2022 saw the nation slowly emerge from pandemic shutdowns. Although Lake George and Adirondack tourism remained strong in 2020 and 2021, concerts and festivals were put on hold or made into online, virtual events during the global health emergency. With the advent of vaccines, effective drug therapies and a better understanding of the virus and its variants, event organizers could begin planning in-person events again. Lake George saw the return of favorite festivals and the opening of new events in 2022.
January brought a new attraction to Lake George, one Mayor Robert Blais called “a game-changer” that would draw crowds in the winter to make Lake George truly a year-round destination. Ice Castles New York opened its glittering towers in Wood Park the last week of January and welcomed tens of thousands of guests over several weeks.
Ice Castles has begun building its structures in Wood Park to prepare for a return in January 2023. Tickets are available at the Ice Castles website.
The Lake George Winter Carnival returned in 2022. Each weekend in February held a full schedule of events although a thick layer of slush on the Lake’s surface pushed the Carnival’s signature event, the outhouse races, into Battlefield Park. The Winter Carnival returns for 2023 with Opening Ceremonies in Shepard Park on Feb. 4 at noon.
The Lake George Battlefield Park Visitor Center, housed in the new Lake George Park Commission office at 75 Fort George Road, opened with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on May 25, 2022.
Memorial Day 2022
In June, Martin’s Lumber on Valley Road in Thurman hosted a Woods Walk and Artisan Market. Visitors had the opportunity to learn some self-sufficiency skills that are in danger of being lost in modern times. Crafters and artisan food producers offered their goods for sale and Martin’s opened their woods for exploration.
In this photo, Visitors to the Woods Walk and Artisan Market try their hand at drilling holes in a maple log, the first step to inoculating the log for mushroom propagation.
Since 1974, the American Legion has held a POW/MIA Remembrance Ceremony on Prospect Mountain on the first Sunday in June. The 2022 ceremony included performances by the Johnsburg Central School band and flags. The Patriot Guard Riders New York rode their bikes up the winding 6-mile-long Veterans Memorial Parkway and formed a flag line to honor and remember the missing.
Father’s Day weekend brought the return of LEO (Law Enforcement Officers) Weekend. The event, which brings dozens of LEOs to Lake George for camaraderie and respite, opened with a parade up Canada Street and a ceremony in Shepard Park.
Farmers’ Markets throughout the Lake George area did a robust business in 2022 selling fresh produce, organic meats and dairy, jams, jellies, baked goods, maple products, honey, and arts and crafts. Many included live music to entertain shoppers.
The Adirondack Wine & Food Festival, after a two-year pandemic-caused hiatus, returned with more than 120 vendors, chef competitions and cooking demonstrations at Wood Park the last weekend in June.
Nearly 700 hikers registered to join one of 21 hikes with the Lake George Land Conservancy’s 10th Annual Hike-a-Thon. Pictured here: hikers reach the summit of the Pinnacle Trail in Bolton Landing.
After a two-year hiatus, the Lake George Community Band Festival returned in 2022. The Festival, first held in 2005, is the largest of its kind in the Northeast bringing Community Bands from across New York, New England and Canada to the Shepard Park amphitheater. The Festival will return on July 15, 2023.
Saturday, July 16, 2022, Diamond Point Community Church held its annual Taste of Diamond Point fundraiser.
Up Yonda Farm Environmental Education Center in Bolton Landing celebrated its 25th Anniversary in July.
Time for Three, a “classically trained garage band,” rehearses at the Fort William Henry Hotel Carriage House. The trio headlined the Lake George Music Festival’s opening concert Wednesday evening, August 10, in Shepard Park.
In August, federal, state and local officials; representatives from businesses and local environmental groups, village employees, the public and press attended ribbon-cutting ceremonies at Lake George’s new, state-of-the-art wastewater treatment plant.
“I believe that this day will go down in history as an important step forward,” said Mayor Blais, “in not only protecting our great lake but protecting the economy we’ve come to enjoy because of the lake that we have.”
On Labor Day Weekend, triathletes converged in Battlefield Park for the Alpha Win Racing series of triathlons.
Lake George American Legion Post 374 celebrated its 100th anniversary in October. The day’s events included a parade, a barbecue and a concert of patriotic music performed by the Lake George Community Band in Shepard Park.
Columbus Day Weekend brings the Village of Lake George Oktoberfest. A giant tent, set up in the middle of Canada Street, served as a beer garden with live music, Bavarian food, beer and wine.
On Halloween, trick-or-treaters collected candy up and down Canada Street in an event produced by the Lake George Youth Commission.
Polar plungers were “Freezin’ for a Reason” with a chilly jump into Lake George in November. The annual event is a fundraiser for Special Olympics New York. The 2022 plunge raised more than $175,000 to support Special Olympic athletes.
Fort William Henry’s Field of Flags has grown to more than 9,000. Each one honors a veteran or active member of the military for Veterans Day.
Lake George ushered in the holiday season with music, fireworks, a parade of lighted fire trucks and thousands of lights at the Lite Up the Village celebration.
Thank you for the lovely photo gallery of Lake George 2022!
I am very fortunate to live here in the Lake George area, it was great seeing these beautiful pictures of all the events that go on each year here in Lake George. Thank you !!
Thank you for all your coverage! Your photos are phenomenal! Cheers, Gina