Signature Events on Seneca Lake · Watkins Glen Racing, Wine Festivals, Harvest

The Five That Matter Most

The weekends that define the calendar.

ACADEMIC · ITHACA

Cornell & Ithaca College Graduation Weekends

Mid-to-late May · Ithaca (40 min from Seneca Lake)

Cornell commencement and Ithaca College commencement sit back-to-back across two mid-May weekends, and the Ithaca hotel market is effectively sold out twelve months in advance. That demand spills north and west into Seneca Lake's short-term rentals, where families find quieter lodging, full kitchens, and the kind of space that accommodates three generations under one roof.

Stay for Graduation →3-night min · +30% over base

RACING · WATKINS GLEN

Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen (IMSA)

Late June · Watkins Glen International

The Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen is the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship's summer centerpiece — six hours of Corvettes, Porsches, Cadillacs, BMWs, and Acuras trading positions on one of the most demanding road courses in North America. It draws a different crowd than NASCAR: sports-car enthusiasts, road-racing purists, and a heavy contingent of factory-team personnel who camp trackside for the weekend.

Stay for Six Hours →3-night min · +40% over base

WINE · WATKINS GLEN

Finger Lakes Wine Festival

Mid-July · Watkins Glen International

The largest showcase of New York wine in the country, hosted on the infield of Watkins Glen International. More than 80 wineries pour over three days, with seminars, food trucks, live music, grand tastings, and Friday-night camping inside the track.

Stay for the Wine Fest →3-night min · +35% over base

RACING · WATKINS GLEN

Go Bowling at The Glen (NASCAR Cup)

Mid-August · Watkins Glen International

The single biggest booking weekend of the Finger Lakes year. NASCAR's Cup Series returns to Watkins Glen International for its only road-course visit of the summer — a full weekend of Xfinity, Truck, and Cup racing that turns the village into a 100,000-person camp for four days.

Stay for NASCAR →4-night min · +75% over base

WINE · SENECA LAKE

Seneca Lake Wine Trail Harvest Celebration

Mid-October · Seneca Lake Wine Trail

The defining fall weekend on Seneca Lake. Over two days, more than thirty wineries along the trail pair their current-release wines with a locally-sourced food dish — a braise, a chowder, a handmade pasta — while the harvest is still on the vines.

Stay for Harvest →3-night min · +25% over base

Watkins Glen International

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FESTIVAL · MID-JULY

Cardboard Boat Regatta

Clute Park

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FOOD · LATE JULY

Finger Lakes Cheese Festival

Shtayburne Farm (and rotating hosts)

Read more →

August

2 events

Seneca Lake Wine Trail

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A Note on Timing

Why book early.

Seneca Lake is not a year-round resort market. Demand concentrates into roughly six or eight weekends a year — NASCAR, IMSA, the Wine Festival, the Grand Prix Festival, harvest, and the two graduation weekends at Cornell and Ithaca College. On those weekends, every hotel, cabin, and cottage from Corning to Geneva is booked, often a full year in advance.

Our direct calendar opens to Insiders fourteen days ahead of the public, and for the biggest events — NASCAR in August, harvest in October, graduation in May — those first fourteen days are often when the whole weekend sells. If one of these events is on your list, write to us early. We'll work backward from the event to find a stay that fits.

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Tell us the dates — we'll work backward.

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The weekends worth planning a year around.

The weekends that define the calendar.

Cornell & Ithaca College Graduation Weekends

Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen (IMSA)

Finger Lakes Wine Festival

Go Bowling at The Glen (NASCAR Cup)

Seneca Lake Wine Trail Harvest Celebration

The annual calendar.

Pasta & Wine Weekend

Deck the Halls Wreath Auction Weekend

Cornell & Ithaca College Graduation Weekends

Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen (IMSA)

Finger Lakes Wine Festival

Cardboard Boat Regatta

Finger Lakes Cheese Festival

Grand Prix Festival of Watkins Glen

Go Bowling at The Glen (NASCAR Cup)

US Vintage Grand Prix

Seneca Lake Wine Trail Harvest Celebration

Deck the Halls on the Seneca Lake Wine Trail

Why book early.

Tell us the dates — we'll work backward.