Potsdam Summerfest is Thursday-Saturday with variety of events and music

Watertown Daily Times, N.Y.
·3 min read

Jul. 11—POTSDAM — Potsdam Summer Festival is Thursday to Saturday with a full slate including music, a foot race, kids' events, pickleball, a pub crawl, laser tag, fireworks and food.

There will be four stages set up. The main and secondary stages on Market Street and a stage in Ives Park will be used all weekend. A Fall Island stage will be for two events on Friday.

The three days of festivities start Thursday at 11 a.m. with a chicken barbecue at the Elks Lodge on Elm Street near Market Street, served until sold out. The Tour de Potsdam, a race for runners and walkers will be in the early evening with registration at 5 p.m. in the Beal Street parking lot. The Potsdam Rescue Squad will have a free ice cream social in Ives Park starting at 6 p.m. with the Norwood Brass Firemen performing 6:30 to 8 p.m. in the Ives Park gazebo. There will be a pickleball demo court open on Market Street from 4 to 7 p.m.

Friday starts with the Fall Island Fiesta children's event from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. There will be demonstrations from the Potsdam Fire Department and Potsdam Rescue Squad, touch a truck, locomotive train rides, a Potsdam Library story time, music by the Animal Crackers from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., a North Country Children's Museum exhibit, ice cream by the Village Diner, rock painting and chalk art, snowcones and the county sheriff's office will be there to offer its Safe ID program. There will be bounce houses at the Elks opening at 10 a.m., which will also be open Saturday starting at the same time.

Vendors and crafters will be set up in Ives Park Friday and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. both days. Friday from 4 to 10 p.m., there will be a beer, wine and cider tent in the Fall Island park. There will be alcoholic beverages served by In-Law, Gristmill, Hex and Hop and Maple breweries and Kaneb Orchard. Big Spoon Kitchen, Gideon's Galley and Italian Affair will have food trucks. Local band The Dad Bods will play from 7 to 10 p.m. There will also be karaoke at St. Larry's starting at 9 p.m.

On Saturday, there will be an antique and classic car show in Ives Park from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. The farmers market will be open at the park pavilion from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. There will be community yoga in Garner Park from 9 to 10 a.m. hosted by the Canton Yoga Loft. A downtown pub crawl will be from 3 to 7 p.m. starting at Half Ton's on Market Street with a free beer mug and prizes. There is a $5 admission fee. There will be two sessions of laser tag in Ives Park, from 3 to 5 p.m. and 6 to 9 p.m. There will be a Potsdam firefighters' parade on Market Street starting at 6 p.m. Afterward, the fire department will do their Run to the River from 7 to 7:30 p.m., which is a showcase of firefighter skills. The festival will close out with fireworks in Ives Park at 9 p.m.

Music will run all weekend, from noon to 10 p.m. Thursday, and starting at 10 a.m. Friday and Saturday. The complete music schedule is on the Potsdam Chamber of Commerce Facebook page at wdt.me/uAufRa.