For more than 40 years, Canal Fest has been inseparable from the Erie Canal. It has been defined not only by rides, parades, craft tents and fireworks, but by geography. The festival has long unfolded across both banks of the canal that divides the City of Tonawanda in Erie County from North Tonawanda in Niagara County earning its identity as a true “Twin Cities” event.
This summer, however, Canal Fest will not line the Erie Canal at all.
Instead, the eight-day celebration, scheduled for July 19th through 26th, will relocate entirely to Gratwick-Riverside Park along the Niagara River in North Tonawanda—roughly three miles from its historic footprint…