This week, the calendar is packed: three festivals, CNY Pride, fireworks over the river, and more live music than you can get to in one weekend.
Seneca River Days takes over Paper Mill Island, and we point The Block at Baldwinsville, the village built on the Seneca River.
Lock 24 in Baldwinsville (Photo by: Discover the Erie Canal)
Here's what's on our radar.
TL;DR:
The Lineup: Seneca River Days on Paper Mill Island (Fri and Sat), the NYS Blues Festival at the Fairgrounds, CNY Pride at Progress Park, Greek and Polish festivals, and Shakespeare at Thornden Park.
Live Music: almost monday on the river (Tue), Dark Star Orchestra and Shannon McNally (Fri), free jazz at The Fitz (Fri), and Whiskey Myers plus Joe P closing the weekend (Sun).
The Tab: The Angry Pig BBQ in Phoenix slow-smokes brisket, ribs, and pulled pork, ten minutes north of Baldwinsville.
The Spotlight: Thoi Trang left Vietnam by boat at 16 and now runs two Syracuse restaurants, with the newest open just a few months.
The Build: A 92-room Holiday Inn Express is set to replace an old restaurant by the airport in Mattydale, but it still needs variances and town approval.
The Block: Baldwinsville, the village built right on the Seneca River, from the B'Ville Diner to a deck on the water.
…and more!
THE LINEUP
Events this week — what's on, where, and how to get in.
Featured Event
Seneca River Days at Paper Mill Island, the island amphitheater in the Seneca River in Baldwinsville. Friday, June 12 (gates 4:30 PM) and Saturday, June 13 (gates 11:30 AM). Friday $5 per person, kids 12 and under free; Saturday free. Details
The Baldwinsville Rotary runs the island for two days. Friday night is the concert and fireworks show: Dirtroad Ruckus headlining, food trucks and WT Brews pouring, and fireworks over the water at dusk.
Saturday is the free family day, gates at 11:30, with live music and games all afternoon, ending at 4 with the Duck Pluck, where kids pull numbered rubber ducks from a trough for a shot at a $1,000 grand prize.
Paper Mill Island Amphitheater (Photo by airial travel)
This Week
Tuesday, June 9
Downtown Syracuse Farmers Market at Clinton Square. The market is back for its season, free to walk through, every Tuesday through the fall. Details
A Beautiful Noise, the Neil Diamond jukebox musical, opens at the Landmark Theatre. Runs through Sunday, June 14; evening shows 7:30 PM, with Saturday and Sunday matinees. Tickets from $68. Tickets
Wednesday, June 10
Food Trucks at Great Northern Mall in Clay. A rotating lineup of food trucks, every Wednesday from 4 to 8 PM. Free to walk up. Details
Thursday, June 11
NYS Blues Festival at Chevy Court, the NYS Fairgrounds. Three days of free blues, Thursday through Saturday, gates 4 PM Thursday, 3 PM Friday, 11 AM Saturday. Free. Details
St. Sophia's Greek Cultural Festival at St. Sophia's Greek Orthodox Church on Waring Road. Four days of Greek food, music, and dancing, Thursday through Sunday. Free admission. Details
Dancers at St. Sophia’s Greek Festival (Photo by syracusegreekfest.com)
Friday, June 12
Syracuse Polish Festival at Clinton Square. Pierogi, polka, and a downtown crowd, Friday through Sunday. Free. Details
Shakespeare-in-the-Park: King Lear at the Thornden Park Amphitheater. Friday and Saturday at 5:30 PM, Sunday at 2 PM. Free to attend, donations welcome; an optional $28 premium ticket adds a reserved lawn chair, a $10 food voucher, water, and ice cream. Tickets
Saturday, June 13
CNY Pride Parade and Festival at Progress Park, the Inner Harbor. Parade steps off at 11 AM, festival noon to 5 PM. Free. Details
CNY Pride Festival and Parade 2025 (Photo by Jannie Huang)
Strawberry Festival at Navarino Orchard, Saturday and Sunday, 10 AM to 4 PM. Pick-your-own season opens with the usual shortcake. Free to attend. Details
Live Music
Tuesday, June 9
almost monday, the California pop trio, at Paper Mill Island in Baldwinsville. Doors 6 PM. Tickets
Wednesday, June 10
