Upstate Art Weekend is the 800-pound gorilla on the Hudson Valley calendar, with hundreds of exhibitions, open studios, and receptions spread across four days. But if you’re a nonpracticing Upstate Art Weekender—or just looking to mix things up—there’s plenty happening beyond the gallery circuit. Spend an afternoon foraging for mushrooms at Opus 40, hear a world premiere performed inside Widow Jane Mine, catch post-punk pioneers Gang of Four at Bearsville Theater, watch Isaac Mizrahi celebrate Pride at Caramoor, take the kids to Maverick Concerts, see a magician work impossible feats in Catskill, or dine beneath the trees at Foxfire Mountain House. Here are a few worthy alternatives to the weekend’s biggest cultural event.
FRIDAY, JUNE 26
Lucinda Childs Dance Company at Bard College
Lucinda Childs helped redefine dance in the 1960s as part of New York’s postmodern Judson Dance Theater, and at 86 she’s still creating new work. “Momentary Reprise,” at the Fisher Center June 26-28, looks back across six decades of her groundbreaking career while looking forward with two new premieres. Childs will perform her own 1965 solo “Geranium ’64,” alongside excerpts from landmark collaborations with Philip Glass, Robert Wilson, and Frank Gehry, plus new dances accompanied live by pianist Anton Batagov. It’s a rare opportunity to see one of contemporary dance’s most influential choreographers still reshaping the art form she helped reinvent.
Swing Dance with the Ashokan Swing All-Stars at Tempo in Kingston
Tempo Performing Arts Center has quickly become one of Kingston’s liveliest gathering places, where concerts often end with audiences joining the action. On Friday, June 26, that invitation comes with a swing beat as the Ashokan Swing Ensemble kicks off Ashokan Western & Swing Week with a dance party in the beautifully restored former church on the Rondout waterfront. Doors and a free beginner dance lesson begin at 7pm, followed by the band at 8pm. Featuring Dave Davies, Harry Aceto, Russ Sternglass, guest vocalist Laurel Masse, and special guests, the evening promises two sets of joyous live music and plenty of room to dance.
Isaac Mizrahi Celebrates PRIDE in Song at Caramoor
Fashion designer, cabaret singer, raconteur, and all-around entertainer Isaac Mizrahi brings his many talents to Caramoor’s Venetian Theater on June 26 at 7:30pm for the venue’s annual Pride celebration, presented with The LOFT LGBTQ+ Community Center. Backed by his jazz band, Mizrahi moves effortlessly from Madonna to Stephen Sondheim, weaving songs together with the sharp, self-deprecating storytelling that has made his Cafe Carlyle residency a perennial sellout. Part concert, part stand-up, part memoir, the evening showcases the polymath who has spent four decades bouncing between fashion, Broadway, television, and music without ever seeming confined to a single stage.
“Real People Real Stories” at the Ancram Center for the Arts
Everyone has a story, but not everyone gets the chance to tell it from a stage. Ancram Center’s beloved “Real People Real Stories” returns June 26 and 27 at 7:30pm, featuring four local residents sharing true personal stories shaped through the theater’s storytelling workshops. This summer’s lineup includes tales of growing up in 1950s Brooklyn, redefining family, finding the courage to ask for what you want, and the unexpected challenges of building community after the pandemic. Guided by program director Paul Ricciardi, the evenings celebrate ordinary lives rendered extraordinary through honest, funny, and deeply human storytelling.
Old Songs Festival at the Altamont Fairgrounds
For more than four decades, the Old Songs Festival has celebrated the enduring traditions of folk, roots, and acoustic music with a weekend that feels equal parts concert, campout, and community gathering. Held June 26-28 at the Altamont Fairgrounds, this year’s lineup spans legendary singer-songwriter Holly Near, blues master Guy Davis, fiddlers Darol Anger and Bruce Molsky, Garnet Rogers, Crys Matthews, Jake Blount Band, Trout Fishing in America, and dozens more. Beyond the performances, the festival offers workshops, dances, jam sessions, crafts, and plenty of opportunities to make music with strangers who quickly become friends.
