This might be the most unusual way to celebrate the coming of spring in Buffalo. BoomDays is the awesome event that surrounds the lifting of the Niagara River ice boom. The ice boom is a 8,800-foot-long chain of steel pontoons that stretches across the mouth of the river in order to keep large pieces of ice from traveling down the river during the winter season. Once lifted, the ice is set loose and supposedly the temperature on the mainland warms up considerably. Did you know that the ice boom broke loose this year? Believe it or not, BoomDays has become a regional event – celebrated all along communities near the Niagara River. The festival lasts the entire weekend (April 4th and 5th). To see a preview of the complete listings, visit this link.
To mark the celebration on Friday, Buffalo’s E.M. Cotter fireboat will journey to the Ice Boom (6pm) and drop 7ft. red ball to signify ‘Our First Rite of Spring’. For those people that can not be on the boat, there will be revelers partying at Dug’s Dive starting at 5pm. Don’t miss the poetry slam, live music and a photo contest (click here to enter), all on that Friday followed by fireworks at the water’s edge.
Don’t miss out on this year’s BoomDays in style. Plan to attend this incredible cool celebratory weekend. If you want to see what the ice boom looks like (photo taken every five minutes), then click here.
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