e068 - The 315NY Weekly

Hi {{ first name | reader }},

Happy Friday, 315. Eight festivals and fairs open across the five regions between Friday and Sunday, and most of them cost nothing to walk into. Oswego Harborfest takes the waterfront with more than 30 acts across multiple stages and the Grucci fireworks over Lake Ontario on Saturday night. Syracuse runs three of its own at the same time: the 55th Arts and Crafts Festival at Columbus Circle, the Ukrainian Festival on Tipperary Hill, and the Egyptian Festival up in North Syracuse. Skaneateles puts 40 antique boats in the water at Clift Park. Pick a direction and go.

The music slate is deep this week. TOTO plays the Lakeview amphitheater on Saturday with Christopher Cross and The Romantics, and Five Finger Death Punch brings Cody Jinks to the same stage on Sunday. Lauren Alaina is at Turning Stone on Friday night. Cat Power performs The Greatest in full at the Smith Opera House on Wednesday for the album's twentieth anniversary. The Pacifica Quartet opens the Skaneateles Festival on Thursday with a program built around Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Rachel Carson. Old Forge gets a full costume ABBA tribute.

The North Country spends the week on the water and above it. Balloons in the Islands fills Coyote Moon Vineyards in Clayton on Saturday afternoon and ends with a balloon glow after dark. The Thousand Islands ACBS chapter shows vintage boats at the Alexandria Bay docks the same day, and the following weekend the Antique Boat Museum runs its 62nd show and auction, the longest running of its kind in the country. Lewis County closes out its 205th fair in Lowville with a rodeo Friday and a demolition derby Saturday. Three boat events and a balloon glow in nine days.

If crowds are not your thing, there are quieter picks. Rice Creek Field Station opens its dome telescope to the public three nights running in Oswego. Space Time pairs an astrophysicist with a storyteller at Utica University on Thursday. Kids can wade into Rowell Brook with nets on Monday at the Amboy 4-H center for four dollars. This week's Foodie Corner heads to East Ninth Street in Oswego for Wade's Diner, which has served breakfast from the same corner since 1937 and has had only three owners in all that time. More on that below.

Best, Jono

Three days of juried work from roughly 140 artists and craftspeople at Columbus Circle, with entertainers and family activities. Saturday runs 10am to 6pm and Sunday closes at 5pm.

Tenth annual free festival at St. Mary and St. Mina Coptic Orthodox Church in North Syracuse, with Egyptian food and desserts, a kids corner, cooking classes, a raffle, and church tours. Saturday 11am to 9pm, Sunday noon to 7pm.

Free rain or shine festival on Tipperary Hill at St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Church, with pyrohy, holubtsi, borscht, and kielbasa alongside live Ukrainian music and dance, vendors, and kids activities.

Free show at Clift Park with 35 to 40 antique and classic boats in the water and more on land, kids wooden boat crafts, and People's Choice voting. Saturday 9am to dusk, Sunday 8am to 2pm.

Scavenger hunt style run and walk at Long Branch Park in Liverpool benefiting Kelleigh's Cause AVM research, with shirts, medals, and chocolate at the finish. Registration required in advance.

Village craft show at Johnson Park with vendors and community shopping.

Classic rock triple bill at the lakeside Empower FCU Amphitheater at Lakeview.

Hard rock at the Empower FCU Amphitheater at Lakeview, rain or shine. Gates open at 5:15pm.

Weekly Monday market and free concert at the Manlius Village Centre amphitheater, part of the summer series running through August 10.

The Pacifica Quartet opens the 47th festival season at First Presbyterian Church with works honoring Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Rachel Carson, plus Dvorak's American Quartet. Pre-concert talk at 6:30pm.

Free waterfront festival with more than 30 live acts on multiple stages, a carnival, a children's park, and food vendors across Breitbeck Park and downtown. The Grucci fireworks go up over Lake Ontario on Saturday night.

Free public viewing through the dome telescope at SUNY Oswego's Rice Creek Field Station Observatory. Call (315) 312-6620 after 6pm for the weather call.

Waterfront route run and walk starting at the Oswego YMCA during Harborfest weekend. Advance registration required, with no race day entries.

Weekly Saturday market in the Canalview Park and Shop lot on Route 481 with produce, baked goods, artisans, and food trucks. SNAP and FMNP accepted.

Annual fabric fundraiser for Oswego County 4-H in the Entertainment Building at the county fairgrounds in Sandy Creek. Fabric runs two dollars a yard, cash or check.

