Fredonia, New York, is in Chautauqua County, approximately 45 miles southwest of Buffalo, New York, and 50 miles northeast of Erie, Pennsylvania. For tourists, Fredonia features attractions like the Rockefeller Arts Center and the D R Barker Museum. The community also hosts a variety of special events each year, including celebrations for national holidays and of local wines or history.
The Village of Fredonia and the Town of Pomfret present Fredonia's Victorian Dazzle Festival each year. The event transports festival goers to the year 1890 with a variety of attractions. Typically held in July, the event begins on a Friday evening with psychic readings, moonlit cemetery and ghost tours in vintage horse-drawn buggies and a live music concert. Free silent movies are also shown.
On Saturday, a variety of antique vendors and artists set up booths to display their wares. Free antique appraisals are given, and the ghost tours and concerts continue throughout the day. For children, the festival offers games and Victorian-inspired crafts. A puppet show was also featured in previous years.
The majority of the events for the Victorian Dazzle Festival occur in Barker Common Park at the center of the town of Fredonia. Admission to the event is free, but some performances and the tours may involve a fee. Advanced reservations were also needed for the tours.
The Red, White & Blues Festival is also a product of the collaboration between the Village of Fredonia and the Town of Pomfret. A celebration of local red and white wines serves as the theme for the event, which is set to the music of the blues with concerts held throughout the festival; together, these types of wine and the style of music that pervades the event give the festival its name.
In addition to the concerts, wine tastings are held throughout the two day event that lasts from Friday through Saturday on a weekend in September each year. Local restaurants operate food booths, and a farmers market opens for the festival. Other past events have included beer-making demonstrations, lectures on blues music and a barbecue ribs cook-off. Children's music, activities and games are typically featured as well.
The Red, White & Blues Festival is held primarily at Barker Commons Park with events occurring throughout the village of Fredonia. The event is free to attend.
The Miracle on Main Street, a winter holiday-themed celebration, is another event planned by the Village of Fredonia and the Town of Pomfret. Typically held on a weeknight in December, the festival includes the lighting of Fredonia's holiday decorations. Victorian horse-drawn carriage rides are given, allowing event goers to see the lights all over town. Live music and Christmas caroling are featured, and in past years, a gingerbread workshop has allowed kids to design their own gingerbread houses at the event. Santa Claus is also on hand to listen to the children's lists and pose for photographs. Storytellers keep kids entertained as they wait for their turn to climb onto Santa's lap.
The Miracle on Main Street occurs at Fredonia's Barker Commons Park. The event is free.
