CAZENOVIA — Caz Life is celebrating the village’s vibrant community spirit by organizing Summer Fest 2024, a packed weekend of events and activities for all ages.
The festival is scheduled for the first weekend in August, and events will be held at multiple venues.
“The goal of Caz Life is always to highlight the beauty and vibrancy of our community,” said Summer Fest organizer McKenzie Houseman, who owns 20|EAST & Cazenovia Cut Block. “We love getting everyone together to celebrate and have a wonderful time. Our hope is that people from outside of the area will visit, feel inspired by everything we have to offer, and make plans to visit again in the future. We make the event the whole weekend because we can’t fit it all into one day.”
Friday, Aug. 2
The celebration will begin with a family-friendly Truck a Palooza from 3 to 5 p.m. in the back parking lot of the Cazenovia Public Library. Kids can check out fire trucks, dump trucks, ice cream trucks, tractors, and more.
Madison County Distillery will host a kickoff party featuring live music from Southy’s Keys from 5 to 8 p.m. A suggested $10 donation will benefit Caz Life events and event promotions.
Allusion, a teen cover band from Bergen County, New Jersey, will perform at McCarthy’s Pub from 8 to 11 p.m.
Saturday, Aug. 3
Saturday’s schedule of events begins with the Cazenovia Farmers’ Market on Albany Street from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
While adults explore the market, kids can embark on a scavenger hunt from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. with prizes sponsored by Cazenovia realtor Thomas Tait.
Scavenger hunt sheets are available at Carriage Barn Books and online at cazenovialife.com. Completed sheets can be turned in for a Nelson Creamery ice cream and entry into a drawing for a gift certificate to Carriage Barn Books or a $250 gift card for a kid’s bike.
From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., the Twin Magicians balloon artists will entertain in the village, courtesy of Miori Martial Arts.
The all-day Blueberry Jam Festival will be held at Critz Farms from noon to 10 p.m. The event will include food trucks, live music, vendors, wagon rides, children’s entertainers, farm tours, and animals.
From 12:30 to 2 p.m., Community Bank will host Shred-Fest, a one-stop shop to destroy sensitive documents and help safeguard against identity theft and fraud.
Many of the day’s main festivities will take place in Lakeland Park.
Morse Kayak Rentals will be in the park with kayaks and stand-up paddleboards from noon to 5 p.m.; Miori Martial Arts will do a karate demonstration at 12:30 p.m.; and Summit Church will have a large tent set up from 1 to 4 p.m. with games, prizes, cotton candy, and snow cones. Cazenovia Jewelry is also sponsoring a petting zoo.
From noon to 4 p.m., the Cazenovia Masons will serve family-friendly food and ice cream, and the Hermits and Phokouttahere food trucks will be onsite.
Lamplit Farm will offer nostalgic horse-drawn wagon rides through the village from 1 to 4 p.m., sponsored by 20|EAST and Cazenovia Jewelry.
Soul Injection, sponsored by Bruce Wayne and Community Bank, will perform live music in the park from 1 to 4 p.m., and Allusion will take the stage from 4:30 to 7 p.m.
The Brae Loch Inn’s outdoor patio will be open for people to take a break from the festivities while staying in earshot of the music.
The Brewster Inn’s outdoor bar will open at 5 p.m. Beverages, dinner, and a special dockside takeout menu will be available.
The day will wrap up with a projected art installation titled “Nearby Rock Sighs Pink” at the Pewter Spoon Cafe at 9 p.m. Presented by Stone Quarry Hill Art Park and Cazenovia-based artist Patti Christakos, the installation is a series of photographic images of architectural details of Cazenovia College. The images are inspired by the iconic Cazenovia screen prints made in the 1970s by artist and former Cazenovia College instructor Rita Hammond (1924-1999).
Sunday, Aug. 4
Creatives can express themselves by participating in a Chalk the Walk in the village from noon to 4 p.m. Chalk will be provided, and artists of all ages are invited to share their work on social media @Caz Life.
Other events include yoga on the docks at The Brewster Inn at 9:30 a.m. and a live wood-turning demonstration by John Volcko on the porch of Cazenovia Artisans from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Kids can continue their scavenger hunts from noon to 4 p.m., and Morse Kayak Rentals will be at Lakeland Park again from noon to 5 p.m.
Caz Life is the events and marketing committee of the Greater Cazenovia Area Chamber of Commerce. Its members work to foster local business development, promote tourism, and implement effective marketing strategies to enhance the vibrancy and economic growth of the village.
Promotions for Summer Fest 2024 are supported by a grant awarded to the Cazenovia Area Community Development Association (CACDA) through Empire State Development’s Market New York program.
“CACDA received the grant, [and] we are partnering with Caz Life,” said Lauren Lines, CACDA’s executive director. “The funds total $50,000 over two years and will be used for seasonal marketing campaigns in 2024 and 2025. ‘Summer in Cazenovia’ is the first campaign. Summer Fest is just one of the events that are being promoted through Summer in Cazenovia. We will have a similar Autumn campaign this fall.”
The full Cazenovia Summer Fest 2024 schedule is available at cazenovialife.com/summerfest.