Guided wade into Rowell Brook with nets to find whatever is living in it, at the Amboy 4-H Environmental Education Center in Williamstown. Four dollars a person with a twelve dollar family cap, registration required.

Wednesday agricultural market behind Mexico High School with local producers, food trucks, and live music at the gazebo.

Weekly Friday market at Historic South Park with Upstate New York growers, food, crafts, kids activities, and live music.

Free outdoor concert at the Water Street Square Pocket Park in Oswego. Food and drink are permitted.

The August 1 date of the Saturday market at the Canalview lot, with local produce, bakers, and artisans.

Full costume ABBA tribute at the View Arts Center in Old Forge.

The country singer plays The Showroom at Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, with chart hits including Road Less Traveled.

Free Lebanese food and entertainment festival at Deerfield Fireman's Field in Utica, hosted by Saint Louis Gonzaga Maronite Church. Live music from 6:30pm both nights.

Saturday market in its 40th year at the M&T Bank lot on East Main Street, with local produce and vendors.

Rome's annual patriotic celebration runs all day: a morning parade, living history programs at Fort Stanwix, an evening Syracuse Orchestra concert on the lawn, and fireworks to close it out.

Free outdoor concert on the Clinton Village Green. Bring lawn chairs and blankets.

The 138th running of the county fair at the Boonville Fairgrounds, with agriculture shows, midway rides, live music, truck and tractor pulls, a demolition derby, and grandstand entertainment.

The market's 29th season continues on the Clinton Village Green with produce, meats, artisans, food trucks, and gazebo entertainment.

Extended Thursday evening hours at the Utica Zoo with live music, kids activities, and concessions. Regular zoo admission applies.

An all ages program at Utica University's Strebel Auditorium blending astronomy, live music, poetry, and visuals with astrophysicist Luke Keller and storyteller David Gonzalez.

The 205th county fair wraps up in Lowville with free gate admission, a Friday rodeo, a Saturday demolition derby, carnival rides, livestock, and vendors.

Artists paint outdoors around Sackets Harbor, with a Friday meet the artists reception from 5 to 7pm and a Saturday display and silent auction at the Arts Center.

The Thousand Islands ACBS chapter puts classic and antique boats on public display at the Upper James Street Docks in Alexandria Bay, on the St. Lawrence.

Hot air balloon day at Coyote Moon Vineyards in Clayton with basket displays, balloon walks, tethered rides, vendors, and a live band. The balloon glow runs 8 to 9:30pm, weather permitting.

Free outdoor big band jazz on the Sackets Harbor Battlefield lawn. Rain moves it to St. Andrew's Parish Center.

The downtown Wednesday market in its 49th season, run by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Jefferson County, along Washington Street at the Dulles State Office Building.

Free Wednesday waterfront concert at the Scenic View Park Pavilion in Alexandria Bay.

Free Thursday evening concert at the Frink Park Pavilion on Riverside Drive in Clayton, weather permitting.

The longest running antique boat show in the country, themed A Century of Century, at the Antique Boat Museum in Clayton. In water displays, a marketplace, and the benefit auction at 1pm Saturday.

Free 1960s tribute set on the Sackets Harbor Battlefield lawn, running through the Beatles, the Stones, and more.

Adults only two hour round trip out of Waterloo station with a bubbly toast, charcuterie, live music, and dessert on the way back. It also runs Friday, July 31.

Free outdoor live music at the State Street Event Plaza in downtown Auburn, with afterglow music at Moondog's Lounge from 10pm.

The REV Theatre Company's Phil Collins scored family production at the Merry-Go-Round Playhouse in Auburn. Final performances run through July 25.

Weekly market in the NYS Equal Rights Heritage Center courtyard with local producers, artisans, live music, and children's activities, rain or shine. It also runs Saturday, August 1.

Opera Saratoga's production of Donizetti's comic opera at the historic Smith Opera House in Geneva, with matinees Saturday and Sunday.

Classic cars, local vendors, and family activities throughout downtown Seneca Falls.

Weekly Tuesday market at the Seneca Falls Community Center with produce, baked goods, and crafts, running through October.

Free outdoor concert at People's Park, on every Tuesday through early August.

Cat Power performs The Greatest in full with her band at the Smith Opera House in Geneva.

The Pixar prequel on the big screen at the Smith Opera House in Geneva, general admission.

Thank you for reading, sharing,
and being part of this.

Jono Chowdhury
Founder, 315NY