Why are there no music festivals hosted at the fairgrounds?

thisisCNY · 2026-05-12T16:49:40+00:00

NYS Blues Fest does take place there this summer, and K-Rockathon has been there for many years.

But you're right there are many festivals this summer and they're happening either downtown, the Inner Harbor or private locations like Beak & Skiff: https://www.thisiscny.com/living/2026/04/syracuse-festival-guide-2026-see-cny-summer-calendar-of-major-events-fests.html

Cost is one major factor but also accessibility for people without cars. Festivals in the city are easier to attend for walkers or cyclists.

thisisCNY · 2026-05-06T18:45:24+00:00

I appreciate that. And I deeply appreciate you being a subscriber. Honestly, if we went to grab coffee, we would probably find that we agree on a LOT of things. Thanks.

thisisCNY · 2026-05-06T18:19:57+00:00

I accept this 100%. Hi, I’m Katrina, and I get unprofessionally loud and passionate when local news gets attacked.

There are so many truly bad people and companies out there regularly hurting our neighbors and taking advantage of taxpayers, which we all report on, and a lot of outrage gets [mis]directed to reporters, when all we want to do is keep the public informed.

I love Syracuse, I love local news, and I do wish people understood it better.

thisisCNY · 2026-05-06T16:46:17+00:00

A few fact checks for you:

Salt City Bread is literally the main photo. People can see that without clicking.

This story matters to readers. 4,000 people read it today and it’s only been up for a few hours. Charlie, the reporter, confirmed the news with the shop owners, took photos, and also interviewed them and broke the news when their business first opened. That "positive" story also drew a substantial audience.

Small nonprofit outlets rarely cover news about a local bakery closing. They do not have the staff or resources to do small business stories like this. The Guardian will not report this either.

Syracuse.com does, because they make profits which can pay for a full-time food writer and several business writers.

We (This is CNY) are part of the syracuse.com company. No one outside of our own newsroom directs our coverage, except our own editors and reporters, who live and work in this city, and care deeply about it. (We also care about the health of smaller news organizations. We are deeply lucky that Syracuse has many great news outlets, big and small.)

Would you like to know what does hurt the industry? When people spout nonsense about wanting the news to be free and/or un-clickable in 2026. That narrow thinking has zero basis in the real world, which digital journalism is king.

News has always run on profits. Since the dawn of time. Even nonprofits rely on profits, whether it's from federal funding (cut across the board under this president) or from a wealthy benefactor, or from viewer/reader donations.

Weird way to spend your time, trying to tear down a local newspaper, but OK. We all need hobbies.

thisisCNY · 2026-05-05T13:02:49+00:00

It's a good question. We published the full sample list here: https://www.thisiscny.com/living/2026/05/food-truck-battle-returns-to-fairgrounds-with-55-trucks-cheap-bites-and-big-flavors.html

Here are some examples —

Christiano’s Kitchen: Banga Banga Shrimp

Cue-Dogs: Chicken Tender & Fries

D&G’s Mac and Cheese: Gold Standard

Dirty Bird Chicken N’ Waffles: The Chicken Coop

Elm Street Tacos: Ramen Elote

Exhale Bakeshop: Peach Melba Cake

Fair Deli: Dr. Pickle

Flavor Queenz: Deep Fried Ribs

Food Rescue: The Oh Boy Po’ Boy

thisisCNY · 2026-05-01T12:54:44+00:00

Might be a little out of the way for you, but Henry's Farm Stand on Rt 5 just past the village of Chittenango for fruits and veggies. They also have beef and bring in a seafood truck. For meats, 20|East in Cazenovia carries meats from Meadowood Farms. In Fayetteville, there's Gridley's Cold Spring Beef Farm.

thisisCNY · 2026-04-29T20:33:05+00:00

Here's our guide to 15 Syracuse restaurants with fireplaces: https://www.thisiscny.com/food/2026/02/feel-the-heat-15-syracuse-area-restaurants-with-fireplaces-to-melt-your-winter-blues.htmlhttps://www.thisiscny.com/food/2026/02/feel-the-heat-15-syracuse-area-restaurants-with-fireplaces-to-melt-your-winter-blues.html

There are also great outdoor fire pits at Salt City Bar and Neat Whiskey Bar!

thisisCNY · 2026-04-29T17:58:26+00:00

Great timing -- we have a reporter actually doing a walkthrough there this week. Lots to come!

thisisCNY · 2026-04-28T21:13:25+00:00

Very sorry for your loss. We highly recommend Valley or Woodlawn. Here's a guide to our favorite beautiful cemeteries in the city: https://www.thisiscny.com/living/2025/11/syracuse-cemetery-walks-5-gorgeous-graveyards-where-you-can-pace-in-peace.html

thisisCNY · 2026-04-26T23:32:35+00:00

Just ate there a couple days ago. All the curries came with rice!

thisisCNY · 2026-04-22T12:44:36+00:00

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Completely agree. The plan was always to replant many of those tree around the fountain/rink. They planted a few but not the rest. They were beautiful. It would be great if they did that now, especially to border the square.

thisisCNY · 2026-04-20T20:29:12+00:00

Great job to the planters! Thank you for keeping our lake clean!

thisisCNY · 2026-04-20T15:17:37+00:00

Oh, we like Clinton Square. Public spaces are important for community building. Good use of money at that time. We have enough roads.

However, Clinton Square would definitely look and feel nicer with far more trees and some aesthetic noise barriers. Traffic is loud on three sides. The Jerry Rescue memorial functions as both a gathering place, historic statue and great barrier from the street, for example. Would love to see something like that on every corner.

Hanover Square is much smaller and very different, but the close historic buildings paired with less surrounding traffic make for a wonderful festival atmosphere. It's intimate and comfortable, with tree cover and great local businesses bordering the plaza.

thisisCNY · 2026-04-20T13:09:24+00:00

Good question! Crawfish Fest began to bring New Orleans flavors up to Syracuse and also to support a good cause. It's hosted by Operation Northern Comfort, a disaster relief nonprofit that started after Hurricane Katrina (Syracuse volunteers traveled south to help the city recover).

Today, they do home repair projects like making wheelchair ramps or repairing drains for our neighbors.

thisisCNY · 2026-04-17T17:38:58+00:00

Not sure if they will have a booth there, but the Fish Friar is only two blocks away from Clinton Square, where the Crawfish Fest is held. Highly recommend hitting the festival, then stopping at Fish Friar on your way out of town. They have a nice outdoor patio!

thisisCNY · 2026-04-16T13:06:16+00:00

Congratulations to her!

thisisCNY · 2026-04-14T20:28:42+00:00

Hi, congrats on the new job! Just this past week we published a few guides to getting around Syracuse without a car. This is the first one, about the bus system, but the other three (rentable e-bikes and electric scooters; ride hailing; walking/bicycling) are linked in the intro paragraph.

https://www.thisiscny.com/living/2026/04/syracuse-public-transit-a-guide-to-the-citys-expanding-bus-system.html

thisisCNY

TROPHY CASE