HOLDING THEIR FIRE
‘Burning of Kingston’ will take place in October, but battle re-enactments won’t be among the events
The “Burning of Kingston” will happen again, but without any of the battle reenactments that marked the popular event in previous years.
Mayor Steve Noble announced in a press release Friday that the Burning of Kingston commemoration would take place Oct. 18 and 19. It will feature re-enactments of colonial life, cemetery tours, a historical lecture, a documentary screening, and children’s games like the “Bucket Brigade” at the Volunteer Fireman’s Hall and Museum in Uptown.
The city will work with local organizations and historic sites to present a family-friendly and historically accurate commemorative event, the mayor said. Noble said, though, the 2019 Burning of Kingston would not include battle re-enactments, but there may be new additions to the event that will be announced later.
“One of the things that makes the burning of Kingston such a unique moment in history was not the battle or the fire itself, but the rebuilding that the community did after,” Noble said. “This year’s Burning of Kingston will be a great opportunity for area residents and visitors to learn about the history and to also celebrate how the first capital came together to rebuild the city and its community.”
In December 2018, organizers said groups that perform in the biennial re-enactment of the British attack on Kingston in 1777 would not participate, putting the event in jeopardy. The event last took place in 2017.
A posting at the time on the “Burning of Kingston” page on Facebook stated: “Following the decision by many regional re-enactor groups to attend other, better-funded and supported events during the same weekend, it is with great sadness that we announce that the planned 2019 and future Burning of Kingston events have been canceled until further notice. The decision was reluctantly arrived at by the allvolunteer organizing committee .... ”
In response, Noble had said he was “disappointed that the largescale event won’t happen in this specific format, but I look forward to working with our local partners to make sure that the Burning of Kingston event stays a part of our community for years to come.”
The event, first held in 1997, commemorates the Oct. 16, 1777, assault on Kingston in which British forces set fire to more than 300 buildings in the state’s then-capital during the Revolutionary War. The commemorative event has drawn thousands of spectators, including local residents and visitors, over the past 22 years.
The city has formed a “Burning of Kingston Planning Committee” and anyone interested in volunteering should contact Summer Smith, director of communications and community engagement for the city, at (845) 334-3945 or ssmith@kingstonny.gov, according to the press release.
Businesses interested in participating or supporting the 2019 Burning of Kingston should contact Adrielle Farr, the city’s director of art and cultural affairs, at (845) 334-3929 or afarr@kingston-ny.gov.
Updates will be posted at w w w.burningof kingston.com and the city’s website.