The Chautauqua Lake Pops has enjoyed 20 years of Bringing the Arts to the People through their Bemus Bay Pops concert series, lakefront at the Italian Fisherman restaurant and most recently at Mayville’s Lakeside Park in 2019 and 2021. The 2020 concert series was cancelled due to the COVID pandemic.

The Pops did its best to bring a successful program to the Mayville community for three years, however, it was met with resistance from many fronts. We do not want to be where we are not welcome. We can’t afford to continue sustaining financial loss and dealing with conflict.

In an effort to continue the series, the Pops has approached the City of Jamestown, the Village of Celoron and the City of Buffalo. Both Long Point State Park and Midway State Park have been considered possible locations. Bemus Point has also expressed an interest in having the series return. We’ve talked to the mayor of Bemus Point at great length, but the question remains as to how we fund the program? The minimum annual budget for the Pops series is $350,000. The shows are expensive. They’re really good shows. They come from all over the country.

The Pops is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation that depends solely on donation and sponsor support. Ticket sales alone cannot cover costs. To succeed, the Pops requires a long-term commitment of support. A detailed economic impact study showed the Pops series brought over $13,000,000 to Chautauqua County. These dollars went directly to retail business owners, restaurants, hotels, as well as other local attractions and museums. Everyone received benefit from the Pop’s summer concert series.

Presenting the Bemus Bay Pops series was easier when we owned the Italian Fisherman restaurant and could use some of the regular staff to help run it. The Bemus Bay Pops started as a rooftop Labor Day concert in 1998. Five years later, we moved off the roof and onto a floating stage with a summer-long series of concerts, expanding each year and never looking back. When we sold the restaurant in 2018, we retained the Pops and spent a year looking at various places to relocate. In 2019, after deciding on Mayville, the Bemus Bay Pops became the Chautauqua Lake Pops.

Under the contract the Pops originally signed with the Village of Mayville, we would pay a $1 fee for each of the first two years. In the third year, the entertainment venue would pay $2 per ticket sold for the first 2,000 tickets and $1 per ticket sold beyond 2,000 tickets. The Pops recently paid the Village of Mayville $3,394 representing 1,697 tickets sold in 2021.

A lawsuit was filed against the Pops and the Village of Mayville by two summer residents from Ohio and one resident of Mayville charging concerts were held in 2019 prior to receiving requisite state permits for the floating stage and “produced excessive, dangerous and noxious levels of noise”. We requested a renegotiation and extension of the contract because of having to cancel the entire 2020 season due to the pandemic, but received pushback from the Mayville Village Board. There was also pushback on the original agreement that allowed nearby bike trails to be closed during concerts. Closing the bike trail was a very important safety necessity during setup and performances. Safety was our primary focus in altering the path for cyclists, eliminating what could have been a dangerous situation. Weeks of delays and unnecessary costs were initiated.

We are very proud of our history. As evidenced by last year’s survey, the people who attended the concerts loved the Pops. People want to be by the lake. This is a resort area, this is where people come to relax and enjoy their summers. The Pops provided a wonderful venue, unique to Chautauqua Lake, Chautauqua County and all of Western New York.

After consulting with the Pops Board of Directors, sponsors and ticket holders about the 2022 season, we concluded it’s impossible to find a successful path forward by continuing the program in Mayville. We will continue our search for a new location with the goal of staying on Chautauqua Lake, if at all possible! We sincerely hope this is not the end of the Chautauqua Lake Pops!

Additional information can be found at ChautauquaLakePops.com and on the Pop’s Facebook page.

For information on the floating stage, please visit floatingstage.com

Dan Dalpra is founder and CEO of the Chautauqua Lake Pops.