Bigger and better than last year, the event will have plenty
of activities for kids, adults and families -- right on the farm.
The fourth annual Finger Lakes Cheese Festival is slated for Saturday July 25 from 10:00am-5:00pm at Sunset View Creamery in Odessa, NY, which is about five miles outside of Watkins Glen. Sunset View is a founding member of the Finger Lakes Cheese Trail which puts on this annual family-focus event, and the Planning Committee is excited to announce many new additions to this year's festival.
"We love hosting this event at Sunset View Creamery," explains Planning Committee member Lisa Engelbert of Engelbert Farms in Nichols. "There is plenty of room to grow the Festival, and this year we have more vendors, new activities and more local businesses and organizations as sponsors." Title Sponsor for the Festival is again the Watkins Glen Area Chamber of Commerce. Platinum Sponsors are the NYS Farm Bureau of Cayuga, Chemung, Seneca, Schuyler, Tioga and Tompkins Counties and Visions Federal Credit Union. Gold sponsors are Waterloo Premium Outlets and. Engelbert continues, "These are businesses and organizations we support, do business with, and belong to. And we are so grateful that they, in turn, have reached out to support our festival so we can continue to grow the Festival."
This year, the Trail continues their partnership with the Finger Lakes Beer Trail and will have three of their craft beer members on hand to sample and sell at the event. Theresa Hollister, co-founder of the Trail will lead the Beer & Cheese Pairing Seminar. Attendees will not only learn how to create the perfect pairings, they will also get to sample the pairings. The seminar is at 12:30, free and limited to 60 people.
Attendees will also get to sample the full pairings at the Wine & Cheese Pairing Seminar at 2:00. This seminar will be led by sommelier and wine writer Holly Howell and owner of the Little Bleu Cheese Shop, certified cheesemaker and educator Ann Duckett. The team will pair Trail cheeses with wines from wineries that are Associate Members of the Trail, as well as craft ciders from presenting cideries of the Finger Lakes Cider Alliance. This seminar is also free and limited to 60 people.
Other popular foodie activities include the Cooking with Cheese Demo (free) at 11:00 and the hands on Cheesemaking Demo at 3:30. Both will be held in the seminar tent, are free to paid attendees and limited to 60 people -- first come first seated.
The Cooking Demo will be led by Chef Christopher Bates, who recently opened the FLX Wienery on Route 14 in Dundee. Chef Bates will demo how to make fondue.
The Cheesemaking Demo will be led by top regional chef Brud Holland of Finger Lakes Made. This year, Chef Holland will lead attendees through making "house cheese" inviting audience members to come up and participate.
For the kids, there will again be Barnyard Olympics, petting zoo, goat milking and and expanded Kids Midway filled with old-fashioned country fair-style games including plinko and a dunking booth. Tickets for the games are $1 each or 8 for $5, and "wins" can be exchanged for fun prizes.
For the whole family, there will be music all day. There will be three bands this year, with local DJs from Mastermind Entertainment filling in between sets. All Sounds Brass will open the Festival, playing big band music from 10:00am-11:30am. Bob & Dee take the stage from noon to 2:00pm, and The Tarps will play from 2:30-4:00pm.
In addition, there will be guided and self-guided farm tours, and hayrides for everyone.
There will also be plenty to eat, sample and buy. There will be a full Farm Market featuring the creameries of the Finger Lakes Cheese Trail and many local food and farm vendors. There will be four stations where attendees can purchase full meals: Burke's BBQ, Kirton's Farm Market, the Burdett Fire Department who will be offering Cornell Chicken BBQ, and Global Taco will be on hand with their popular regional food truck. Local beverages will include the juices of Red Jacket Orchards, and hand squeezed lemonade from Papa's Kettle Corn who is also creating a special cheddar kettle corn exclusively for the Festival. In the adult beverage tent, attendees will find wines from five of the Trail's member wineries, three craft breweries and, new this year, two cideries. Water and soda will also be available at select vendors.
Along with the food and drink, the Trail invited their neighbor artisans and farms to participate in the event, so there will also be farm produce and products, along with locally made products and wares.
"There will be something for everyone! And no one will go hungry that's for sure," explains Carmella Hoffman, owner of Sunset View Creamery and member of the festival's planning committee. "Think of it as a huge summer family bbq and farmers market all wrapped up into one!"
Admission to the festival is $5 per adult, kids 12 and under free. Parking is free. The first 500 attendees who bring their parking stub to the registration table will receive a commemorative re-useable shopping bag. And attendees are encouraged to bring a cooler to keep their purchases in. A tractor-pulled shuttle will run between the festival and the parking areas all day.
A full schedule of events, list of vendors and list of sponsors are available on the Cheese Festival page on the Trail's website or on the Cheese Festival Tab on the Trail's Facebook page. Updates, changes and new vendors are announced on Facebook as well.
