It is the unofficial kick-off to summer this weekend on In Focus. Visit Buffalo Niagara Director Patrick Kaler is JoDee Kenney’s guest, highlighting warm weather destinations and events around the region. One early season event, Taste of Buffalo, Kaler said, brings dozens of restaurants, breweries, wineries, and distilleries out to Niagara Square, downtown, giving visitors a chance to taste everything from wings and beef on weck, to the city’s distinctive style of pizza. Food Truck Tuesdays caters to downtown diners in the Larkinville neighborhood, running from June 6^th to August 29^th, and Kaler pointed to the impact Buffalo Bisons baseball has on the area. In Niagara Falls, a new visitors center is set to open, and he talked about the uncompromised views visitors will have of this natural wonder and the opportunity to experience the falls up-close aboard the all-electric Maid of the Mist. Later in the summer, the Eden Corn Festival highlights area agriculture and the Lucille Ball Comedy Festival brings the laughs to Jamestown. Kaler said the Erie County Fair brings the fun to August and is coming off a 2022 run where attendance numbers topped the New York State Fair.

You can watch the full interview with Visit Buffalo Niagara Director Patrick Kaler via the video player above. And be sure to tune in for a look inside the biggest issues impacting Upstate New York, on In Focus with JoDee Kenney — every Sunday on Spectrum News 1.

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