This winter, the Hudson Valley’s intimate folk-music community converges once again for the 13th Annual Winter Hoot, a three-day celebration of roots music, craft, and conviviality set against the snowy backdrop of the Ashokan Center in Olivebridge, New York. Running January 30 through February 1, the Hoot has quietly grown into one of the region’s most cherished seasonal gatherings—a place where tradition and spontaneity meet in song, movement, and shared experience.
More than just a festival, the Winter Hoot trades on a sense of community and intergenerational connection that belies its modest footprint. Staged indoors across the Ashokan campus—from the Performance Hall to the Pewter Shop and the Dining Hall—the weekend unfolds with a rhythm that blurs stage and audience. It begins Friday evening with a communal dinner followed by a concert from Jay Ungar & Molly Mason, whose rich, narrative-filled Americana has become synonymous with Hudson Valley folk gatherings, and dissolves into a spontaneous jam session where hootsters of all stripes pick, sing, and swap tunes late into the night.
Saturday’s schedule offers a tapestry of sounds and activities: The Restless Age, with its harmony-laced, dexterous indie-folk; the harmony-rich duo Paper Wings; multi-generational harmonizers Guthrie Family Singers; and Americana stalwart Jim Lauderdale, whose songwriting bridges tradition and contemporary roots sensibilities. There’s also family-friendly fare like Bari Koral & Yogapalooza and an all-ages square dance led by the old-time stringband Buvas—a reminder that the Hoot is as much about participation as performance. An ice sculptor working through Saturday adds a visual, ephemeral art element to the weekend’s sensory mix.
Throughout the festival, intimate mini-sets in the Pewter Shop, kids’ zone activities, and local food and libations keep the vibe warm and inclusive. A morning hike in the crisp winter air and Sunday’s yoga session and farewell singalong underscore the festival’s emphasis on connection not just to music but to place and to one another.
Ruth Ungar—one of the Hoot’s founders—once described the ethos as “joy to spare,” and that spirit persists as the festival enters its second decade. The Winter Hoot isn’t about spectacle; it’s about gathering, listening, and making music together in a way that feels both rooted and alive—the kind of cultural ritual that winter nights were made for.
