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Events in Central New York
Organizations in Onondaga, Oneida and Herkimer Counties will host General Lafayette, portrayed by Michael Halbert, historic interpreter, as he travels through our area for the Bicentennial of the Farewell Tour promoting patriotism and America's Semi-quincentennial on Sunday, June 8; Monday, June 9; and Tuesday, June 10, 2025. The National Bicentennial Tour will be traveling from Buffalo to Boston, as Lafayette originally journeyed. All events free and open to the public unless noted otherwise.
Saturday, June 7, 2025
Erie Canal Museum, Syracuse, NY
Details to come
No historic interpreter at this event
Sunday, June 8, 2025 in Geneva, NY
Pulteney Park, 11 Park Place
10:00 a.m. to noon
Period music and keynote address by Col. Whiting
Lafayette's response by historic interpreter.
Continued in Syracuse, NY
Lafayette Ball at Marriott Syracuse Downtown
Monday, June 9, 2025 Rome, NY
4:30 p.m. Events kick off at the unveiling of a Pomeroy Foundation Lafayette Trail Historic Marker in front of one of the oldest buildings in Rome, New York, the Arsenal House (514 Dominick Street)
5:30 p.m. An interactive indoor presentation by Lafayette "himself" from the American Friends of Lafayette at the nearby Rome Historical Society, 200 Church Street, Rome, New York
6:15 p.m. The evening will conclude with a walking tour to Rome's Tomb of the Unknown Revolutionary War Soldiers.
6:45 p.m. The walking tour continues to Fort Stanwix National Monument.
7:00 p.m. Soiree at Arsenal House. Advance registration required for this event. Please register here.
For more details on history events in Rome, please visit:
Tuesday, June 10, 2025 in Oriskany, NY
9:30 a.m. The Village of Oriskany will greet General Lafayette with a ceremony near the site where he was originally welcomed by fellow Yorktown veteran and Oriskany resident, Colonel Gerrit Lansing, who also enlisted in the American Revolution as a teenager. Lansing went on to settle at Oriskany, where he invested in a woolen mill that served the community for 200 years. Parking for the event at the Oriskany Museum, 420 Utica Street, Oriskany, NY.
10:30 a.m. A breakfast fundraiser at Oriskany American Legion Post 1448 (7908 NY-69, Oriskany, NY) adjacent to the Oriskany Battlefield State Historic Site hosted by the Battle of Oriskany Historical Society. The menu will feature recipes from the 1820s. Regency dress encouraged.
For tickets and more information please visit:
Continued in Whitesboro, NY
12:30 p.m. Lafayette will meet with the Mayor of Whitesboro in front of the original 1807 Whitestown Town Hall (8 Park Avenue, Whitesboro) to receive a proclamation and greet an interpreter portraying Mrs. White, who greeted the General in 1825. From here, Lafayette will board a six-horse drawn carriage to be carried east to Utica along Oriskany Blvd.
Continued in Utica, NY
2:00 p.m. Lafayette will arrive by carriage and greet the crowd, Oneida Nation representative Ray Halbritter, and other local dignitaries at the Doubletree by Hilton (102 Lafayette Street, Utica, NY) followed by the dedication of Lafayette Park nearby on Genesee Street.
Continued in Little Falls, NY
5:30 p.m. Lafayette will lay a wreath at the gravesite of General Nicholas Herkimer (200 St. Route 169, Little Falls, NY)
6:30-7:30 p.m. Await Lafayette's arrival with a visit from the Utica Zoomobile, sponsored by the Little Falls Rotary Club.
8:00 p.m. Lafayette arrives by boat on the Erie Canal to meet and greet Little Falls dignitaries at Benton's Landing (3 Mohawk Street., Little Falls, NY)
Be Our Guest!
Travellers looking for overnight accommodations may inquire at Doubletree by Hilton, Utica, NY, a historic hotel in downtown Utica, centrally located to these events. For reservations, please call the General Manager, Ann Marie at 315-724-7829.
For additional information on other accommodations and additional things to see in the Mohawk Valley please visit:
Experienceherkimercounty.com
oneidacountytourism.com
For additional information please contact Committee Coordinator, Leslie Raney at 315-725-3989
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