North Tonawanda, N.Y. (WBEN) - Many see it as the unofficial kickoff to summer in the Tonawandas when the Gateway Harbor concert series commences every June at Gateway Harbor Park in the City of North Tonawanda.
This Wednesday night will see the opening series of free concerts featuring local acts taking place, starting at 6 p.m. ET with The Release hitting the stage, followed by the band Coda at 8 p.m. ET.
The summer concert series at Gateway Harbor Park dates back to 2002, making it the longest running free series of shows in the region.
"We look forward to it every single year," said City of Tonawanda Mayor John White in an interview with WBEN. "Anything that happens that close between Tonawanda and North Tonawanda, my brothers and sisters on the other side of the bridge, we always expand and attract, and benefit from things like the Riviera Theatre. And we have things on our side, on the Canal Street side. So the concerts are a phenomenal attraction, and it just keep businesses open, it keeps people coming through. It's a networking event. We love it. It's fantastic."
Also joining Mayor White for the opening evening of concerts at Gateway Harbor is North Tonawanda Mayor Austin Tylec.
"The committee has worked extremely hard throughout the year to get all this together. It's not an easy lift, but in the end, it's a great time for families and friends, and everyone who likes music," said Tylec with WBEN.
Among the organizers helping to put together the annual series of concerts in the Tonawandas is Rick Falkowski. He feels part of what makes the concert series so great is the fact everything is right along the historic Erie Canal, which means a benefit for both cities along the water.
"After and before our events, people go to the stores, people go to the restaurants on the Tonawanda side and on the North Tonawanda side. There's residual business for the people within the area," said Falkowski in an interview with WBEN.
"Our concert this week Wednesday is in North Tonawanda, then we have our Food Truck Thursdays, which is becoming one of the larger recurring food truck dates now, that's on the Tonawanda side, inside the new Tonawanda Canal Street pavilion. And then we started a new event, which is called the Spotlight Stage Series - more like theatre and variety entertainment, comedy nights - that's also on the Tonawanda side. So businesses like Mooney's and stuff like that [on] the Tonawanda side get business there, and people on the North Tonawanda side like the Gateway's Remington, the new restaurants that's going to be opening, District 37, by the Berrafatos, they're going to be right inside the Gateway footprint, and they're going to be opening before July 4."
Tylec says the annual concert series brings a different type of energy to the Tonawandas.
"People that may have came down for food enjoy the concerts, but people who come down for the concerts end up going to all of our businesses or restaurants downtown," he said. "A lot of people that even come to the concerts have said, 'We didn't know how thriving your restaurants are down here. How eclectic, how many options there are on both sides of the Canal.' It's a really big economic booster for the Tonawandas, for sure."
While the draw for concerts will often depend on the weather any given day, some estimate between 2,000-to-5,000 will make their way to the Tonawandas for the free concerts every Wednesday this summer.
"People want to get out. COVID's done, people want the 'if you build it, they will come' type of attitude. And if you have a good band at a nice venue like Gateway is, it attracts people," Mayor White said.
And it's certainly not just the residents of Tonawanda and North Tonawanda that will bring people to Gateway Harbor. People from all over Western New York will flock to the area to hear some of their favorite flavor of music.
"Not everyone wants chaotic concerts in the big city like Buffalo sometimes, and they just want something to enjoy with family and friends, something a little bit more local," Mayor Tylec noted. "There's certainly an opportunity here, a lot of businesses get involved to help sponsor it as well. And it raises a few bucks or different nonprofits too, so it's all-around a great thing. We never hear anything bad about these concerts series, it's always a positive."
Not only does the concert series draw in people by land, but also by the waterways with boaters docking in the Erie Canal to enjoy the shows.
"There's some bands that have a following, some bands with followings where they get a lot of boaters. I consider us 'Baby Boomer' events, so that's really the crowd that's there. There's times we'll have 100 boats docked there, so talking about what it does for the waterfront, 100 boats does a lot," Falkowski said.
The region has seen a number of prominent concert events over the summer months like Thursday at the Square and the concerts at Canalside either move or end completely, or change by downsizing from what it maybe once was. Falkowski admits when the idea came up for doing this concert series, he took from what Thursday at the Square was doing, because they went away from showcasing local bands and bringing in more national groups.
"I said, 'There has to be a big event that features area bands, not national bands,'" Falkowski said. "Thursday at the Square used to be packed. I used to play in a band and we played at the Lafayette Tap Room, and they used to charge admission just for people to come in and go to the bathroom. So we started with the idea of replacing, or becoming what they were."
Mayor Tylec sees the Gateway Harbor concert series as a potentially enhanced version of what was in the past with Thursday at the Square or concerts at Canalside.
"It's another opportunity for people during the busy work week to go out and have some fun, have a beer and just enjoy some good music," Tylec said. "Things evolve over time, and sometimes people want to stay local too, not always traveling to Niagara Falls or Buffalo. It's really an opportunity for everyone."
Meanwhile, Mayor White feels the Gateway Harbor concert series doesn't compete with anybody else in the region.
"As long as the music stays quality, it's going to be great forever until the music changes. It's not going to change," White said. "They pick bands that attract people. Eat, drink, have fun, and it's a win-win for everybody."
If you plan on making your way to the Tonawandas at any point this summer for a Wednesday night concert, both White and Tylec ask folks to be considerate of one another, and have a good time.
"And if you have an opportunity, thank anyone down there that's part of the committee. They always wear t-shirts, they're recognizable, thank them. I certainly thank them, because it's got to take thousands of hours throughout the year just to get this series together. It's going to be a great summer," Tylec noted.
As for Falkowski, he reminds everyone the concert series remains free for anyone wishing to attend this summer.
"We're still one of the very few events that are still free. A lot of the other events are charging $5 or $10 to get in, or they're charging for parking. Here, everything's free," he said. "We ask for donations, because the costs to present the concerts today is 10 times as much as it was when we started 20 years ago. It takes a lot to do it, we're a volunteer staff, we do the best we can. We ask you to come there, have a good time, spread the word. And we plan on being here for another 20 years."