SYRACUSE — As the revitalization and growth of downtown Syracuse continues, festivals are providing a lift because they attract new visitors to downtown and showcase it, while increasing the urban-lifestyle amenities for those who call downtown home. Downtown festivals attract hundreds of thousands of attendees annually to Syracuse’s central business area, which provides a number […]
SYRACUSE — As the revitalization and growth of downtown Syracuse continues, festivals are providing a lift because they attract new visitors to downtown and showcase it, while increasing the urban-lifestyle amenities for those who call downtown home.
Downtown festivals attract hundreds of thousands of attendees annually to Syracuse’s central business area, which provides a number of follow-on business and economic benefits.
The Syracuse Arts & Crafts Festival, held from July 25-27 in the Columbus Circle area of downtown, drew a crowd of 30,000 people this year, says Merike Treier, executive director of the Downtown Committee of Syracuse, Inc., which puts on that festival annually. Treier spoke with CNYBJ in an Aug. 25 phone interview and she credited the Downtown Committee’s pedestrian counting software for generating the crowd figure.
Throughout the weekend, attendees were able to shop and browse many contemporary arts and crafts, including ceramics, sculptures, photography, painting, woodwork, and jewelry.
Downtown Syracuse hosts about a 15 festivals each year, according to Treier. The biggest one is Taste of Syracuse, which was held this year from June 6-7 and is organized by the events arm of Galaxy Media. Taste of Syracuse — described by Galaxy as Central New York’s biggest food and music festival — attracted an estimated 200,000 people over two days.
Other key festivals drawing big crowds to downtown include the Polish Festival, held in Clinton Square this year from June 20-22; the Syracuse Irish Festival, hosted at Clinton Square Sept. 5-6; and Festa Italiana, held in front of Syracuse City Hall from Sept. 12-14.
The impact of festivals
These festivals play a critical role in downtown’s growth and renewal, says Treier.
“Festivals add to the quality of life that we can offer here in Syracuse and downtown Syracuse. They offer an opportunity to showcase the different assets that we have here – whether that’s arts and culture or people and cultures. The festivals provide a platform for celebration to take place,” she says.
Treier explains, “When [festivals] are taking place in downtown Syracuse, it’s a tremendous opportunity to bring people” into downtown’s central business district. “It helps them kind of explore and understand what there is to offer, while also providing that platform to celebrate our different cultures and art forms.”
And that translates into an economic boost.
“That is the hope, with the festivals and events bringing people into the downtown area, not only for that event but also to provide them with a reason or excuse to come into the downtown district,” Treier notes. “From there, the opportunity to discover a new restaurant they have not seen before… or learning about a new business, or museum that they have not known about before.”
Besides the well-known, established festivals, newer events are also making an impact. The 315 Thursdays Music Series attracted music fans to Hanover Square every Thursday in August and to the Westcott neighborhood of Syracuse every Thursday night in September. The series has become popular and developed quite a following, Treier says.
BabelFest is another emerging event. Put on by Redhouse Arts Center from Sept. 25-28, it was a free weekend of 11 “groundbreaking new plays that feature emerging voices and underrepresented perspectives,” according to the Redhouse.
“The more festivals that we have coming through our community is helping to highlight a lot of our different amenities that exist here and helping to establish Syracuse as a center for arts and culture in our region,” says Treier, who is also president of the Downtown Syracuse Foundation, Inc.
Helping in the effort to foster new and emerging festivals is the Syracuse Cultural Festivals Fund, which was established by the City of Syracuse government budget and is administered by the Downtown Syracuse Foundation on behalf of the city.
In the latest round, $135,000 in grants was available for festivals planned to be held between October 2025 and September 2026 and eligible for consideration. Applications for grant amounts between $3,000 and $10,000 per festival were considered and grant dollars are intended to support 501 (c)(3) and 501 (c)(4) nonprofit community groups in delivering celebratory events that focus on a particular theme. The events must be free for the public to attend (with no ticket purchase necessary), take place in public spaces, and offer entertainment and/or activities for attendees.
“Putting together and finding funding for festivals is a challenge. So to be able to help support nonprofits in delivering these events to the community was really important,” says Treier.
Success stories emerging from the Syracuse Cultural Festivals Fund include BabelFest. Another success example is the Syracuse Art Trail, a collaborative project between CNY Arts and local arts and culture organizations, held July 18-27 this year.
For the 2024 edition of the Syracuse Cultural Festivals Fund application process, 27 festivals across the city of Syracuse were allocated funding, says Treier. The 2025 grant process was in progress as this publication went to press.
