(Hamilton, NY – Sept. 2014) The Great Chocolate Festival will steam back into Hamilton for its sixth year from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 20, on the lawn of the Village Offices at 3 Broad Street.
The festival, produced by the Partnership for Community Development, commemorates a unique event in local history when a freight train carrying Nestlé chocolate derailed in 1955, spilling its goods; no one was injured, but the children of Hamilton availed themselves of the surprise bounty.
This year’s festival features two local music acts, chocolate vendors, model train exhibits, a historic walking tour, a puppet show and puppet-making workshop, games, activities and more.
The festival and the performances are free and open to the public.
Open Hand Theater’s “Giant Puppets” Show will be joining The Great Chocolate Festival again this year. Look for the colorful 12-foot high festival puppets that will be dancing and twirling through the crowds and interacting with onlookers. There will be a puppet-making workshop where children can create simple, jointed puppets that can be manipulated through scenes and stories.
We are thrilled to be partnering with the Colgate Bookstore to bring these performers to the festival.
Hamilton’s own Williams Road (Mike Craven, Scott Krueger and Brad Jewett, featuring Amy Doan on violin) will kick things off at 10 a.m. Their solid, distinctive sound is a blend of folk, roots and indie, with a deep and heavy undercurrent of Americana.
Denny McCormick, alternative folk artist, will take the stage at 11:30 a.m. McCormick has been a singer, songwriter and musician in the New York area for more than 30 years.
At 11 a.m., festival-goers can take a walking tour to the nearby site where it all happened behind the fire station on Lebanon Street. Eyewitnesses to the actual train wreck will be on hand in the history tent to answer questions. Volunteers are provided by the Hamilton Historic Commission.
At 11:30 a.m. at the actual train wreck site, a plaque will be unveiled to honor Bill and Betty Gallik for their donation of the land where the train wreck took place. The Galliks donated the land to the Chocolate Train Wreck Foundation. Over the next several years, the foundation will be developing the actual site into an historical village park to commemorate the train wreck of September 1955.
“Many towns have had train wrecks, but only Hamilton has had a chocolate train wreck,” said foundation president Art Zimmer.
All who wish to be present at the 11:30 a.m. plaque dedication are welcome and may use their own mode of transportation if they choose not to walk from the festival.
Many of this year’s vendors are offering $1 samples. Look for the signs to find participating vendors. Attendees will not want to miss the terrific train exhibits by the Adirondack Scenic Railroad and the CNY Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society.
In 1955, the chocolate spilled across Hamilton – and it will happen again this year. Children may pick up a chocolate ticket at the information tent (one per child up to and including age 17 years). They can then bring their ticket around to the participating downtown businesses listed on the ticket. The ticket will be stamped at the business (up to five maximum) and the child will receive a piece of chocolate.
After five stamps, parents can fill in the back with their contact information and return the completed ticket to the information tent before 1 p.m. to be entered into a raffle to win a chocolate gift basket.
For more information, visit www.thegreatchocolatefestival.com or find us on Facebook.