Ellicottville’s Fall Fest kicks off a vibrant season for a tourist town that is defined by its cozy ski culture. The festival is a total sensory overload, but the good kind. Rolling hills of gold and burnt orange give way to Carolina blue sky, replaced at night by star-laden darkness, lit up only by the beacons of light shooting upwards and from the multitude of vendors.
Everything is sold on the closed-down main street. Of course, the carnival classics are there: fresh squeezed lemonade, corn dogs, turkey legs, fried dough, fried Oreos, fried everything. Five dollars is a lot for a cup of lemonade but it is a cheap price to pay to see your child smile. No one seems to mind, with lines coming and going throughout the day.
The busy day is filled with children laughing, dogs barking, and families bouncing about from shop to shop. All this activity melts into a night of revelry as soon as the sun fades.
The Drinking Scene at Ellicottville Fall Fest
The first stop of the evening for many is the Ellicottville Brewing Company (EBC), famous for their light and airy Blueberry Wheat beer. The place is populated by thousands of partying twenty-somethings, the packed bar pours out to a pair of open areas, one where the air is filled with the music of a Frank Sinatra impersonator and the vibe is slow and relaxing.
Farther out, a band covers every drunken sing-along which ignites the crowd. It is so raucous that it makes it almost impossible to head from the beer stand back into the crowd without losing your seven dollar beverage all over your shirt. No one seems to mind.
The favorite beer of the evening seems to be EBC’s Stainless Steel Obsession IPA. A mix of traditional pale malt and an aggressive hop profile, the two styles meld elegantly and at 7% ABV just a few will have you screaming out “Sweet Caroline.”
After EBC many choose to head to more clubs like Balloons. Like a scene out of a Zac Efron movie, girls dance on tables, expensive shots come out on trays, and everyone has seemingly lost all sense of individuality; everyone exists in a state of inebriated unity.
Domestic macro-brewed beers are the most popular but many Southern Tier brews are also downed including One Buffalo. In a glass, it would be hard to distinguish this beverage from a bud light or Labatt. That may be what Southern Tier had in mind when they created it, it is sort of an everyman’s beer, but a slightly hoppy profile puts it a cut above the average domestic. A night of rollicking gives way to the light of morning, and the cumulative hangover can be felt throughout the town.
Many head to Katy’s Cafe to cure the brew flu. The lovely restaurant has expedited their food delivery process by opting for an order at the counter mechanism in lieu of their traditional wait staff for the weekend. Fresh organic ingredients make it difficult to choose but the Katy’s Breakfast Burrito flies off the griddle. With all the traditional fixins: fried eggs, home fries, choice of meat, this burrito kicks it up a notch. It clears out your sinuses with pepper jack cheese and banana peppers. The spiciness is evened out by sautéed onions and fresh tomatoes. All of this is put together in a light and fluffy jalapeno cheddar wrap, grilled to perfection. In the end, the burrito is warm and cozy, just like the buzz of Ellicottville’s Fall Fest.
