GO Art! working on artisan fest in 2025 that could draw 100,000 people to canal towns
Event planned to celebrate 200th anniversary of Erie Canal, Orleans County
Gregory Hallock
MEDINA – The Genesee-Orleans Regional Arts Council is working on a three-day artisan festival next year in Orleans County that could draw 100,000 people to the community.
Gregory Hallock, GO Art! executive director, spoke at the Medina Village Board meeting on Monday evening. He said the arts council is pushing to get all the details together for what he said will be a big celebration for the 200th anniversary of the Erie Canal and also Orleans County.
GO Art! is looking at Aug. 22-24 or Sept. 26-28 for the festival, which would have events in the villages of Medina, Albion and Holley, as well as a boat regatta going 21 miles from Medina to Holley.
Hallock said he expects there would be 400 artisan vendors for the event at the three villages and two concerts – at the waterfalls in Holley and State Street Park in Medina.
He plans to meet with village officials in Albion, Holley and Medina soon to firm up the details. He will be seeking funding from the State Canal Corp. and New York Power Authority to help pay towards the festival. The vendors also will be pay a fee to be at the event which will help cover the costs.
GO Art! was leaning towards the three days in late August for the celebration, but moving It back to September would allow the festival to be timed with the voyage of the Seneca Chief, a replica of the canal boat that took Gov. DeWitt Clinton on passage of the original canal in 1825.
Hallock said the festival also will include theatrical performances and a car show.
GO Art! would like to make it an annual event, with the bicentennial celebration giving it a big start.
The arts council sees an opportunity with a big artisan festival with the Letchworth Arts & Crafts Show taking a break.
“It’s exciting,” Medina Mayor Marguerite Sherman said about the event.
Jess Marciano, a village trustee, said GO Art! does a great job with events in the community, including the recent Day of the Dead celebration at the Orleans County YMCA.
“Thank you for putting the time into this,” Marciano told Hallock.
GO Art! today also will announce plans for a cultural center in Medina. That announcement will be 5:30 p.m. today at the Cornell Cooperative Extension.
