PORT HENRY — Lots of changes are coming to Port Henry’s iconic Champ Day event this year as it celebrates its 40th anniversary.
The annual Champ Day will be in the field just before the BridgeView Harbour Marina from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Aug. 2.
Admission is free and food and craft vendors, Penelope the Clown and live music by the band Wrong Direction will be featured.
Among the special guests will be Richard Rossi and Kelly Tabor. Tabor wrote the children’s book “Lucy and the Lake Monster” and Rossi directed the film based on the book, which is now screening on Amazon Prime.
Tabor will be signing copies of her book and Rossi will talk about the film and his own experiences with Champ, the legendary Lake Champlain creature the festival is dedicated to.
Moriah Chamber of Commerce President Ric Lewis said Champ Day 2025 is a change of venue from previous years.
“The location near the marina has plenty of parking and space for vendors and attractions,” he said. “There’s already a stage for the band.”
Czech Wagon food truck and Dockside Cafe will be at Champ Day with light fare and snow cones will be provided by Arrow Bank of Port Henry.
The Mr. Ding-A-Ling ice cream truck is also tentatively booked to be there.
“The popular cardboard boat races will be back,” Lewis said. “There a small beach next to the field where they can try them out.”
The cardboard boat races have kids using duct tape and sheets of cardboard to make boats they then push out and race back to shore to win prizes.
A dunking booth where local celebrities can be dropped into a tank of water by throwing baseballs is also being provided by Port Henry Volunteer Fire Department.
“I’ll be they’re doing face-painting and children’s games,” said Catherine Sprague, who appears as Penelope the Clown. “I wouldn’t want to miss Champ Day. Who knows, maybe we’ll see Champ.”
Craft and food vendors who want to attend Champ Day can sign up online at www.moriahchamber.org/product/champ-day-vendor-application/28.
Champ could be a prehistoric throwback called a plesiosaur, or a large sturgeon or something else entirely, but it is a romantic legend, Sprague said.
Champ Day is sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce and the town of Moriah.