MONTICELLO, NY — Thousands of visitors crowded onto Monticello’s “Bagel Boulevard” this past Sunday for the return of the Bagel Festival.

The Bagel Festival is a Monticello tradition dating back to 2013, when the New York State Senate and Assembly declared the village “The Bagel Capital.” The tradition and the proclamation celebrates the village’s connection with bagels, a connection beginning with the creation of the original bagel-making machine by Louis Wichinsky of Hurleyville.

The Bagel Festival wasn’t held in 2020, as COVID-19 restrictions kept it from taking place. It bounced back with a vengeance this year, with vendors and visitors alike making up for lost time.

Around a hundred vendors attended the Bagel Festival, lining the sides of Broadway—renamed to “Bagel Boulevard” for the occasion. Thousands of people gathered to peruse their wares, to enjoy the food and to support local nonprofits.

Children lining up to participate in the bagel-stacking competition.

Sullivan County Undersheriff Eric Chaboty presiding as the master of ceremonies at the Bagel Triathelon.

The adult participants in the Bagel Triathelon line up for its first event: the bagel-stacking.

Contestants had fifteen seconds to stack 8 bagels in a freestanding tower.

After stacking their bagels, contestants rolled and tossed their bagels up Bagel Boulevard.

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The day reached its peak with the Bagel Triathelon, a three-part event where contestants competed to stack, roll and throw bagels. Sullivan County Undersheriff Eric Chaboty served as the master of ceremonies; while adults competed in all three events, there was also a child-only bagel stacking competition, after which the participants received bike helmets from Sullivan 180.