The 38th annual Canal Days celebration has been taken on by the city and will feature a new “Tastes of Lockport” food festival.

“It’s a completely new festival from the first 37 years,” said Festival Coordinator Sue Cottingham of the new "Canal Days - Lockstock Festival. “We used to be called the Old Canal Days. It’s a festival that’s been around for 37 years and the mayor wanted to keep it going. He wanted to have something new and fresh,” said Cottingham.

About 10 different Lockport restaurants are expected to serve their specialties at the "Tastes of Lockport," which will take place from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. Friday, June 18, in the back lot of Paradise Bay Restaurant at 105 W. 10th St.

“The Canal Day's Lockport festival is the perfect way to taste your way through our amazing city,” said Cottingham.

Canal Days will take place Friday and Saturday, June 18 and 19, in the area around Lincoln Landing and the South Landing parking lot. A parade will kick-off the event from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Friday on State Street. The procession will include more than 100 different participants.

Music for the festival includes main stage entertainment in the South Public Landing Parking lot. Amy Kelly and the Bill Ande Band will perform from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Friday. Featuring Kelly's powerful and compelling voice, the band will captivate the audience with songs influenced by Aretha Franklin, Janis Joplin and Van Morrison. The high-energy band, Spoken Four, will entertain from its repertoire of more than five decades of music from 8:30 p.m. to midnight. On Saturday, main stage entertainment includes Soda, covering bands as diverse as Jimmy Buffet to Smashmouth, Johnny Cash and the Black-Eyed Peas, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. From 8:30 to 11:30 p.m., tribute band American English will perform Beatles tunes. The popular group has shared the stage with The Grassroots, Three Dog Night and more.

Family day will feature free family entertainment from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at Lincoln Landing. The family area will include a giant 22-foot inflatable slide, moon jump, face painters, balloon twisters, arts-n-crafts and more.

Informational exhibitors will hand out free giveaways and information to fest-goers on the canal path and the historic Gaylord Building will feature a range of exhibits on the history of the canal.

For more details, visit www.lockportcanaldays.com or call the City of Lockport at 815-838-0549, ext. 2102.