Music will float across Cayuga Lake this July with waterside bands jamming out for paddlers, kayakers, walkers and the community at the Cayuga Waterfront Trail. Watermusic and Dancing on the Trail will add a whimsical touch to Ithaca once again this summer, this year adding a new closing concert to its lineup.
On July 27, the Cayuga Waterfront Trail, farmers market and Cass Park will be filled with casual, bustling tunes from 5-8:30 p.m. The event’s closing concert will begin at 7:30 p.m., featuring a collaborative mashup of the evening’s performers as the sun sets.
Bouncing from the waterfront trail to the park to the farmers market, music will be everywhere. Strings players and other performers have even been known to hitch a ride on a boat and play over the water.
A bassist brings his instrument aboard a boat on Cayuga Lake.
“It is unlike any other outdoor music experience in Ithaca,” Janelle Alvstad-Mattson, communications coordinator for the Friends of Stewart Park, said. “You can [experience] something new and interesting in a place where you don't usually expect to find music.”
In an effort to increase accessibility and allow the evening to continue rain or shine, the event will take place both on the trail and within the farmers market this year.
People with mobility issues who may have not been able to access the event in previous years will have the chance to join the party in the market, Alvstad-Mattson said. She emphasized that she hopes everyone who wants to attend will be able to do so.
“Accessibility has been really at the heart of everything we do,” Alvstad-Mattson said. “We are always thinking about new ways to make things more accessible for people.”
Hundreds of Ithacans will flock to the site to see the performances, Alvstad-Mattson said. Rick Manning, executive director for the Friends of Stewart Park, added that concertgoers will see — and hear — approximately 10 to 12 musical performers throughout the night.
From Nikolai Ruskin’s lyrical folk music to Jorge T. Cuevas & The Caribe Jazz Allstars’ smooth jams, the night of music will range in energy, but Alvstad-Mattson said one thing encompasses the concert’s vibe.
“It's very Ithaca,” Alvstad-Mattson said. “It's eccentric, it’s casual — some people sit and listen, and other people are up grooving and dancing around.”
Correction, July 7, 8:30 p.m.: A previous version of the article incorrectly identified the bass instrument in the photo as a cello.
Varsha Bhargava is a news editor from The Cornell Daily Sun working as a reporter for The Ithaca Times through The Sun’s summer fellowship program. This article was originally published in the Ithaca Times.
Varsha Bhargava is a news editor for the 143rd Editorial Board and a member of the Class of 2027 in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. She can be reached at vbhargava@cornellsun.com.
