Candy Dance posters line a wall of the exhibit in the Genoa Courthouse Museum.
Photo by Kurt Hildebrand.
For 55 years before there was a craft fair, Genoans would gather for a dinner and dance to raise money to support the town.
While for the last half-century, Candy Dance has referred to the entire event that attracts upwards of 30,000 people to Nevada’s oldest settlement, the tradition of having a dinner and dance has survived.
Tickets are on sale now for the 2024 Genoa Candy Dance Dinner Dance, 4:30-9 p.m. Sept. 28.
Tickets are $60 per person and available at Candy Dance Dinner.
Spots are going fast with 209 tickets already sold as of Wednesday night, according to spokeswoman Gayle Vassar.
The 2024 Candy Dance Dinner Dance hearkens back to Genoa’s pioneer days with a Western theme, featuring tri-tip, pulled pork, coleslaw and elote from Out West Catering, desserts from local bakery Sugar Dealer, and a no-host bar by CV Flyte.
During the cocktail and dinner hours from 4:30-6:30 p.m., Dougie L. will croon the tunes of the Great American Songbook. After a short intermission, everyone is invited to put on their dancing shoes when the Lost Reverends of the High Sierra takes the stage playing favorites from rock, country, and all points in between.
The Dinner Dance is part of the 105th Genoa Candy Dance, taking place Sept. 28-29, and boasting more than 400 arts and crafts booths.
A highlight of the event is the opportunity to buy freshly made candy. For two months prior to Candy Dance, volunteers work in the Town Office kitchen preparing Genoa’s famous fudge, divinity, almond bark, peanut brittle and more.
The first Genoa Candy Dance was held in 1919 to raise money to purchase streetlights. Lillian Virgin Finnegan, daughter of then-prominent Judge Daniel Webster Virgin, suggested the idea of a dance and making candy to pass around during the dance as an incentive for a good “turn-out” of couples.
The Genoa community raised the needed funds for streetlights, but realized the monthly electric bill had to be paid. The candy makers were then called upon each year to help promote the “Candy Dance” and pay a year’s worth of electricity for the streetlights throughout the town.
The Arts & Crafts Faire was added in 1974 and is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.
