The Erie Canal turns 200 in 2025! This monumental anniversary presents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to experience the engineering marvel that transformed the nation. Whether you’re looking to kick off canal season with a lively festival, paddle through towering locks, or catch the Seneca Chief replica canal boat on its journey from Buffalo to New York City, lock in all kinds of fun for everyone all season long! Read on for your guide to celebrating the Erie Canal Bicentennial and be sure to visit the Erie Canalway website for a full calendar of events. Photo credit: @mctmama on Instagram.
Kick off the Erie Canal’s Bicentennial Season at the Waterford Canal Festival (Capital-Saratoga)
May 16-18
Kick off the official start to the 2025 canal season in Waterford from May 16-18! Each year, the Waterford Canal Festival puts on an unforgettable weekend filled with historic charm and fun for the whole family. This year’s celebration will be extra special with events and activities honoring the Canal’s 200th birthday like guided tours, impressive lock demonstrations, boat tours, great food, live music, and children’s activities like face painting and bounce houses. Free.
June 22
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Join hundreds of paddlers on a journey through dramatic scenery and towering locks at Paddle the Canal on June 22! Celebrate 200 years as you make your way through Locks 2-6 of the Waterford Flight and around Peebles Island, finishing up at Waterford Harbor Boat Ramp on a guided half-day paddle. A free shuttle is available to the start and afterward enjoy a celebratory lunch at the Peebles Island State Park pavilion! Kayak rentals available through Upstate Kayak Rentals. $50 registration includes transportation and lunch.
June 6-8 and July 2-8
Join the Albany Symphony for a day filled with art, music, and culture on the canal at Water Music NY: More Voices! This mini concert series commemorates the Bicentennial anniversary at canal towns throughout the state, celebrating canal communities and amplifying the underrepresented voices of the canal’s history such as women, immigrants, people of color, and Indigenous peoples. Expect an experience unlike any other with newly-commissioned orchestral works and incredible canalside views. Stops include the American Music Festival in Troy (June 6-8), Medina (July 2), Utica (July 3), Seneca Falls (July 4), Fort Plain (July 5), and Schuylerville (July 6). Ticket pricing varies by date.
July 12-20
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Calling all cyclists! Embark on a once-in-a-lifetime journey along the Erie Canalway Trail on the Cycle the Erie Canal Bike tour. This 400-mile, fully-supported bike tour offers up some of the best cycling in the Northeast and takes riders on an eight-day adventure from Buffalo to Albany. Open to riders of all levels, you’ll cover 40-60 miles per day, experiencing scenic vistas, historic sites, and unparalleled cycling. Overnight accommodations for all eight days are included in your registration fee, as well as breakfast and dinner each day, evening entertainment, baggage transport, free access to attractions along the way like the Fort Stanwix National Monument, Women’s Rights National Historic Park, Niagara Falls, and much more. Four-day tours from Buffalo to Syracuse are also available. Eight-day tour: $1,300/adult, $700/youth (6-17), $300/5 and under, $910/driver. Four-day tour: $800/adult, $500/youth (6-17), $200/5 and under, $520/driver.
August 1-28
Come one, come all! A floating circus is coming to town! Flotsam River Circus, a troupe of musicians, puppeteers, and circus artists on a floating raft, promises fun for the whole family and will be traveling throughout the Erie Canal and Hudson River this summer. Prepared to be wowed at one of the 35 free performances taking place at a variety of waterfront towns from Buffalo to New York City for a production you won’t forget. Tour stops include Tonawanda, Lockport, Rochester, Syracuse, Rome, Amsterdam, Schenectady, and more. Free.
September 16-20
Explore the extraordinary impact of the Erie Canal on an unforgettable multi-day guided tour from New York City to Buffalo. Happening just before the World Canals Conference, this tour takes you on a journey along the historic waterway, where you’ll pass by notable landmarks like the Statue of Liberty, and make stops at Ellis Island, Walkway Over the Hudson, and Ganondagan State Historic Site. Plus, your registration includes a boat ride through a Cayuga-Seneca Canal lock, curated dining and craft beverage experiences, hotel accommodations for four nights, round trip transportation to Buffalo and New York City, admission to attractions and tours, and more. Single: $2,109, double: $1,576, Triple: $1,399.
September 21-25
Join inland waterways experts and enthusiasts from around the world for five days filled with all things canals! Your registration includes access to all conference sessions and keynote speakers where you’ll get to learn about the future of canals from around the world, a screening of a new Erie Canal documentary, events and entertainment at Canalside, and more. Attendees also get to choose from one of four exclusive all-day field sessions featuring activities such as guided tours of the historic Flight of Five Locks, a visit to the Niagara Falls Underground Railroad Heritage Center, or demonstration of an adaptive kayak launch on the canal. The jam-packed week concludes with a send-off celebration for the replica 1825 canal boat Seneca Chief as it sets out on its cross-canal Bicentennial Voyage towards New York City. Registration is $675/person. Accompanying person is $325/person.
September 24-October 26
Credit: @mctmama on Instagram
On September 24, the Buffalo Maritime Center’s replica of the Erie Canal boat Seneca Chief will embark on a Bicentennial Voyage to New York City! The 33-day voyage, guided by staff and volunteers from the Buffalo Maritime Center, will commemorate Governor DeWitt Clinton’s historic 1825 journey from Buffalo to New York Harbor, 200 years after the inaugural trip. Don’t miss out on a chance to witness history! The Seneca Chief will be making stops at 28 ports along the Erie Canal and Hudson River including Rochester, Syracuse, Albany, and Kingston, and will be on display at the Commercial Slip Canalside in Buffalo on weekends from May-August. The epic voyage concludes at Pier 26 in New York City with a commemoration on the official Bicentennial completion date, October 26.
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