32ND ANNUAL FALLING LEAVES FESTIVAL
This year Salamanca is celebrating its 32nd Annual Falling Leaves Festival. In late1975, members of various Salamanca fraternal and service organizations were concerned that civic pride was declining and decided to form a committee to rectify the situation, so Paul D. Formica, with his wife Sandra, formed a committee which was called the Salamanca Positive Action Committee (SPAC). The mission was to develop ideas to restore civic pride, improve the look of Main Street and attract new businesses to the area. One of the ideas the SPAC discussed was holding a festival in the fall, which became known as the Falling Leaves Festival.
The first Falling Leaves Festival was created and produced September 30-October 3, 1976 and was held in multiple locations; food concessions and entertainment were in Jefferson Street Park, art & craft and civic vendors were located at old City Hall and in the Mall, and a dance was held right in the middle of Jefferson Street. Through the years, the festival has taken on different shapes and colors. Rosie Hoag, who was President of the Salamanca Area Chamber of Commerce Chamber in the early 1990’s, recalls that, “People worked hard all year long to put on the festival and that’s what accounted for its success.” SPAC organized the event for its first seven years and then turned it over to the Salamanca Area Chamber of Commerce. In the early 1990’s, the City of Salamanca managed the festival until it was again turned back over to the Chamber, which is still managing the event today. The Chamber is confident that this year’s festivities will be as spectacular and memorable and the first year was.
