Recipe for a Sensational Summer Festival:

What do you get when you combine a couple spins on a tilt-a-whirl, a caramel apple, a few fluffy hand-fulsof sugary cotton candy, a parade marching beneath rays of sunshine, a touch of live music, a pinch of bright fireworks crackling into the night sky and copious amounts of laughter-infused, quality family time?

Give up?
Why, a Central New York Region summer festival, of course.

Hitch a ride with the traveling circus to Greater Binghamton for the Broome County Fair at the end of July. (Or drive your car, you know, if you’re into that.) Picture yourself playing midway games with your kids, laughing nervously on rides with them, and oohing and ahhing with them at live Grandstand events like demolition derbies, rodeo shows, Gillette family entertainment, and every kind of “pull” you could imagine, from antique tractor to pony. Satisfy your family’s activity-fueled appetite with traditional fare of the fair as well as mouth-watering local specialties and shop novelty stands overflowing with unique clothing, crafts, accessories, and the list goes on. For added family feng shui, the 26th annual Spiedie Fest & Balloon Rally, at Otsiningo Park, August 6 – 8, awaits you with a fantastic lineup of food, music and live entertainment. This diverse, community-centered festival is comprised of concerts, celebrity appearances, special kids’ activities, antique car and craft shows. What’s more, they even have hot air balloon fl ights and a Spiedie Cooking Contest!

Ready for a little round robin in Chenango? Put your bird-watching binoculars away, we’re talking about the Gus Macker 3 on 3 Basketball Tourney in downtown Norwich, July 10th –11th, where over 400 teams compete in a tournament. If your favorite team should lose, you can heal your wounds and sing the blues at the Chenango County Blues Festival, August 20th – 21st, a down-home music festival presenting nationally known artists, tasty food, free children’s activities and crafts for sale. As Whitney Houston sang in the ‘90s, “I believe the children are our future, teach them well and let them lead the way.” Following suit, why not attend the New Berlin Youth Days, August 26th – 29th, and celebrate younger generations in the community with a parade, fireworks, music, free rides, and family entertainment.

Tap your feet, snap your fingers and clap your hands (not all at once, you’ll detract from the band) to Music on Main Street starting in July in Montgomery County. With free admission and concerts ranging in jazz and bluegrass to indie tunes, Irish jigs and soulful ballads, you can’t go wrong (unless of course, you try tapping, snapping, and clapping all at once as was warned about beforehand.) Celebrate Native American culture with art, dancing, ritual, crafts, music and food at Kateri Powwow, July 2nd – 4th at the Kateri Shrine in Fonda. July 3rd, root, root, root for the home team, the Amsterdam Mohawks Baseball team, at Parkfest, where fi reworks will be bursting into smithereens, bands performing, and rides sweeping you off your feet (literally) in Shuttleworth Park. Or, if by-land adventure has you twiddling your thumbs, catch one on water at Canal Days by the Schoharie Crossing Visitor Center, July 10th – 11th, with canoe races set amidst a delicious chicken barbeque, an engine show, kids’ activities and live music filling the air.

It’s a bird! It’s a plane! Wrong. It’s The Art in the Sky Kite Festival at Stone Quarry Hill Art Park in Madison County! No worries if you don’t have a kite – you can create one at the Art Park’s kite workshop! Witness kite demonstrations, kite battles, kite candy drops… you get the idea. Don’t let this celebration of sky and wind art float away from you; it’s truly one-of-a-kind. As summer slowly wanes, see Jazz ‘N Caz featuring national, regional and local jazz artists perform live in Cazenovia, September 23rd – 25th, with Jane Monheit, the Brubeck Brothers and even more talented musicians in the works.

Just as flora thaws and fauna timidly crawls out of hibernation in April, it’s time for SUNY Cobleskill’s Annual Fish & Wildlife Festival, where live animal exhibitors and representatives from natural resource organizations gather to celebrate the great outdoors. Catch a youth fishing derby, turkey and waterfowl calling contest, photography contest, fi sh fry, and chicken barbeque. Another mid-April milestone is the Schoharie County Maple Festival rejoicing in the first and sweetest harvest of the year, maple syrup of course. To partake in this festival is certainly a challenge, as it involves eating pancakes laden in syrup (who would want to do that?!), and includes crafts, maple demonstrations, and “Agrilicious” activities (sampling foods from Schoharie County and New York State. Sounds dreadful, right?)

Did you know that last year, USA Today named Utica as one of their picks for “Ten Great Places with International Flair”? Well speaking of this fl air, it wouldn’t be right to ignore all that they have to offer in terms of festival-esque fun, such as the Wine and Chocolate Festival in April (mmm, the name says it all) or the Riggie Fest, also in April, the largest chicken riggie cook-off in Central New York with over a dozen restaurants competing for the “Riggie Cup” and coveted title of “Best Chicken Riggies.” For über fun, try Bavarian Fest July 16th – 18th where you can have your schnitzel and eat it too. Come for the variety of wursts, beer, brats, and German folk dancing, and most of all, to say hip, hip, hooray for cultural heritage. Now, for the biggest annual animal event in Utica, pounce over to Brewfest at the Utica Zoo on August 7th! Quench your thirst with bubbly beverages courtesy of some Northeastern micro-breweries, sample a spread of tasty foods, groove to some music, and most important of all, mingle with the monkeys, loaf around with the sea lions, and rub shoulders with red pandas (do red pandas even have shoulders?)

Celebrate the Boy Scouts of America 100th Anniversary Centennial Encampment, the weekend of May 14th, in Cooperstown. For an event that’s on the sportier side, visit the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown July 23rd – 26th for the Hall of Fame Induction Weekend, where baseball fans of all ages can take a swing at roundtable discussions, book-signings, a free New York-Penn League baseball game, and other fun activities aimed at the sports-aholic. Be there to welcome the year’s newest inductees into the Hall of Fame family. Inject a little elegance into your social life and attend the Glimmerglass Opera Festival, July 29 – August 1, to experience four astounding productions over one weekend, beginning with Puccini’s Tosca and ending with Copland’s The Tender Land. Highlights of the weekend include private receptions and fascinating lectures. To add more fuel to your artsy sophistication, waltz through an open-aired arts festival at City of the Hills Fine Arts Festival, in Oneonta, August 6th. Benefiting the work of The Arc Otsego, a not-for-profit organization that works with developmentally disabled people throughout Otsego County, this festival features artwork for sale by 50 regional artists. You can also check out artist demonstrations, arts activities for children and a showcase of artwork by Fenner Art School students. Witness creativity in its fi nest form, appealing to all ages and skill levels.

The absolute last thing you’ll feel is that you’re “up a creek without a paddle” at America’s largest on-water canoe and kayak show, Paddlefest, on the waterfront at Old Forge, May 21st – 23rd. Test paddle as many boats as you like, hear expert advice, and reap the benefits of great deals on boats and paddling accessories. Jive to the oom-pa-pa of the nation’s top polka bands, and taste Polish delicacies at the 13th Annual Adirondack Polka Festival, May 29th – 30th, held at the Hiltebrant Recreation Center in Old Forge. Switch cultures and trade in your pirogues for corned beef at the Great American Irish Festival, July 23rd – 25th at the Herkimer County Fairgrounds, featuring Irish step dancing, bagpipes galore and traditional Irish beverages, a.k.a., Guinness and the like.