They can take the chili cook-off out of Hanover Square, but they can’t move Martinfest out of the parking lot across the street.
The orange shirt special for 2016.
That special gathering of friends put on by the Martin family, naturally, went on last weekend, thankfully, even though a bother about permits and such according to a story on Syracuse.com moved organizers to cancel the stalwarts of Syracuse Winterfest, the chili and chowder cook-offs, from their 30-year home in the city square across the road.
Food and Martins.
We still had plenty of food. Tables full, provided by the Martins and brought by all the guests. We contributed two large garlic pizzas purchased from the Pies Guys on James Street, for example. I ate a tasty slice of that, and a hot dog cooked on the grill and served up by Scott Martin.
There’s nobody there in Hanover Square.
The past several years, we’ve braved way sub-zero temperatures to eat, drink and be merry with our good friends and their good friends and other people walking now past brave enough in mid-February in Syracuse, N.Y., to stop and say hello.
The AXA Tower says it’s 55º F.
By early afternoon, Saturday, though, the big tower down Warren Street told my dear wife Karen and I that it was in the mid-50s. Good thing. I had left my winter jacket back home in the Little Bitty in the Syracuse city neighborhood of Eastwood, going for the layers of my blue 2014 Martinfest T-shirt to start, my New York Islanders long-sleeve T over that, my Syracuse Orange hoodie third, and this year’s Orange Martinfest T on top.
Karen and Kristy, up from Baltimore.
Karen, too, went with the layers. She was thrilled to see friend and former SMG co-worker Kristy, who’d driven up from Baltimore for the party (and to visit her parents 90 minutes south in Binghamton).
We walked over to Clinton Square a block over with our great friends the Bowers sisters, hoping to see big ice sculptures avoiding a bigger melt.
All you need is Love and a little bit of ice.
Instead we found a little L-O-V-E and a few diehards skating through the puddles on the outdoor rink.
Soon after, we ducked inside a bar to catch the end of the Syracuse game from the Carrier Dome. Pittsburgh won. We shared a couple of plates of chicken wings and a Canadian favorite, poutine, before heading back out to the still-partying Martinfest.
The spirit lives.
Oh, yeah. They did it Sunday, too, without us.
What’s your favorite outdoor party, and why? What would you bring to Martinfest? How would you dress for this party?
Mark Bialczak 
What an intrepid band. An out of doors event in Syracuse in February! Bravo
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We have our gusto, Benson. Thank you for noticing. 🙂
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love it….and a good time was had by all, I assume!!
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Yes, fish, yes, indeed!
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i’d go with the colors, in layers, and lots of them. the food sounds great and the people, wonderful –
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Lots and lots of layers works in our city winters, for sure, Beth. With our wonderful people and great colors, yours and mine. 🙂
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Poutine. Yummmmmmm.
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Not my favorite dish, I discovered. You can have my share of the poutine next time, Kimi. 🙂
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Maybe you got some subpar poutine, although it’s hard to imagine fried potatoes covered in cheese and gravy as “bad.” 😦
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Too rich for me that day at least! 😮
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Nice temps indeed! I think mid 50’s would find me in a sweatshirt with the orange tee over it. Looks like a good time! 🙂
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It was very grand this year, not having to bundle up with just the eyes peeking out, Joey. 😮
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Cool. I haven’t been to any outdoor fests since college days. Well that’s not quite true – we have Winterfest here but it is really well organized and vendors are all inside buildings – city run. i would definitely dress in layers for such an occasion, especially since temperatures tend to change so much as the day progresses.
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The best thing about Martinfest is that it is a “rogue”festival. No city, no county, no officials to worry about, Paul. We do have to keep our eyes out for peace officers doing their job of spot-patrolling that city parking lot, though, knock on wood!
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Ha! I’ve always liked the rogue approach – it seems to make the burgers taste much better. 😀 As much as I understand that when the city gets involved it all has to be by the book, (liability issues) still they tend to discourage the little guy who doesn’t charge enough to cover permits and parking fees.
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Yes, official rules must come into play with permits, Paul.
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