Festival Tips

• Buy your tickets early (by June 3) to get the discount!
• Bring light weight folding chairs of the same height for the members of your party. There are divisions for low and high seating at most performance areas
• Bring and use your sunscreen!
• But also be prepared for rain - most years there is at least some, and other years...
• Speaking of fluids, drink plenty of them. No, not that kind.
• Wear appropriate footwear - avoid walking the fairgrounds in bare feet.
• Bring your kids and enjoy the children's activities and family performances with them.
• If you become separated from your child, go to the Information Booth.
• Lose something else? Check the Information Booth, too.
• Plan to see someone you've never heard of - you might be pleasantly surprised!
• The Sales Building has t-shirts, sweatshirts, rain ponchos, and more festival stuff. Take home a souvenir!
• Dance! Jump in and try a contra dance if you haven't before or if it's been awhile. Great fun!

got extra time before or after the festival?
Area Recreation

John Boyd Thacher State Park
is situated along the Helderberg Escarpment, one of the richest fossil-bearing formations in the world. The park provides a marvelous panorama of the Hudson-Mohawk Valleys and the Adirondack and Green Mountains. The park has volleyball courts, playgrounds, ball fields and numerous picnic areas. In addition to the famous Indian Ladder Trail, there are over twelve additional miles of trails for summer hiking and mountain biking. There's a great overlook area, too.

1. Leaving Altamont Fairgrounds, turn LEFT. going WEST on MAIN ST / NY-146 toward SCHOHARIE PLANK RD E. Continue to follow MAIN ST. 0.6 miles
2: Turn SLIGHT RIGHT going up the hill, onto NY-156. 3.2 miles
3: Turn LEFT onto THOMPSONS LAKE RD / NY-157. 1.7 miles
4: Turn LEFT onto KETCHAM RD / CR-256. 1.6 miles
5: Turn LEFT onto THACHER PARK RD / NY-157. 0.4 miles
6: Various entrances to Thacher Park will present themselves.

Website:
http://nysparks.state.ny.us/parks/info.asp?parkID=125

Very nearby Thacher Park is:

Thompson's Lake State Park,
nestled in the mountains just four miles from the Helderberg Escarpment, is a popular camping ground and recreation area. In addition to 140 wooded campsites, the park comprises a sandy beach, mixed hardwood and conifer forests, limestone outcroppings and open fields. Recreational opportunities include a volleyball court, horseshoe pits, a playing field, swingsets, carry-in boat access, rental row boats, fishing areas, and nature trails. Interpretive and recreational programs are offered for campers throughout the summer.

1. Leaving Altamont Fairgrounds, turn LEFT. going WEST on MAIN ST / NY-146 toward SCHOHARIE PLANK RD E. Continue to follow MAIN ST. 0.6 miles
2: Turn SLIGHT RIGHT going up the hill, onto NY-156. 3.2 miles
3: Turn LEFT onto THOMPSONS LAKE RD / NY-157. 2.5 miles
4: Turn LEFT onto THOMPSONS LAKE STATE PARK (Gate access required). 0.3 miles

Website:
http://nysparks.state.ny.us/parks/info.asp?parkId=128