Is it Still Canal Fest if it’s on the Niagara River?

     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.

     The move marks the most dramatic shift in the festival’s modern history. It also raises a fundamental question: if Canal Fest is no longer on the canal, is it still Canal Fest?

       Canal Fest began more than four decades ago as a celebration of the Erie Canal’s historical and economic significance to the Tonawandas. The waterway, once a vital commercial artery linking the Great Lakes to the Hudson River, helped shape the region’s industrial growth and civic identity.

       Over time, the festival evolved into one of Western New York’s signature summer events. Streets along both sides of the canal would close to traffic. Vendors lined Main, Niagara, Canal and Adam streets in Tonawanda, while Sweeney, Webster, Tremont and Columbia streets in North Tonawanda bustled with rides and food stands.

     The festival blended tradition with spectacle. Past editions featured lumberjack shows, chainsaw carving demonstrations, car cruises, a parade, a diaper derby, amusement-style rides and an expansive arts and crafts marketplace. Fireworks over the canal became a visual centerpiece.

     Beyond entertainment, Canal Fest has long functioned as a fundraising engine for nonprofit organizations. Dozens of local groups relied on the event to generate revenue, visibility and volunteer engagement.

     Even during cancellations in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, organizers emphasized that the canal setting was central to the festival’s character. When the 2023 event was initially canceled amid plans to reinvent the festival, financial assistance from the Hochul administration ultimately allowed it to proceed.

     Through all those challenges, the canal remained the anchor. Until now.

     Organizers say the relocation was driven by circumstances they could not overcome. In a statement, Canal Fest leadership said that “immovable factors” made it impossible to hold the event in its historic location for 2026 and that moving to Gratwick-Riverside Park offers a chance for growth and expanded support for participating nonprofits.

     The shift effectively consolidates the entire event inside North Tonawanda. The North Tonawanda Common Council approved the change at a meeting in February.

     City of Tonawanda Mayor William Strassburg said he was surprised by the announcement. He explained that Canal Fest officials had met with Tonawanda’s Common Council to discuss needs and expectations for this year’s event and believed further discussions would follow. They did not.

     Strassburg acknowledged that the city had previously expressed concerns about overtime costs associated with police, public works and other services. The city also shortened last year’s event on its side of the canal from eight days to six, but he stressed that Tonawanda did not force Canal Fest out and remains open to collaboration in the future.

     He added that he has not spoken directly with festival officials since learning of the move.

     From the organizers’ perspective, cost appears to have been a decisive factor. Festival Vice President Rick Maier said that when he and President Peter Chenier met with Tonawanda officials, they were told the festival would be responsible for covering event-related costs including police and public works overtime. They estimated that amount could reach as much as $70,000 for the full eight days—double what they had paid in prior years.

     Maier said the board set an internal deadline to determine whether Tonawanda would be included in 2026. When that deadline passed without a resolution, organizers decided to move.

     North Tonawanda Mayor Austin Tylec said his office was contacted by organizers with limited options: either host the event at Gratwick Park or risk having no event at all. Tylec said the city intends to accommodate the festival and will coordinate with police, fire, parks and public works departments to ensure safety and logistics are handled properly.

     He emphasized that Gratwick Park has hosted large-scale events before and that the city would not stand in the way of significant changes if the festival committee believes they are necessary.

     Gratwick-Riverside Park offers something Canal Fest has never had before: a single, all-encompassing campus.

     Under the traditional canal model, activities stretched across two municipalities and multiple street corridors. That structure required coordination between two city governments, two police departments, and numerous public works teams. It also meant traffic closures and downtown disruptions.

     At Gratwick Park, organizers will have access to a consolidated space along the Niagara River, potentially simplifying operations and reducing overlapping municipal costs. They say the new setting will allow them to enhance the event and expand nonprofit participation.

     Maier noted that since announcing the venue change, more than $17,000 in craft show applications have already been submitted. Organizers are also exploring the addition of new events and nonprofit partners.

     At its core, Maier said, Canal Fest has always been about supporting nonprofits and raising money for community causes.

     Still, for many longtime attendees and business owners, the move represents more than a logistical adjustment. Downtown merchants in both Tonawandas have historically benefited from the foot traffic generated by Canal Fest. Restaurants, bars and retail shops have relied on the event’s draw during the peak summer season.

     The festival’s canal setting also carried symbolic weight. It connected present-day celebration to 19th-century infrastructure. It linked two municipalities in a shared civic moment. It turned the Erie Canal into a stage.

Now, that stage shifts to the Niagara River.

     Whether the move proves temporary or permanent remains unclear. Chenier has said he valued the collaborative nature of the Twin Cities format and expressed hope that the event could one day return to the canal.

     For now though, Canal Fest 2026 will unfold on grass and riverfront rather than pavement and canal walls.

     The name remains the same. The nonprofits remain involved. The rides, food vendors and music will feel familiar.

     But for the first time in more than four decades, Canal Fest will not take place on the canal.

     And that reality leaves many in the Tonawandas asking a simple question: when you take the canal out of Canal Fest, what exactly remains?

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Is it Still Canal Fest if it’s on the Niagara River?