Modern Silent Shorts
August 6 on Bannerman Island
Modern Silent Shorts transforms Bannerman Island into an open-air cinema with a program of contemporary dialogue-free films accompanied by a live musical score. After a scenic boat ride from Beacon, audiences will watch a curated selection of new dramas, comedies, and horror shorts projected against the castle ruins overlooking the Hudson Highlands. Presented by the Bannerman Castle Trust, the evening includes island access, a guided tour or talk, and a rare chance to experience silent filmmaking in a singular setting. 7pm.
Hudson Film Festival
August 6-9 in locations in Hudson and Catskill
The Hudson Film Festival returns with its most ambitious lineup yet, expanding to Hudson and Catskill with 25 feature films, four short-film showcases, filmmaker parties, video art, and youth programming. Highlights include Sundance and Cannes award winners, local filmmaker spotlights, and a big-screen screening of Hayao Miyazaki’s Academy Award-winning Spirited Away. More than a festival, it’s a celebration of independent cinema, emerging voices, and the Hudson Valley’s growing role as a filmmaking hub.
Roe Jan SummerFest
August 8 at the Railroad Depot in Hillsdale
Roe Jan SummerFest returns with an afternoon of local flavors, live music, and small-town conviviality. Sample wines, beers, ciders, and spirits from regional producers, grab pizza, barbecue, or coffee from local favorites, and browse craft vendors between sets by Grateful Dead tribute band Shakedown Citi. Family-friendly activities, including face painting, cornhole, and free Stewart’s ice cream for kids, round out the festivities, with proceeds benefiting three local nonprofits. 4-8pm.
CPW Photobook and Zine Fair
August 8-9 at CPW in Kingston
CPW’s fourth annual Photobook and Zine Fair brings together more than three dozen independent publishers, artists, and photographers for a weekend celebrating the printed image. Browse beautifully designed books and zines, join free panel discussions and hands-on workshops, and explore the Upstate Photography Biennial—all while discovering why small-scale publishing remains one of the art world’s most vibrant creative communities. Admission is free. Saturday, 11am-6pm; Sunday, 11am-4pm.
Esopus Creek Puppet Suite
August 14-16 at Arm-of-the-Sea Tidewater Center in Saugerties
Arm-of-the-Sea Theater’s annual outdoor spectacular returns with its signature blend of giant papier-mache puppets, hand-carved masks, live music, and original storytelling. Performed by company members and Theater Arts Intensive students, this year’s production weaves together stories of the past and present, with preshow activities along the Esopus Creek adding to the immersive waterfront experience.
The Festival
August 14-16 at Hutton Brickyards in Kingston
Broadway’s brightest stars take center stage at Hutton Brickyards for a three-day outdoor festival unlike anything else in the region. Audra McDonald, Kelli O’Hara, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Renee Elise Goldsberry, Christopher Jackson, Adrienne Warren, and dozens more headline concerts, tributes, sing-alongs, and special events, including a 30th-anniversary Rent celebration. Add Hudson Valley food, artisan vendors, and riverside views, and you’ve got a theater lover’s dream weekend.
Art of Brewing Festival
August 15 at Norman Rockwell Museum, Stockbridge, Massachusetts
Norman Rockwell Museum’s Art of Brewing Festival pairs Berkshire craft beverages with one of the region’s most beautiful cultural settings. Sample beers, ciders, spirits, kombucha, and nonalcoholic drinks from leading regional producers, grab lunch from local food trucks, browse work by featured artists, and picnic on the museum’s 36-acre campus. Special festival brews inspired by Norman Rockwell illustrations—including collaborations with Antimony Brewing and Tree House Brewing—add an artful twist to the tastings. 1-4pm.
Kingston Artists Downhill Derby
August 16 in the Rondout in Kingston
After 30 years as the Kingston Artists Soapbox Derby, one of the city’s most delightfully eccentric traditions rolls into a new era as the Kingston Artists Downhill Derby. The name has changed, but the formula remains gloriously intact: artists, makers, families, and fearless tinkerers launch wildly imaginative, human-powered kinetic sculptures down Lower Broadway in a celebration of creativity, engineering, and controlled chaos. Come for the parade of improbable vehicles; stay for the community spirit. 11am-1pm.
Night Night Ulster County
August 21 at the Rosendale Theatre
Night Night Ulster County returns to the Rosendale Theatre with a second installment of its gleefully weird live variety show. Hosted by Kingston’s Chewy Altamirano and co-produced by Adriana Wong, the retro-inspired spectacle channels the anything-goes spirit of 1960s and ‘70s late-night television through sketch comedy, stand-up, burlesque, live music, and surprise performances. Campy, unpredictable, and unmistakably local, it’s one of the Hudson Valley’s freshest new recurring stage shows. 7pm.
Please Don’t Destroy Live
August 22 at Troy Savings Bank Music Hall in Troy
Please Don’t Destroy emerged from the internet-comedy ecosystem with sketches that feel less written than spiralingly detonated. The trio—Ben Marshall, John Higgins, and Martin Herlihy—built a devoted following through densely layered videos that weaponize awkwardness, escalation, and the energy of friends making each other laugh. Though no longer working together as an official “Saturday Night Live” unit, their sensibility still carries the show’s anarchic late-night spirit: hyper-verbal, deeply online, and committed to pushing dumb premises to gloriously unreasonable extremes. 7pm.
Poughkeepsie PorchFest
August 23 in various Poughkeepsie locations
Poughkeepsie PorchFest turns the Southside Historic District into one sprawling outdoor music venue as more than 25 front porches host performances spanning jazz, rock, folk, country, pop, and spoken word. Wander the neighborhood at your own pace, discovering new artists around every corner while enjoying food vendors, children’s activities, and the architectural charm of one of the city’s most historic districts. Admission is free. 12-6:30pm.
All the President’s Men
August 29 at the Crandell Theatre in Chatham
On the heels of All the President’s Men’s 50th anniversary, the Crandell Theatre presents a special August 29 screening of Alan J. Pakula’s Watergate classic, followed by a live discussion on investigative journalism moderated by WAMC’s Joe Donahue. The panel features former Washington Post executive editor Marty Baron, documentary filmmaker Anne Alvergue, former Berkshire Eagle publisher Fred Rutberg, and election law expert Benjamin Ginsberg. 5pm.
“I Want the Best for You”
August 29 at Park Theater in Hudson
Actress, comedian, playwright, and author Lauren Weedman brings her acclaimed solo show I Want the Best for You to Hudson with the fearless storytelling that has made her a cult favorite. Known for appearances on “Looking,” “Hacks,” and “The Daily Show,” Weedman blends razor-sharp humor with startling vulnerability in an evening that veers from laugh-out-loud absurdity to emotional candor. Expect equal parts stand-up, memoir, and theatrical confession from one of America’s most distinctive solo performers. 8pm.
