In Buffalo, New York, on one special weekend each June, it is indeed art that makes life for the tens of thousands of people who visit the Allentown Art Festival. The Allentown Art Festival takes place in the Allentown Historic Preservation District of Buffalo, New York. Tens of Thousands art patrons visit the Festival to enjoy the beauty of Buffalo's weather in June, the charm and uniqueness of the Allentown area and the quality of the art and crafts presented by the over 400 juried exhibitors.

Since its modest beginnings as a small art show in 1958, the Allentown has become not only Buffalo's urban rite, but a symbol for the enduring character of this re-emerging rustbelt region. It has earned an important place in Buffalo's cultural and social life and a national reputation for excellence.

Allentown occupies about one-half square mile near downtown Buffalo. Its origins date to 1827, when Lewis Allen purchased 29 acres of farmland along the then-northern border of the village of Buffalo. The cow path on his land eventually became Allen Street. The heart of Allentown lies at the intersection of Allen Street and Delaware Avenue, one of Buffalo's main thoroughfares.

Over the years, the Allentown neighborhood has been home to a number of famous Buffalonians, including Millard Fillmore, Samuel L. Clemens (Mark Twain), actress Katherine Cornell as a girl, and author F. Scott Fitzgerald in his childhood.

In 1901, Theodore Roosevelt was inaugurated President of the United States following the assassination of President McKinley at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo. The site of the inauguration was the Ansley Wilcox Mansion on Delaware Avenue, just up the block from Allen Street. Today, the Wilcox Mansion is the Theodore Roosevelt National Historic Site, and Allentown, with its wealth of unique American architecture, is one of the nation's largest historic preservation districts.

In 1958, when the idea of an outdoor art show was no more than that, the Allentown neighborhood was in decline. There was no National Historic Site, no National Historic Preservation District, and not many people recognized the architectural treasures obscured by years of neglect. The Allentown Art Festival helped change that.