In 2006, many Fairport singles put a circle around the calendar date of June 2nd, June 3rd or June 4th. Some very lucky Fairport singles circled all three of those dates. Those were the days when the residents of Fairport celebrated the event known as the Canal Days.
The Canal Days have added interest to Fairport’s social life since 1977. The Canal Days allow the residents of Fairport to get a taste of life back when barges made a regular trip up and down the length of the Eerie Canal. The Canal Days provide the young people of Fairport with a chance to do some dating in a manner reminiscent of the mid-19th Century.
For example, look at the entertainment available to all those attending the Canal Days events. Those who have strolled past the Canal Days’ booths can expect to pass a stage on which there might be a band or a storyteller. Travelers and young dating pairs often listened to storytellers and band music during much of the 19th Century. Then as now, dating couples in Fairport have enjoyed those entertainers, as they have initiated a conversation that could help them to become better acquainted.
The items for sale in the booths reflect the type of decorations that filled the 19th Century homes. They provide yet another reminder of what former dating couples have enjoyed together. Now during Canal Days more than 300 artisans occupy one or more of the events’ booths. They display ceramics, photos, glass decorations, paintings, and wood carvings.
Even the food sold to the attendees at the Canal Days events offers a true taste of life in the mid-1800s. Dating couples can share samples of funnel cake, kettle corn, home made ice cream, strudel and cannoli. Much of the food at the Canal Days reflects the influence of the immigrants who came to Fairport prior to the start of the 20th Century.
Over time, the dating couples at the Canal Days might find that other, newer foods become part of the menu at some Canal Days booths. For example, some booths might mirror the degree to which the Iranian immigrants have changed the social life in New York City. Some booths could one day offer kebab wrapped in thin Lavash bread.
If the day ever comes when the dating couples of Fairport anticipate the taste of kebab, then those same dating couples are apt to plan many different types of weddings. Some might want to have a Muslim wedding. Some might favor a Jewish wedding. Some could anticipate the wedding music played during a Christian wedding ceremony. A few of those Fairport couples might even plan on holding a Baha’i ceremony.
The diverse nature of those weddings would be a decided departure from the traditional weddings of 77 years ago, Those were the sort of weddings that were held during the first year of Canal Days.