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In a section of the Syracuse Inner Harbor, situated on Onondaga Lake’s south end, sits a grassy plot and communal amphitheater — a site home to the city’s annual CNY Pride summer festival. Each June, for more than a decade, thousands of LGBTQ+ community members, allies, locals and out-of-city visitors eagerly flock to a weekend-long celebration of love, empowerment and education.

This year’s CNY Pride festival, which took place on June 22, was the organization’s first celebration in the newly designated Progress Park. Despite a cloudy sky, over 20,000 attendees gathered to share laughs and smiles while many flaunted vibrant rainbow garb.

“Whether it’s a pride festival, a rally, a march, a flag raising — they’re visibility events,” said Jimmy Monto, president of the CNY Pride board of directors. “They matter for the people that are struggling to find community, to find a tribe, to find a crew.”

From mom-and-pop vendors to cultural experiences, summer festivals in Syracuse provide a space for community building and encourage dialogue around various backgrounds. Monto, a local advocate on the Syracuse Common Council, shared that for Syracuse events, like CNY Pride, being there for one another must be everlasting. And thankfully, he said, there is already a broad spectrum of support.

Amid her research, Isabella Chavez Miranda, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences at Syracuse University, took some time to explore the breadth of opportunities during her first summer in Syracuse. She hadn’t explored the city in previous years because she’d gotten “sucked into the campus bubble” and didn’t have a car.

During her summer months in the city, however, Miranda’s roommate had a car. With guidance from a syracuse.com curated list of local festivals and another friend from the city, Miranda commenced a new chapter of discovery beyond South Crouse Avenue.

The Greek Cultural Festival, hosted from June 6-9 at St. Sophia’s Greek Orthodox Church, was Miranda’s favorite festival. With it being among the first ones she visited, Miranda was amazed by its components.

“I hadn’t seen so many people attend one festival and really come together to eat so much great food and actually just watch all the performances that they spend weeks practicing to perform for the community,” Miranda said.

Joe Zhao | Video Editor

Dressed in culturally significant clothing, performers play various instruments exposing Syracuse residents to new music.

Ella Brann, an SU sophomore from Manlius, has also experienced the Greek Festival and recalls the event being popular among students from her middle and high school. Two of her best friends belong to the church and dance in the festival, a moment Brann enjoys annually because she can cheer for them.

After waves of final exam jitters and graduation obligations pass, many SU students book tickets for a summer away from Syracuse. Miranda said with thousands of students leaving campus, she noticed a shift in the community’s energy, which she grew fond of.

It’s the appreciation for Syracuse like Miranda’s that drives the work of Rachel Botsford, the president of CNY Scottish Games. Each summer, CNY Scottish Games holds a Highland Games-like festival for central New York’s Celtic descendants. The Syracuse-area nonprofit was started by Clan Douglas, #232 in the Order of Scottish Clans, and has been around for nearly 80 years.

Botsford, who became involved with CNY Scottish Games after frequently attending the annual festival knowing she had distant relatives of Scottish ancestry, said volunteers work year-round to prepare each aspect for the enormous, one-day festival in August.

Every year, the organization features a piping and drumming competition. This year in particular, Botsford said, bagpipers traveled from Ohio, Massachusetts and parts of Canada to compete.

“It’s always a fun day for anyone,” Botsford said. “You might think, ‘Oh, if you don’t know if you have Scottish heritage or whatnot, maybe it’s not for you,’ but it really is for everyone.”

The Scottish Games’ primary focus this year was to garner more family involvement, which was missing before 2024. They’ve been trying to find ways to appeal to people of all ages with spectacles like the tossing of caber — a large, roughly-trimmed tree trunk.

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Other organizations, like the annual classic car show Syracuse Nationals, also placed an emphasis on creating a family-oriented atmosphere. Operations Manager Brian Badger said their method of expanding the organization’s effect was to lower the average age of attendees and avoid “breaking people’s banks.” So, at the doors of the New York State Fairgrounds, children 12 and under were welcomed with free admission.

Over the festival weekend this year, Syracuse Nationals recorded between 80,000 to 90,000 visitors, Badger said. He said with filled restaurants, hotels and gas stations, an economic boom is brought to the Syracuse area. But the time spent in the city by people from out of town also gives them a closer look at what Syracuse is all about.

Two aspects of Syracuse Nationals that were quite attractive this year were kid-friendly activities and exhibits. Kids could enjoy an Optimus Prime Transformers replica truck, the first officially licensed fan-built replica truck of the fictional character, and an evening performance by the Baldwinsville Bees Pep Band. Badger said seeing the whole show come together after 365 days of organizing was a proud moment for everybody on his team.

Monto, too, finds that it’s well worth it when the puzzle pieces of planning all fall into place. It was hard for CNY Pride to bounce back from COVID-19 because they relied on in-person gatherings, much like other nonprofits. Moreover, CNY Pride is an all-volunteer organization with a small budget. Still, this year, Monto said the festival had immense success.

Joe Zhao | Video Editor

Hozier takes the stage at a summer concert in Syracuse, entertaining viewers with powerful vocals.

“We always start the festival with a giant parade and this year, it was the largest parade we’ve ever had,” Monto said. “I was on a golf cart riding down the parade route and you can’t help but be emotional when you see the amount of people that are just standing on the sidelines cheering on.”

CNY Pride is a full day of entertainment — from dancers and drag to singers and circus acts. There is a kickoff party on Friday night. Celebrations then flood into Saturday with a full day of entertainment from 12-5 p.m. and an after party at another location.

Monto said a festival like CNY Pride matters, especially for people who identify as LGBTQ+ and may be scared. He said he’s been openly gay for about 28 years, so the summer event is a day for him and many others to be proud of what their community has always been about.

CNY Pride also serves as a resource for the Syracuse community because a lot of the nonprofits in attendance are also service organizations. Monto said they had the Volunteer Lawyers Project of CNY offering free name changes for transgender people. Planned Parenthood also pushed forward dialogue about contraception and related topics.

For Monto, summer festivals are always days where anybody can come out and show their support.

“If you really give Syracuse a chance, actually connect with the community and explore the different things that the actual city has to offer outside of the university, you can learn to fall in love with Syracuse,” Miranda said. “It’s a very magical place.”

Published on August 21, 2024 at 11:25 pm