Lake George weekend hums with Puccini, pizza and performance racing

A visitor to Lake George, unaware of this weekend’s events, might pause at the deep rumbling sound filling the air, and look overhead for a passing helicopter. However, the thundering sound through the Village Saturday afternoon, May 18, came not from the sky, but from the lake as high-performance boats cut through the water with speed and agility over a course that circled the southern basin. Along Beach Road, crowds lined the shore to watch the demonstration races, all part of the Lake George Performance Weekend.
In the shadow of Fort William Henry, a small carnival, with food vendors and children’s rides, occupied the Beach Road parking lot. The Tequila Mockingbirds, Saratoga duo George Fletcher and Pete Pashoukos, performed their brand of acoustic blues, jazz and rock on the open stage at Blais Park.

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Meanwhile, a few blocks north in Shepard Park, soprano Holly McCormack sang a Puccini aria for the crowd at the Lake George Italian Festival. Speedboats raced behind her stage, but their horsepower was no match for opera singer’s rich voice. The Lake George Italian Festival is a first for the Village, but promises to become an annual event. Local restaurants served up savory plates of Italian food – Alfredo, caponatta, fagioli and decadent Italian pastries. The local pizzerias were also represented at the feast, as were wines, fresh-made Italian sodas and gelato.
Arts and crafts vendors sold their wares from tented stalls that lined the walks, and the front lawn of the old County Courthouse was taken over by colorful inflated bounce houses, pony rides, a petting zoo and a slowly rotating mechanical bull. At the south end of the park, the Lake George Community Garden Club sold perennial plants, hand-painted flowerpots, baked goods and tag sale items.
Saturday of Performance Weekend ended with a parade of boats down Canada Street and fireworks over the lake. Sunday morning, May 19, sailboats will race over the waters churned by the performance racers. The Italian Festival continues through 5 p.m. Sunday, concluding with an awards ceremony and pizza-tasting contest that will determine the best tasting pizza in Lake George for 2013.