North Tonawanda, N.Y. (WBEN) - With a heat advisory in effect, local food vendors at Canal Fest in North Tonawanda are preparing themselves for the hot temperatures.
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"On days where the heat is real bad and oppressive, we find that the impact on our business is that you're kind of in for more of a long haul," said CJ Loubert, a taco tent vendor at Canalfest.
"You play the waiting game during the day when the sun's out. From 12 noon to 3:30, you don't get a lot of business because it's hot out. People don't really want to eat when it's super hot out. Later at night, all those same people that you kind of miss for your lunch crowd will tend to come out for an early dinner. It's harder on the restaurant workers because during the day, you're doing a lot of prep and you're chilling out and then you know, you get twice as busy at night. From a monetary standpoint, it kind of evens out. From like a work standpoint, it's a lot harder on these days because you're out in the heat all day your days not any shorter. You're still doing prep work, you still get a small crowd but then at night you get twice as busy."
How are vendors combatting the heat? The short answer when I asked various vendors were fans. A lot of fans throughout the tents and trucks are crucial to get that summer and grill heat away from the faces of the vendors who operate their businesses all day and all night.
"We do have a couple of fans. The whole area here gets a good breeze right down these streets," said Ron Murchie, one of the Directors for Canal Fest who has been operating a hotdog stand and directing the festival for 33 years.
"You definitely take lots of like sink showers, wash your face, throw some water on your head back your neck, things like that. Plenty of water is crucial, ice cold water, we find that like drinking room temp water just doesn't do it on days like this and honestly, taking shade breaks and a fans are a must," CJ adds.
Business is booming at Canal Fest, even when it rained on Sunday, people still came back for the festivities according the Murchie.