Harmonic Dirt and Friends at The Whiskey Coop in Syracuse, a weekly "curated hootenanny" of acoustic Americana, folk, and bluegrass with local favorites Beautiful Losers and special guests. Every Wednesday, 7 to 10 PM. Details
Friday, June 12
Dark Star Orchestra, the Grateful Dead tribute band that recreates full setlists, at Beak & Skiff. Show 6:30 PM. Tickets
Shannon McNally, the Americana singer-songwriter, at Funk 'n Waffles. Tickets
Future Vintage plays free live jazz at The Fitz, the speakeasy below Oh My Darling. No cover. Details
Sunday, June 14
Whiskey Myers, the Texas southern-rock band, with Southall, at Beak & Skiff. Doors 5:30 PM, show 6:30 PM. Selling fast, buy through the venue's official Tixr page rather than resellers. Tickets
Joe P, the New Jersey indie artist, with The Crowe Boys and Braison Cyrus, at Paper Mill Island. Event 6 to 10 PM. Tickets
Coming Soon: An Evening with Wilco at Beak & Skiff (June 16).The Syracuse Mets, the Mets' Triple-A club, come home to NBT Bank Stadium for a six-game set against the Norfolk Tides (June 16 to 21).Mumford & Sons at the Empower FCU Amphitheater (June 18).Syracuse Juneteenth Festival at Clinton Square (June 18).
THE TAB
One food or drink spot this week — what to order and where to find it.
The Angry Pig BBQ, 2935 Lamson Rd, Phoenix, NY. Open Wednesday through Sunday.
If you head to Seneca River Days on Friday, the Angry Pig is one of the food trucks set up on Paper Mill Island that night. It's a brick-and-mortar now, too, and worth the short trip north on its own.
Owner Joshua Reynolds ran it as a food truck and caterer before taking over the old Harper's Pizza & Ice Cream on Lamson Road. Everything is slow-smoked over hickory: Central Texas brisket, Carolina pulled pork, Memphis-style ribs, smoked turkey. The ribs and the brisket are what regulars keep coming back for, and Wednesday is $1 smoked-wing night.
Counter-order, no reservations. What to order: a two-meat platter with the brisket and ribs.
One more reason it's on our radar: Reynolds has filed plans to expand the place, more indoor seating, plus an outdoor setup for live music on site. A BBQ joint with its own concert nights would be a real addition out there.
Coverage from LocalSYR. Expansion plan details from the Onondaga County Planning Board's May 13 minutes.
THE SPOTLIGHT
A deeper look at one person, place, or project in Syracuse.
The Restaurateur Who Arrived by Boat
In 1985, Thoi Trang left Vietnam by boat. He was 16. A Syracuse-area couple, Dan and Gloria Manns, sponsored him, and he ended up at Liverpool High School and then Onondaga Community College.
Thoi Trang (Photo by Katrina Tulloch | syracuse.com)
Four decades later, he runs two restaurants in the city that took him in.
The first is New Century, the Vietnamese restaurant he opened in 2000 at 518 Kirkpatrick Street, on the city's Northside. It has been the kind of place people drive across town for, for 25 years now: pho, roasted duck, catfish hot pot, the dishes that do not get watered down for a crowd that does not know the difference.
The second is brand new. Wake Up Vietnamese Coffee and Sandwich opened only a few months ago at 207 East Water Street, downtown, serving banh mi and Vietnamese coffee, the kind topped with an egg-and-salt foam that most Syracusans have never tried.
A teenager who crossed an ocean with nothing built a restaurant that's now lasted a quarter century, then opened a second this spring, in the same city that he made home for his family. A Syracuse version of the American Dream.
Trang was profiled this month in This is CNY's "Syracuse Trailblazers and Trendsetters" series. Go read the whole thing. Then go get a Vietnamese iced coffee and a banh mi at Wake Up. It's become one of our favorite spots downtown.
Coverage from This is CNY.
THE BUILD
Construction and development around the city, in plain English.
A New Hotel by the Airport
The old restaurant at 3705 Brewerton Road in Mattydale is set to come down, and a hotel is going up in its place.
