The Festival Commons
17 Betty Little Blvd.
(West Brook Road)
Lake George, NY 12885
www.festivalcommons.com
The Festival Commons at Charles R. Wood Park is a two-acre outdoor venue that hosts concerts, festivals, car shows and other events. It is located on the Southern end of the lake in the Village of Lake George. The grounds include a Children’s Adventure Playground and the Lake George Skate Plaza.
General Information:
- The Festival Commons are accessed through the Main Gates on West Brook Road. A secondary entrance is accessed from Beach Road along a street that runs alongside the East wall of Fort William Henry, directly across from the Lake George Steamboat Company’s pier.
- The grounds are smoke-free. While rules for specific events are set by event organizers, most issue wristbands that allow ticketholders to exit and return to the grounds during an event.
- There are permanent, accessible restrooms at the Northeast end of the Commons.
- The Commons do not have a dedicated parking lot, however, the venue is within walking distance of several public and private lots. Metered parking is available on the streets surrounding Wood Park and in Lake George Village.
The two sides of Charles R. Wood Park
Wood Park is more than the festival grounds. The property extends to both sides of West Brook Road, with the South side reserved for the West Brook Conservation Initiative. This natural waterway, an effort of local municipalities and conservation organizations, serves to filter storm runoff from Route 9 and surrounding properties to protect the quality of Lake George water. A system of walkways with benches weaves past the ponds and alongside wetlands offering visitors a quiet respite from the bustle of Lake George Village. The area is planted with native wetland plants, and it attracts Adirondack wildlife despite its proximity to tourist activities.
A little bit of history
The ground beneath the Festival Commons, according to 18th Century maps, was once The Great Swamp, also called The Great Morass, a marshy area that drained into Lake George. For a time, during the French and Indian War, The Great Swamp separated Fort William Henry (1755 – 1757) from the Fort’s entrenched camp. Once the British drove out the French, and the American Colonists, in turn, drove out the Brits, Lake George experienced an era of peace, which allowed settlers to move in, build a town and turn The Great Swamp land into a sawmill.
In 1958, entrepreneur Charles R. Wood purchased the property from D&H Railroad, leveled a hill to open up the view of Lake George and built the Gaslight Village theme park. Residents and visitors enjoyed “yesterday’s fun today” at the amusement park for more than 30 years. Gaslight Village closed in 1989, briefly reopening as Lake George Action Park.
The property sat unused for many years and the colorful buildings of Gaslight Village fell into disrepair.
In 2010, The Lake George Association, the Lake George Land Conservancy and the Fund for Lake George joined with Warren County and the Village of Lake George to restore The Great Swamp as protection against the salt, chemicals and nutrients that wash towards the lake with each rainfall, seriously threatening the lake’s health.
On the North side of West Brook, The Gaslight Village buildings were demolished and the Festival Commons was created. The American Music Festival for the Lake launched the new venue in September 2014 with a two-day music festival.