Downtown Ithaca Events
From our four annual festivals, to monthly art gallery nights, to free live music & public performances, there’s always something going on Downtown!
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October 2019
Halloween in Downtown Ithaca presented by Maguire Hyundai Subaru
Presented by: On Friday, October 25th, join us for Halloween into Downtown! A spooktacular afternoon of trick-or-treating inside shops, ghoulish games, activities, and snacks to follow inside Center Ithaca. Festivities will start in Downtown at 4:00pm Participating shops and restaurants offering candy to trick-or-treaters will have a sign in their store window or in the doorway. If they run out, shopkeepers will remove the sign from their store windows. Kindly thank your shopkeepers for making this free event possible! Trick-or-Treating…
Find out more »Wizarding Weekend
Wizarding Weekend is a celebration of magic, science, and fantasy that fills the streets of Downtown Ithaca. This free admission family friendly event features interactive exhibits, live music, entertainment, speciality vendors and much more. Select activities (primarily crafts, games and 21 and over events) have fees which offset the festival costs and raise funds for local charitable organizations. Collected together in one pass, a magical passport. Admission to the event is free but donations are accepted at the official Wizarding…
Find out more »November 2019
First Friday Gallery Night
The Downtown Ithaca Alliance welcomes you to Gallery Night Ithaca, a walkable tour of art openings and other special cultural events in and around downtown Ithaca, New York taking place from 5:00-8:00 PM on the first Friday of every month. With upwards of twenty venues to visit to explore each month, there is sure to be something that will catch your eye, whether you're a seasoned collector or a first-time browser. Are you a venue, curator, or artist interested in…
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Plaid Friday
Plaid Friday, a celebration of downtown’s diverse and creative local and independent businesses and a reminder to shoppers to show support for downtown’s business owners who rely on their dollars to continue to provide their goods and services to the community. Plaid Friday is tamer and much more pleasurable alternative shopping experience when compared to the day’s national big-box shopping frenzy known as Black Friday where crowds of people stampede through the stores looking for deals on merchandise that are…
Find out more »Small Business Saturday
Downtown Ithaca is Encouraging Shopping and Dine Local on Saturday, November 30th and throughout the Holiday Season. Downtown Ithaca has over 150+ independently owned and operated shops and restaurants in a concentrated walkable area. By shopping or dining locally in Downtown Ithaca on Saturday, November 30th and throughout the holidays, patrons can show their support for local businesses and for our community. When money is spent at independent locally owned business the money stays here. Local businesses donate more, and…
Find out more »December 2019
Winter Light Festival
Downtown Ithaca's Winter Lights Festival is getting ready to make its community debut. The wondrous display of colorful prisms on and around The Ithaca Commons will be open daily, December 5 - December 15. Our 11-day festival will feature a special visit from Santa Clause, a family-fun silent disco, the ever-popular Ice Bar: an outdoor bar made entirely of ice, and of course, the annual Chowder Cook-Off.
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