BoomDays is a grassroots celebration commencing with the lifting of the Lake Erie/Niagara River ice boom. As winter’s ice shifts and flows down our not-so-lazy river, so do the festivities throughout the neighborhoods of Buffalo Niagara.

With the slow removal of winter’s necklace from the nape of the Niagara, Buffalo marks a unique new regional rite of spring. BoomDays commemorates our bustling waterways of days gone by and celebrates our natural, artistic and cultural wealth.

The "Ice Boom" – the string of logs placed across the eastern end of Lake Erie near the mouth of the Niagara River – holds back large chunks of ice from moving down the river during winter and early spring in an attempt to prevent damage to power plant water intakes and docks. Its removal signals the breaking up of the Lake Erie ice pack and the coming of spring to Buffalo Niagara.

BoomDays is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. on Friday, April 4th at the Festival Grounds at the Pier on Fuhrmann Blvd. in Buffalo. The opening ceremonies include a bi-national "firing of the cannons" between the Buffalo lake shore and Fort Erie; a series of lake freighter whistle blows; and a ball drop signifying the lifting of the Ice Boom.

At 4:30, the Dady Brothers will perform songs of the Great Lakes, the Erie Canal and sea-faring Irish, British and American folk songs. A series of poetry readings and musical performances will highlight the remainder of the evening, concluding with a fireworks display at 7:45 p.m.

For more information on related rites of spring from April 4th through April 6th, visit www.boomdays.com.