Garden City Welcomes Return of Annual Belmont Festival

Garden City will take to the streets to celebrate the final leg of the Triple Crown with the return of the perennially popular Belmont Festival.

Garden City Belmont Festival chair Mary Dolan Grippo announced that the annual celebration will take place Friday, June 4, the eve of the 142nd running of the Belmont Stakes, which marks the third and final leg of the Triple Crown.

"We are thrilled to host the Belmont Festival once again and appreciate the continuing support of civic, business, community leaders and local residents," said Dolan Grippo. "This festival has become a great way for the community to celebrate one of the world's premier sporting events - the running of the Belmont Stakes, the third leg of thoroughbred racing's Triple Crown."

The festival will take place on Seventh Street from 6 to 10 p.m. and will feature entertainment, live music, family friendly activities and a chicken wings throwdown. 

The "Wing Off" chicken wing competition will take place between 7 and 9 p.m. during which local restaurants will compete to be named Garden City's chicken wing champion. Four restaurants are currently confirmed to take part in the competition: Uptown Grille, J.P. McGeever's Pub, Murphy's and Walk Street. The winner of the Wing Off will be announced at 9:30 p.m.

Judges will be plucked from the general public as any passerby can get in on the action for $8, which includes a plate of wings and a ballot. All proceeds benefit the Mollie Biggane Melanoma Foundation, named for a Garden City resident who died from melanoma at the age of 20. Local restaurants wishing to participate should contact Tim Peeples at 516-459-3740. 

The United States Air Force Band of Liberty rock band, Afterburner, will headline this year's Garden City festival. Local bands will also take to the stage.

Garden City children will have the opportunity to show their love of horse racing by taking part in a children's poster contest. Participants in the children's poster contest must be residents of Garden City who are currently enrolled in grades K - 6. Children are encouraged to submit images of thoroughbred racing on heavy white poster paper, sized 16"x 20".

Students must print their name, age, grade and school on back of the artwork. Deadline for entry is Saturday, May 26 at 5 p.m. at Sunflower Fine Art Gallery, located at 172 Seventh Street in Garden City. All entries must be dropped off in person. The top three winners will be awarded cash prizes from Sunflower Fine Art and their names will appear in the local media.

All artwork submitted by the deadline will be displayed in store windows along Seventh Street and Franklin Avenue. Designated locations of each child's artwork will be posted on www.sunflowerfineart.com/events beginning June 1.

The Garden City Belmont Festival will also feature clowns, street performers, face painters, bounce rides, the Belmont Park starting gate and Sammy the Bugler, who is renowned for his talented and spirited "Call to the Post" prior to the start of each thoroughbred race at Belmont Park.

The Garden City Belmont Festival is sponsored by The Garden City Hotel; the Village of Garden City; and the New York Racing Association (NYRA).

For more information or to participate in any of its events, contact Dolan Grippo at 516-571-1936 or via e-mail at mgrippo@nassauida.org.