Events this week — what's on, where, and how to get in.

Festa Italiana — in front of City Hall, Friday, Sept. 18 and Saturday, Sept. 19, 11 AM to 11 PM, and Sunday, Sept. 20, noon to 7 PM.

Three days of Italian food, music and contests, in its 28th year. New this year, per the festival: a Legacy Wall for memorial contributions and a biscotti contest, alongside the meatball contest and the bocce tournament. Sunday Mass is at 11 AM with Bishop Lucia, and more than 20 acts are on the entertainment schedule, Brass Inc. and Soul Injection among them. Details

Wednesday, September 16

Come From Away, opening night — Syracuse Stage, 7:30 PM, runs through Sunday, Oct. 11. The musical about the 38 planes grounded in Gander, Newfoundland, on 9/11. Tickets

Island Night Market — Paper Mill Island, Baldwinsville, 5 to 9 PM. Free. Local makers, with Tom Barnes playing an acoustic set. Details

Friday, September 18

Syracuse Tattoo Arts Festival — The Oncenter, Friday 2 to 11 PM, Saturday 11 AM to 11 PM, Sunday 11 AM to 8 PM. $25 a day, $50 for all three, kids under 12 free. Details

Jordan Fall Festival, 80th year — 25 N. Beaver St., Jordan, Friday through Sunday. Rides, crafts, fireworks Saturday at 7:45 PM and the car show Sunday from 9 AM. Details

Saturday, September 19

BareRoots Festival — Thornden Park, noon to 7 PM. Free. Music all day, plus makers and interactive art. Details

Camillus Village Fall Fest — Main Street, Camillus, 11 AM to 4 PM. Food trucks, artisans and the village shops. Details

ON Farm Fest, 10th year — 12 farms across the county open for free tours, 10 AM to 3 PM. Food, live music and demos at many of them; leave the dog at home. Details

Two shows open at the Everson — Saturday, per the Downtown Syracuse calendar: Sincerely, Beato, a Beatrice Wood ceramics retrospective, and Julia Kunin: Electric Dream Machines. $14, $10 seniors and students, $5 kids. Details

Whitney Cummings — Oncenter Carrier Theater, 7 PM. Tickets

Backcountry Film Festival — Palace Theatre, 5 to 9 PM, films from 6. $25. Hunting, fishing and conservation films. Tickets

Sunday, September 20

Vietnamese Fall Festival, first year — F Shed, CNY Regional Market, 1 to 7 PM. $10. An áo dài fashion show, performances, food and vendors. Details

Tuesday, September 22

Syracuse Story Project Open Mic Night — Pink Rock Culture Co-op, 6:30 PM. $10. “Moth” style storytelling based on a chosen theme. This months theme is back to school. Details

Wednesday, September 16

Harmonic Dirt & Friends — The Whiskey Coop, 120 Walton St., Armory Square, 7 PM. The Wednesday residency. Details

Friday, September 18

Jason Aldean — Empower FCU Amphitheater, 7:30 PM, with Chase Matthew, Mackenzie Carpenter and Dee Jay Silver. Tickets

Emma's Revolution — May Memorial Unitarian Universalist Society, 3800 E. Genesee St., 7:30 PM, doors 7. $20, $17 for Folkus members. Pat Humphries and Sandy O, the activist folk duo, for the Folkus Project's concert series. Tickets

Daniel Fields & Friends — The Fitz, the speakeasy inside oh my darling at 321 S. Salina St., 8:30 PM. Free, no cover. Details

Saturday, September 19

Weird Phishes — Funk 'n Waffles, 307 S. Clinton St., 8 PM. A Radiohead and Phish mashup, with Kansas Wine, a Primus tribute, opening. Tickets

Sunday, September 20

Mosaic Mind — the Loading Dock at Middle Ages Brewing, 120 Wilkinson St. The free outdoor series; RSVP for a spot. Tickets

Tuesday, September 22

The Nighthawks — The 443 Social Club, 443 Burnet Ave., 7 PM. Sold out; the waitlist is on the ticket page. Tickets

Will Hoge at The 443, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 7 PM. Tickets · Dermot Kennedy at the Empower FCU Amphitheater, Saturday, Sept. 26, 8 PM. Tickets · Westcott Street Cultural Fair, Sunday, Sept. 27, parade at noon. Details

One food or drink spot a week — what's new, what's worth the trip, and what to order.

