 Summer Street, with the entrance near 17 Franklin Street, on September 3. The March 7, 2025 fire damaged its second floor office at 184 Bedford Street along with several neighboring downtown businesses. Chief Executive Officer Fran Pastore did not sugarcoat the gap: "Stamford has always been our home. A fire displaced us, but it did not stop our work or our commitment to Connecticut's women entrepreneurs." U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal, Lieutenant Governor Susan Bysiewicz, State Senate Majority Leader Bob Duff, Mayor Caroline Simmons and State Representative Eilish Collins Main all turned out for it. The WBDC was founded in Stamford in 1997 and now works in all 169 Connecticut municipalities. Source: Patch.

Quartiere closed on Bank Street after five years, and a Peruvian restaurant is taking the room. The Italian restaurant at 51 Bank Street shut in early September with a note to its customers: "After 5 incredible years on Bank Street, we're closing our doors. You gave this place its energy, its stories, and a whole lot of great nights." Fiesta On Main is moving over from 249 Main Street into the space in the next few weeks. The Quartiere team has not left town, having opened KIN Social at Harbor Point. Source: Patch.

The Crab Shell site on Southfield Avenue has a tenant, and it signed for fifteen years. Antonio's Restaurant Group, which runs Antonio's Italian Bistro and Zucchero Cafe, has taken more than 6,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor space at 46 Southfield Avenue for a new harborfront restaurant called Ocean 46, with an indoor bar, an outdoor bar and dining overlooking the water. The Crab Shell closed in November 2025 after 36 years, which is the kind of vacancy that gets noticed on a waterfront this small. No opening date has been announced. Source: Stamford Advocate.

The Northeast Sports Card Expo runs its second day at the Chelsea Piers Athletic Club, 1 Blachley Road, 9:30 AM to 4 PM, early entry at 9. General admission is $15, early entry $20, children under 12 free. The first 200 people each day get a free commemorative poster. Ticketed, all ages, indoors. Details.

The Harbor Point Farmers Market at Harbor Point Square, every Sunday. Greens, dairy, fruit, vegetables, prepared food and flowers. Free, all ages, outdoors. Details.

The Off Main Experience returns to Mill River Park on September 17, 5 to 8 PM. Details.

The Palace Theatre, 61 Atlantic Street, has three nights in a row the following week: The Billy Joel Legacy on September 17 at 7:30 PM, Simply The Best, a Tina Turner tribute, on September 18 at 8 PM, and Jim Henson's Labyrinth in Concert for its 40th anniversary on September 19 at 7:30 PM. Details.

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