By Darlene Brace
If you are looking for something fun to do this weekend, you could join the Cassadaga community for the annual Cassadaga Winter Festival. This festival will take place January 31-February 2, 2025 at various locations in Cassadaga. Originally, this celebration began as Winter Weekend over 40 years ago, and after years of a hiatus, it was reinstated as the Winter Festival in 2017. Now this annual festival is hosted by a nonprofit organization called Citizens for a Better Cassadaga. This organization collaborates with residents, other organizations, and businesses to organize events like the Winter Festival that promote community engagement. They also plan other events like the summer concerts, the Labor Day Festival, and more.
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the community is invited to go sledding from 1-3pm
at the Cassadaga Country Club. Then to culminate
the Winter Festival, you can take part in a tour of
the Cassadaga Lakes Nature Park at 3pm. Enjoy
the outdoors while going cross-country skiing and/
or snowshoeing while on the tour. If you are interested,
meet at the Cassadaga Lakes Nature Park on
Route 60 at 2:50pm. Parking is limited, so carpool
if you can.
To kick off this year’s Winter Festival celebration, The Untouchables will perform Friday night at the American Legion Post 1280, located at 228 Maple Avenue in Cassadaga. They will perform from 6:30-9:30pm. This energetic band plays tunes from the 50s to the 80s. Make sure you wear your dancing shoes so that you can dance the night away. Food will be provided by Dupers and pizza from the legion will also be available.
The festival really gets in full swing on Saturday. At 8am, gather your family and friends for a 5K-50K walk/run around Cassadaga Lake. Participants can choose their distance and whether they want to walk or run. Registration is at 7am at the Fire Hall, or you can register online at coachmarkwilson.com. All the proceeds from the walk/run will go to the Chautauqua County Fire Police.
The American Legion Post 1280 will also be the location for a vendor show from 10am-3pm. There will be craft vendors with specialty items as well as other vendors selling a variety of merchandise. A light lunch will be available.
At 12pm, head on over to the beach as the community is invited to participate in the Fun at the Beach activities. There will be fire pits, s’mores, tetherball, street hockey, and an ice carving demonstration. To help warm you up, enjoy hot chocolate and chili provided by Park Church.
The exhilarating Ice Scream Polar Dip will take place at 1pm and will feature people who are brave enough to go for a plunge into the freezing lake. There is a $20 entry fee, and you will be awarded a T-shirt for being daring enough to participate. You can register that day or at coachmarkwilson.com. Please note that this year’s polar dip will be a tribute to Dennis Collins. Dennis was very involved in the Cassadaga community, and he recently passed away. So even if you are not going to take the chilly dip in the lake, come and cheer on those who are and pay tribute to Dennis.
By now you might need to warm up a bit, so you might want to go to the Cassadaga Library where Tanya and Her Goats will be from 2pm-4pm. You and your family can interact with live goats for a fun and informative experience. While there, you may also enjoy story and craft time.
Park Church, located at 25 Maple Avenue, will have a Souper-Bowl contest from 5pm-7pm. This is a soup cook-off contest. If you want to enter your soup into the contest, call 716-962-2265. It’s free to enjoy the soups being served with bread and salad.
On Sunday, there will be a corn hole tournament at the American Legion 1280 at 1pm. This is a fundraiser for the Cassadaga Valley Youth Sports Leagues. Registration begins at noon and the tournament starts at 1pm. There will be prizes for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places. A soup/chili dinner will be available, as well as a 50/50 raffle and a Chinese auction.
The community is invited to go sledding from 1-3pm at the Cassadaga Country Club. Then to culminate the Winter Festival, you can take part in a tour of the Cassadaga Lakes Nature Park at 3pm. Enjoy the outdoors while going cross-country skiing and/or snowshoeing while on the tour. If you are interested, meet at the Cassadaga Lakes Nature Park on Route 60 at 2:50pm. Parking is limited, so carpool if you can.
You should bring your family and friends and join in the fun at the Cassadaga Winter Festival. It will be a great community event with a wide variety of activities for people of all ages. Make sure you dress appropriately for the weather since most of the activities will be outdoors. For updated information, you can go to www.cassadaganewyork.org or visit Citizens for Better Cassadaga on Facebook.