3401 Erie Blvd. E., Suite 170, DeWitt — open every day, 8 AM to 9 PM — playabowls.com

A national chain, started in New Jersey in 2014, that now runs more than 400 smoothie-bowl shops in 32 states. The original is the açaí bowl (ah-sigh-EE): a frozen palm berry from the Brazilian Amazon, blended thick, served in a bowl and eaten with a spoon. It reached the US around 2000 and caught on with the surf crowd in Hawaii and Southern California.

We've been to Playa Bowls in other cities and we're glad to see the chain land in DeWitt. Every time we drive by, we can't help but stop in.

If you've never been, here's how it works. Order at the counter or on their app. Pick a base first (açaí, pitaya, mango, coconut, a kale-based green blend, or banana), then either one of their set combinations off the menu board or your own toppings. Start with the Pura Vida: açaí, granola, strawberry, blueberry and honey. The smoothies are just as good (coffee lovers: try the Dolce Latte Smoothie).

The fall menu is out now, and we've tried the Apple Cinnamon Crunch Bowl (açaí, diced apple, walnuts, banana, a peanut butter drizzle and cinnamon) and the Banana Cream Pumpkin Pie Smoothie (banana, pumpkin spice and coconut milk over coco whip). Both delicious; we'll be back in for the bowl before the seasonal menu changes.

A deeper look at one person, place, or project in Syracuse.

We recently sat down with Barb Shepard, a Fayetteville therapist who treats OCD in kids, and the conversation left us inspired. Here's her story:

One of the most common forms of OCD in kids has nothing to do with handwashing. It's harm thoughts: fears of hurting someone they love, or of losing control and doing something bad. The thoughts run directly against the kid's own values, and they would never act on them. Many kids sit alone with those thoughts, convinced there's something wrong with them. Barb Shepard's job is helping them get better.

Barb is a licensed mental health counselor with a practice on East Genesee Street in Fayetteville. She treats OCD and anxiety in kids, adults, and families, plus a more recent addition: PANS and PANDAS, neuroimmune conditions that can bring OCD on suddenly. She's from Rochester, has been in Syracuse since 2007, and has worked with kids since 2010 in residential treatment, foster care, substance abuse programs, and special education.

The average time it takes to get a correct OCD diagnosis is 14 to 17 years. It gets misdiagnosed as generalized anxiety, and therapists don't learn this in grad school. The training is niche and hard to find, so well-meaning people miss it, and families reach her having done the wrong thing for 5 years.

"There's so many tears on this couch when parents realize that the talk therapy they've been doing for their child has not been working," she says. "I'm so sorry that this has been so hard, but there are things that will work for your child. This isn't forever."

The treatment is ERP, exposure and response prevention therapy, which is the gold standard treatment for OCD. It's the same method for everyone no matter what the thoughts are about, and "there are very few areas in mental health where we understand a disorder as well as we do... what's happening, what keeps it going, and what actually helps people get better," she says. "OCD can be debilitating, but it's also one of the most well-researched mental health conditions we have, with really strong evidence for effective treatment."

And that, she says, is one of the best parts of the job: "People really do get better. Sometimes, they get better in a surprisingly short period of time. I've seen so many kids and adults get better and go on to do really, really hard things they never thought they could do."

She gets about 6 referrals a week and keeps no wait list. If she's full, she refers you to one of her trusted colleagues. She trains other therapists across the state and nationally, because one person can only see so many people. She never wants people to stop reaching out, so the ask is simple: reach out and inquire. One-time consults, a second opinion or a full assessment with no ongoing therapy attached are bookable through her website or the calendar link on her Instagram.

Barb is also a fierce advocate for PANS/PANDAS. She was recently invited to join the prestigious ranks of MIND Global Council, an international alliance of the top mental health researchers and clinicians in the world who treat these diagnoses. She also started CARE Loudly, an apparel shop that gives 100% of proceeds to ASPIRE, a PANS/PANDAS nonprofit. And the advocacy started at home, with her own family's experience navigating the condition and the insurance fights that came with it.

