5 Best Performing Arts in Niagara Falls and Western New York, New York

Making its debut in August 2008, this annual two-day festival in Dunkirk celebrates New York State wines. Other attractions are a farmers' market, music, and homemade foods and crafts. Events take place at the county fairgrounds.

A large part of this seven-day fair, held at the end of July, centers on animals: livestock exhibits, horse shows, goat-milking contests. Other attractions include demolition derbies, tractor pulls, line dancing, magic shows, and carnival rides.

The Fredonia Opera House, in a restored 1891 Victorian building downtown, presents music, theater, dance, and other live performances, as well as independent, foreign, and documentary films. It's the site of a baroque-music festival in June. Free walk-in, guided tours of the opera house are available.

I. M. Pei and Partners designed the Michael C. Rockefeller Arts Center on the SUNY Fredonia campus, which opened in 1969. It has two theaters, a 1,200-seat concert hall, and two art galleries. The busy year-round schedule includes about 180 plays and productions each year.

One of Fredonia's most popular annual events, this festival, held the first weekend after Labor Day, brings blues music to various indoor and outdoor venues around town, accompanied by local wines (and a few brews) and plenty of food.