Every summer, thousands of people flock to downtown Batavia for Windmill City Fest, but many of them aren’t even aware that they're taking part in a tradition that started as an excuse for local merchants to rectify bad inventory decisions.

As we approach this year’s festival, which is happening this weekend and once again bringing back the retro “Boo Boo Days” theme, let’s take a stroll into its past.

On August 2, 1956, the Batavia Herald ran a short item announcing a new event from the Retail Division of the Batavia Chamber of Commerce. 

According to the Windmill City Festival Committee, Arthur Swanson of the Chamber originally conceived the Boo Boo Days idea.

From the article itself:

That was about it; evidently, no big fanfare leading up in year one. 

By 1962, the Herald was leaning hard into the bit (as you’ll see from the headline above).

That year's sale featured everything from Japanese rice dishes to nylon sofas to out-of-style wedding rings, all items positioned as merchandise mistakes turned into a shopper’s bonanza. 

There was even a Boo Boo fashion show staged on the Post Office steps, showing off clearance clothing as if it were a runway collection.

A column in the July 29, 1964 issue of The Batavia Herald illustrates the ethos of the event’s early days, instructing readers to “empty your piggy bank and grab your bonnet. Boo Boo days are here.”

The piece went on to highlight “blissful bargains” at a laundry list of local shops, including The Little Dress Shop (run by Chamber veep Dorothy Jobe), Bill Rachielles’ drugs and cosmetics, Brown’s Appliance, Frank Perna’s stylish footwear (Frank was also Chamber president), Art Liska’s Ben Franklin store, and a stop at the Colonial Snack Shoppe for an ice cream "concoction."

Also in 1962, the Herald highlighted a free helicopter ride for children, set up west of Swanson's Hardware and sponsored by the Retail Merchants Division. 

No ticket purchase, no waiver to sign, and no age restriction were mentioned. The Herald hyped it as “hobos selling the latest fashion, clerks with wild Hawaiian hats and leis, kids lined up for helicopter rides, and balloons everywhere.”

Makes you wonder if there was any sort of insurance policy, doesn’t it? Times certainly have changed.

Roy David, the 1969 event’s general chairman, introduced two new attractions: the first Boo Boo Days parade and the first Boo Boo Days Queen, elected by shopper ballot.

The parade ran from Main Street down Batavia Avenue to Wilson Street, with the fire department, antique cars, American Legion and VFW units, Shriners, and decorated bikes. At around the same time, a skydiver landed near the Batavia Shopping Plaza as a complementary spectacle. 

That night, a street dance for local teens featuring music from Batavia’s “Gross National Product” — a local band that was quite popular around the Tri-Cities during that era. 

As the sale evolved to include concerts, community plays, a Miss Batavia crowning, and even an annual Tug of War, the festival outgrew its bargain-bin origins. Despite the expansion, the traditional sidewalk sale remained.

The Batavia Park District held a contest to pick a new name, and in 1978 it became Windmill City Fest. This, of course, is a nod to Batavia's history as a windmill manufacturing hub, home to companies like the U.S. Wind, Engine and Pump Co. and the Challenge Company, whose 100-foot windmill won recognition at an 1884 World's Fair. 

(A quick note: several newspaper retrospectives in the 1980s and 1990s estimated the rename happening anywhere from 1973 to 1978. We're going with 1978, the date used by today's Windmill City Festival Committee.)

Once the name changed, a true city festival emerged.

The Fine Arts and Crafts Show grew into one of the fest's most durable traditions, eventually expanding to two full days and drawing more than 100 exhibitors from across the Midwest.

Once the Riverwalk was completed, it became the Windmill City Fest’s home base. A full lineup of food booths joined the party, selling everything from Chinese and Mexican fare to hot dogs and pizza, plus a tented beer garden and the annual golf challenge allowing kids to take aim at a little green with a hole and pin in the middle of the Depot Pond for a chance to win prizes.

According to a 1992 issue of The Batavia Republican, after the Chamber lost its building to a 1989 fire, the Batavia Park District stepped in to co-sponsor the festival. Shortly thereafter, the Park District added the Quarry Beach Festival as a companion event, along with an ice cream social and a car show.

The newspaper also reported in 1994 that Beacon Street Gallery and Theatre began sponsoring international music, dance, and theater performances, adding Indian dance, African music, South African acts, and Mexican folk dancers to the mix. 

The Windmill Fest Pet Parade arrived in the mid 1990s,  letting children dress up their pets as their favorite nationality, hero, or celebrity. Merchants also added a Treasure Hunt promotion where shoppers bought keys from participating stores hoping to unlock a chest full of prizes.

In 1986, well into the Windmill City Fest era, organizers resuscitated the Boo Boo Days theme as part of that year's festival, crediting Joe Marconi with reviving the sidewalk sales specifically. 

Chamber director Donna Dallesasse (who is quoted in numerous newspaper interviews during the 1990s) co-chaired that year alongside Darlene Violetto and Arlene Nick. The Park district organized demonstrations, a canoe race, and a beer and brat garden. 

Batavia isn't the only Tri-Cities festival with a merchant-sale origin story. Tri-Cities Central recently published a history of Swedish Days, which started in the 1940s as Geneva Days, a shopping promotion meant to bring retail life back after wartime shortages. 

It’s an interesting parallel: both festivals started as ways for downtown merchants to move product, and both turned into a treasured tradition the whole community rallies around. 

Batavia seems to recognize the nostalgia surrounding the event, having revived the old name back in 1986. Forty years later, they're betting on Boo Boo Days again.

The 2026 Windmill City Festival kicks off on Friday, July 10. Get more information and event schedule.

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