Two recent wins: she got Niagara Falls added to the landmarks going green for World PANS/PANDAS Awareness Day on October 9, and she has a meeting coming up with Governor Hochul's office, arranged by actors Harold and Brittany Perrineau (Lost, The Matrix), whose own child had PANS and who helped get California's PANS/PANDAS law passed. For a condition still fighting for basic recognition, there aren't many bigger stages.

Closer to home, the National Grid building downtown goes green the same night, Friday, October 9, for the second year running. The event runs 6 to 7:30 PM and is open to anyone. The National Grid employee who approved the lighting told her he knew someone with PANS. She says almost everyone she tells does. RSVP to Barb at [email protected] or on the Facebook event.

Construction and development around the city, in plain English.

The city closed the Westcott Theater on August 13, and the Common Council was set to vote this past Monday on whether to take its special-use permit away for good. It didn't. Councilors went into executive session and pushed the question to a committee meeting next Monday, September 21.

Zoning Administrator Jake Dishaw asked for the revocation in an August report. It lists a night in May 2025 when shots were fired nearby and 25 shell casings were picked up; a fight outside the theater on July 3 of this year; and August 1, when two people were stabbed inside, along with licensing and permit violations. Owner Daniel Mastronardi has run the theater for 18 years.

At the public hearing on September 9, City Auditor Alex Marion argued for pulling the permit: "Twenty shell casings found in a parking lot is not a bar fight gone sideways. That is a massacre waiting to happen." Davia Housley, an independent event coordinator, told the council that Black events are facing scrutiny that "does not appear to be applied equally across Syracuse nightlife," per the Daily Orange.

What it means this week: the city closed the theater on August 13 until further notice, and it seems nothing has changed. Charles Wesley Godwin, a country show moved there from the Landmark, is still listed for Thursday on the theater's site, with no word from the venue on whether it goes on.

We recently had the opportunity to speak with Dan, and we're hopeful the theater and the city can work this out. The safety concerns are real, and so is what the Westcott has meant to this neighborhood for 18 years.

Coverage from CNY Central, The NewsHouse and the city's revocation report.

One neighborhood at a time — what's there, what's changing.

In 1926, a Greek immigrant named Jerry Dellas, who had been selling popcorn and peanuts from a cart on Marshall Street, bought the house on the corner at South Crouse and turned the front of it into the Varsity Coffee Shop. Pizza did not show up until 1971. On a normal day, the place now sells 200 pizzas, and 350 to 400 when there is a football game.

On September 8, the family announced it is handing the restaurant off. Brian and Renee Bruno, who own Brian's Landing in Jamesville, take over on December 1, with their manager, Jaclyn Tesori, and head chef, Tom McNerney, running it. The recipes, the staff, the orange-and-blue room, and the pennants stay. Jerry Dellas, the grandson: "A hundred years is a long time to be part of something, and we could not be prouder of what this restaurant has meant to this community." His father, Ted, is 102.

The street has lost several longtime names in two years. Shirt World, which sold orange gear at 125 Marshall from 1976, closed in October 2024. J. Michael Shoes, on Marshall since 1983 and named for the founders' 1-year-old son, was sold by the Vavalo family in 2024 and closed at the end of May, per the Daily Orange. King David's is gone from 129 Marshall after decades; the Fairmount and Fayetteville locations are open. Popeyes is in the old Acropolis Pizza House space; Acropolis was there for almost 40 years.

In March 2025, the university bought several adjoining properties on the street for just over $14 million, the storefronts that hold Manny's and Mediterranean Combo among them, per the Daily Orange. It had already bought The Marshall, the eight-story apartment building at 727 S. Crouse, for $69.4 million in 2021 and turned it into a 287-bed dorm.

If you haven't walked down Marshall Street in a while, here are some of the places you'll find:

Coverage from CNY Central and the Daily Orange.

Local sports — what just happened and what's next.

The Mets play their last home games of the year this week: Lehigh Valley, through Sunday, Sept. 20, at NBT Bank Stadium, 6:35 PM through Saturday and 1:05 on Sunday, which is the last game of the regular season. Fireworks Friday and Saturday, and Saturday is Fan Appreciation Day. Schedule

Syracuse lost its ACC opener to California, 21-18, on Saturday; Steve Angeli threw 3 interceptions. Next is a Thursday night on the road: at Pittsburgh, Sept. 17, 7:30 PM, on ESPN. Recap

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— Salt City Club Team