3705 Brewerton Rd, Syracuse (Photo from LoopNet)
The plan is a 4-story, 92-room Holiday Inn Express on the 1.2-acre lot, less than a mile from Hancock airport. The existing single-story building and its parking get cleared, and between the hotel and 92 parking spaces, almost the entire site ends up building and pavement.
Why here: the airport, and a room shortage. Syracuse has been short on hotel rooms since downtown lost a few hundred, and the new ones are landing out by the airport and in DeWitt, where the demand is. This is one of them.
It is not a done deal. The lot is small for what is going on it, so the project needs several variances, and the county planning board sent it back on June 3 with conditions: coordinate the Route 11 access with the state DOT, handle stormwater, and add sidewalks since it sits on a bus line. The Town of Salina still has to approve the variances and the site plan before anyone breaks ground.
Coverage from CNY Central. Project details from the Onondaga County Planning Board's June 3 staff report.
THE BLOCK
One neighborhood at a time — what's there, what's changing.
Baldwinsville
Most of us think of Central New York as lake country, but the village of Baldwinsville does its waterfront differently: the Seneca River runs straight through the middle of the village. The Erie Canal cuts through downtown, with Lock 24 right in the village.
There's also an island in the river, Paper Mill Island, that turns into an amphitheater all summer. This weekend, it hosts Seneca River Days.
The village wears the water well: a walkable downtown core along Water, Genesee, and Oswego Streets, a riverwalk, and decks that put you right over the current.
Photo by: Kathe Harrington | newyorkupstate.com
Here are some local spots to check out (with some right along the river):
B'Ville Diner — 16 E Genesee St. A B'Ville landmark since 1934; all-day homestyle breakfast.
Shamballa Café — 7 W Genesee St. Small-batch coffee roasted on site by owner Emmet Simpson.
Angry Garlic — 2 Oswego St. Garlic on everything; the burger and the vodka riggies, plus live music nights.
Pizza Man — 50 Oswego St. Award-winning pizza and wings since 1983, with an attached pub.
Mi Ranchito — 24 E Genesee St. Authentic, made-from-scratch Mexican on Genesee Street.
Atlantic Seafood — 69 E Genesee St. A family-run seafood spot, 45 years in.
The Suds Factory River Grill — 3 Syracuse St. The deck-on-the-water anchor, right on the Seneca.
Lock 24 Ice Cream — 23 Syracuse St. Small-batch ice cream on the canal.
The Shoppes at Olive's Eatery — 25 Syracuse St. A cafe downstairs, with a collection of local small-business shops upstairs.
Syracuse Boat Tours — 7439 Hillside Rd (Dutchman's Landing). Narrated river and Erie Canal cruises that lock through Lock 24, May through October.
WT Brews — 3482 Patchett Rd. A farm brewery pouring beer from hops it grows on its own farm.
Lysander Park — 8439 Smokey Hollow Rd. Trails, ball fields, and a kids' Spray Park splash pad (24 water features).
Beaver Lake Nature Center — 8477 E Mud Lake Rd. Miles of hiking trails around the lake, canoeing and kayaking, and guided nature programs.
If you only have an afternoon: breakfast for lunch at the B'Ville Diner, a walk along the riverwalk to Lock 24, and a deck seat at the Suds Factory on the water. A great taste of Baldwinsville in three stops.
THE KEEPER
A local pet looking for a home.
Meet Cassie! She's a 2-year-old Border Collie/Great Pyrenees mix, around 56 lbs. She's good with other dogs and already spayed, though how she does with cats or kids is still unknown.
This week's Keeper is ready for adoption at Helping Hounds Dog Rescue.
Here's what the Helping Hounds team has to say about Cassie: "Cassie unfortunately lost her home due to the fact her owner had a new job and Cassie was crated for long periods of time. She is an active dog and will do well with an active family or single individual. When meeting new adults Cassie expects a pet and treat. She loves other dogs, but has not been exposed to any cats. Cassie deserves a home that will provide love, patience and structure that she deserves."
THE CLUB
Your space — reply and join the conversation.
This week's question: with three festivals and a Pride weekend all landing at once, where are you actually going, and what are you eating when you get there? Hit reply. Best answers run next week.
THE VIEW
One photo from the week — from us, or from you.
Taste of Syracuse in Clinton Square this past weekend
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— Salt City Club Team