Ithaca Celebrates 32nd Annual Ithaca Festival

Written by Alyssa Letsch
6/8/2009Share this story on Facebook!

The city of Ithaca recently celebrated its 32nd annual Ithaca Festival. The Ithaca Festival is an incredibly unique combination of small-town and big-city celebrations on the Ithaca Commons and surrounding streets, as well as in Stewart Park on the final day of festivities.

The four-day celebration kicked off with the festival's must-see annual parade. The parade began with the festival mile, in which runners of all ages make their way down Cayuga Street, followed by over 100 teams and organizations marching in the parade -- on foot, on float, even on horses, veggie-powered cars, golf carts, and bicycles!

This video was taken at the Bernie Milton Pavilion on the Ithaca Commons. The Tompkins County Country Dancers led a group of festivalgoers in folk dancing.

Following the parade, the festival begins in earnest: non-stop music, food, activities, performances, and shopping continue for three days, bringing thousands of people to the city of Ithaca and creating an unbelievable sense of community for locals and visitors alike.

All festivities are free, but participants are encouraged to buy pins for $5.00 to support the festival. The pin entitles wearers to discounts at festival booths and local shops, as well as free transportation aboard the TCAT, Ithaca's local bus system.

This video was taken at Stewart Park, where the festivities moved for the last day of celebrations. The community drumming group provided drums and percussion instruments for everyone to jump in and play, following the beat.

The theme of this year's festival was "Let the Sunshine In," which couldn't have been more perfect! With sunny skies and temperatures in the 60s and 70s all four days, there were even more reasons to celebrate.