Lansing Carnival returns this weekend

**Editor’s note: A previous version of this story listed the parade’s date and time as this Friday at 6 p.m., but the correct time is Saturday at 6 p.m. This change has been reflected in the current version of this story.

In 2017, to celebrate the town’s bicentennial, the Lansing Events Committee (tinyurl.com/2o72sn3n) started the Lansing Community Celebration Carnival as a way to bring the town closer together.

When the pandemic struck in 2020 and 2021, the carnival had to be put on hold.

This Friday and Saturday, the carnival returns to the Lansing Fire Department station, located at 80 Auburn Rd.

Lansing Events Committee President Valerie McMillan said the carnival is about more than having fun; it’s a way for the town to get together after more than two years of being apart.

“Because of how many people signed up to participate this year, they’re just looking forward to some huge event in Lansing,” she said. “There isn’t another big event in Lansing. We have chicken barbecues off the main road [Auburn Road] that a lot of people stop at to see each other. To have an event like the carnival where the whole town is involved in it [is great].”

The carnival will consist of rides, family entertainment, food and a DJ. The event kicks off at 6 p.m. Friday, and Saturday activities will continue from 1 to 10 p.m., with a parade Saturday at 6 p.m.

The carnival will have 17 vendors for food and drinks, which McMillan said is the most in the history of the carnival. McMillian said the amount of vendors and walkers in the Saturday night parade shows how close the community is.

“I think that’s pretty telling for the community,” she said. “Just the amount of people who are walking this year [in the parade], it’s up to 200. It’s a lot.”

A lot has happened in two years, but McMillan said the Lansing Events Committee’s ability to have the carnival hasn’t changed. There are three new members on the nine-person board, but those three have lived in Lansing long enough to have seen the original carnival in its heyday.

Lansing used to have a fall carnival until it was discontinued and picked up by the Lansing Events Committee. McMillan said having new board members who have seen the carnival in person has made getting back to the tradition after two years off easier.

“That helped because they have been to carnivals in the past,” McMillan said. “There’s always been a carnival in Lansing until they renovated the grounds. It was under construction for a while, and people didn’t want to continue it. We know what we’re supposed to be doing. We know who we have to hire, who we have to get and when. It really wasn’t a big hassle for us this year. The biggest hassle was our typical date is the weekend of Labor Day.”

The festival moved its date this year because Playworld, the entertainment company used for the carnival, was booked for the carnival’s usual Labor Day date.

The parade will cause parts of Auburn Road, East Shore Drive, Drake Road and Conlon Road to close for 45 minutes. Cargill, The Lansing Market, Crossroads Bar & Grille, Moore Tree Farm and Hatfield Catering are some of the sponsors of the carnival.

Saturday night after the parade, there will be a fireworks show behind the fire station. McMillan said Cargill will provide the fireworks, and it is that kind of support that she said makes the carnival a successful Lansing event.

“All of that helps put on a better event,” she said. “When you have some much help like that, we’re really appreciative of that.”

In late August, McMillan went to Groton’s Olde Home Days Festival with a phone in her hand. With COVID-19 canceling the Lansing Community Celebration Carnival in 2020 and 2021, she was looking for tips to run a revamped Lansing fall festival.

She was also looking to flex her muscles on a social media platform that became popular during the years the carnival was canceled — TikTok. McMillian used the app to post a video of a chicken parading around Olde Home Days, with the caption, “I can’t wait for the Lansing Carnival!”

She said she wanted to use the platform to remind people that the Lansing Community Celebration Carnival is taking place after a two-year hiatus.

“When it’s back to school, football is on, there’s soccer games on Saturday, [and] people are just busy,” she said. “I just don’t want people to forget about it.”

Events like the Lansing Community Celebration Carnival can take a long time to plan, but McMillian said she thinks the Lansing Events Committee is ready for the influx of people coming to the festival.

McMillan said the committee has already secured help from the Lansing Highway Department to close roads. The Lansing Fire Department Station will also be lit up with overhead lights during the parade as it will end after the sun goes down.

The plans are set for an exciting weekend in Lansing.

“We’re all set,” McMillian said. “We’re just looking for good weather.”

Lansing at Large appears every Wednesday in Tompkins Weekly. Send story ideas to editorial@VizellaMedia.com.

In brief:

Sustainable Finger Lakes to take applications until Oct. 1

Sustainable Finger Lakes is accepting applications for mini-grants on projects that will improve sustainability and economic, environmental and social justice in Tompkins County.

Grants range from $150 to $750. The program so far has granted $850,000 through 215 grants.

Proposals are reviewed biannually by a team of community members. The program is sponsored by Craig Riecke, Beck Equipment and the Park Foundation.

For more information on applying for a grant, call (607) 272-1720.