7th Annual Little Falls Cheese Festival
October 1, 2022
The Little Falls Cheese Festival, New York State’s premier gathering of cheese makers, has become the largest cheese-themed festival in New York State. Now in its seventh year, the free-of-charge event takes place Saturday October 1, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Unbeknownst to many, Little Falls has a deep heritage of cheese. This Mohawk Valley city became the epicenter of cheese from 1860 through 1880, thanks to the proximity of regional dairy farms to transportation via railroad and the Erie Canal. In fact, the prices established at the Little Falls market would be quoted via Morse Code over telegraph wires to all parts of the country, setting the national and international price of cheese during that period.
Fast forward to 2015, when Alice Laurenson and Jayne Ritz co-founded the Cheese Festival. “With the surge in artisan cheese and small farms,” Jayne says, “we just thought it would be a great way to showcase the delicious cheeses of New York and celebrate the city of Little Falls and its history with cheese.” Jayne, who raised goats and sheep, also knows her way around a cheese vat.
The inaugural Cheese Festival covered one city block, attracted around 20 vendors and welcomed 2,000 visitors. In 2019, 60 vendors—including New York State cheese makers, craft beverages and gourmet food products—and nearly 6,000 visitors spread across five blocks. After being forced to cancel in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic, the Cheese Festival roared back to life in 2021 with approximately 8,000 in attendance.
The festivities are not limited to the vendors. Restaurants and bars along the broad avenue offer cheese-themed specials. A dozen musical groups perform two-hour sets at Main Street venues, and there’s even a humorous cheese-based mystery written by local playwright Angela Harris and performed by the Little Falls Theater Company.
The festival is purely volunteer-run. Jayne hosts the monthly planning meetings at her dining room table, where she also introduces the committee to new specialty cheeses she brings in. “It’s the most dynamic and intelligent committee I’ve ever worked with. They’re all creative thinkers and problem solvers and really want to promote Central New York through cheese.”
“We didn’t know what to expect at first, but the festival continues to grow,” says Scot Nolan, who handles the festival’s PR. “We tinker with logistics each year. We’ve added satellite parking areas with free shuttle buses to the center of town as well as a food truck food court right in the heart of the action. The city fully embraces the event and supports all that we do. As a result, we’ve become the New York cheese festival. Visitors travel to the area for the weekend and fall in love with it. The Cheese Festival is wonderful for Central New York and the Mohawk Valley.”
Mark your calendars and head to Little Falls on Saturday, October 1, 2022!
