Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation

December 19, 2022

Dan Keefe
(518) 486-1868 | news@parks.ny.gov

Binghamton Pond Festival Returns to Chenango Valley State Park

The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation invites you to make some memories at the Binghamton Pond Festival. It's back for the first time since 2020, returning in person to Chenango Valley State Park. The festival begins January 20, 2023, and features family fun including snowshoeing, fireworks, a charity drive and, of course, hockey.

The Binghamton Pond Festival was created in 2016 to provide a fun community event that has expanded into a month-long series. It celebrates hockey and offers an opportunity to have some winter fun with family and friends. In 2018, it became one of the few outdoor hockey events to utilize mechanical refrigeration to manage weather concerns. This allows players great ice in outdoor temperatures exceeding 50 degrees and full sun on the 220' x 110' ice sheet, which is the largest refrigerated outdoor ice sheet in North America.

Teams can still register online for each of the three weekends of events, which includes an adult 3v3 tournament January 20-22, a youth weekend January 27-29, and an adult 4v4 tournament February 3-5.

"We are so pleased to gather again in the Chenango Valley and celebrate achievements at New York's state parks and historic sites which offer countless opportunities to explore the outdoors and enjoy family-friendly fun," said State Parks Commissioner Erik Kulleseid. "Congratulations to all the organizers and participants who have that positive, can-do spirit that we rely on."

Proceeds from the events are donated to other local nonprofit organizations that provide youth support, education, and sports programs, such as the Mental Health Association of the Southern Tier (MHAST), Friends of Chenango Valley State Park, scholarships at SUNY Broome CC, and more. In total the event has donated over $40,000 to local initiatives to help the local community.

Event organizer Tytus Haller said, "After a couple of years off, we are so happy to be back and working with the crew at Chenango Valley State Park to bring fun weekends and memorable experiences back to the hockey community. CV State Park is such a beautiful and unique environment to hold an event like this and our team could not do this without the help and support of the Office of New York State Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation."

Besides those experienced players returning to the ice, the event will host a free "try hockey" session for kids with help from the Southern Tier Hockey Association (STHA) and the Binghamton Blizzard Girls Hockey Association to increase opportunities for kids to try the sport. There will be access to a full trailer of equipment for those interested.

For more information, click here for the Binghamton Pond Fest website and follow them on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or YouTube.

The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation oversees more than 250 parks, historic sites, recreational trails, golf courses, boat launches and more, which are visited by more than 78 million people annually. For more information on any of these recreation areas, visit www.parks.ny.gov, download the free NY State Parks Explorer mobile app or call 518.474.0456. Also, connect on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.