“Suddenly Last Summer” at Bard SummerScape
Tennessee Williams’s haunting one-act masterpiece gets a bold new interpretation at Bard SummerScape, where director Daniel Fish strips away Southern Gothic convention to reveal the play’s unsettling psychological core. Written in the wake of Williams’s own family tragedy, “Suddenly Last Summer” unfolds as a battle over memory, truth, and the stories families tell to protect themselves. Fish’s production leans into the play’s surrealism while preserving its razor-sharp dialogue, bringing fresh urgency to one of the playwright’s most disturbing works. The production runs through July 20 at the Fisher Center, with performances throughout the SummerScape season.
SATURDAY, JUNE 27
Storyteller Jason Vance at Maverick Concerts in Woodstock
Storyteller Jason Vance knows that a great tale doesn’t just entertain—it invites listeners inside. On Saturday, June 27, from 11am to noon, he brings that gift to Maverick Concerts’ long-running Family Saturdays series in Woodstock. Designed for children in grades K-6 but enjoyable for all ages, the free interactive performance blends folktales, humor, music, and audience participation beneath the historic open-air concert hall’s soaring wooden roof. It’s an ideal introduction to live performance for young audiences, proving that sometimes the simplest ingredients—a compelling voice, a vivid imagination, and an eager crowd—are all you need.
Jeremy Nedd Dance at PS21 in Chatham
What happens when the rhythms of Black social dance meet the precision of contemporary choreography? Choreographer Jeremy Nedd explores that question in “From Rock to Rock… aka How Magnets Can Fall in Love,” at PS21 in Chatham on Saturday, June 27, at 8pm. Performed with an ensemble of dancers and musicians, the work draws on street dance, stepping, club culture, and African diasporic traditions to create a kinetic meditation on movement, attraction, and community. Presented outdoors on PS21’s open-air stage, the performance blurs the line between concert, dance, and ritual in ways that feel both deeply rooted and strikingly new.
Skatalites at Colony in Woodstock
Long before reggae conquered the world, there was ska—and no band did more to invent it than the Skatalites. Formed in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1964, the legendary group fused Caribbean rhythms with American R&B and jazz to create a sound that would influence everyone from the Clash and the Specials to Madness and No Doubt. On Saturday, June 27, at 7pm, the surviving incarnation of the band brings those irresistible grooves to the Colony in Woodstock, with local punk quartet Mona Freaka opening the show. Expect a joyful, horn-driven celebration from one of popular music’s true foundational bands.
Magician Thomas Baker at Bridge Street Theater in Catskill
If you’ve ever wanted to spend an evening wondering, “How on earth did he do that?” Hudson Valley illusionist Thomas Baker returns to Bridge Street Theatre in Catskill on Saturday, June 27, at 7pm for a one-night-only performance. A two-time sellout at the intimate venue, Baker blends sleight of hand, mind reading, audience participation, and theatrical showmanship into a fast-paced evening that keeps spectators delightfully off balance. Having performed everywhere from festivals to corporate events, Baker is at his most effective in Bridge Street’s close quarters, where every impossible feat unfolds just a few feet from your seat.
SUNDAY, JUNE 28
Mushroom Walk with Chris Baker at Opus 40 in Saugerties
The woods around Opus 40 are as fascinating as the bluestone sculpture they surround. On Sunday, June 28, from 10:30am to 12:30pm, certified mushroom forager Chris Baker, founder of Kingston’s Chicory Naturalist, leads a guided walk through the forest in search of the fungi thriving on the grounds. Whether you’re hoping to distinguish chanterelles from look-alikes or simply want to learn more about the hidden ecology beneath your feet, the walk welcomes newcomers and seasoned foragers alike. Wear sturdy shoes, bring bug spray and a basket, and prepare to see Opus 40 from an entirely different perspective.
“King Lear” at Hudson Valley Shakespeare in Garrison
The first full season in Hudson Valley Shakespeare’s new Samuel H. Scripps Theater Center continues with one of the Bard’s greatest tragedies. Directed by Artistic Director Davis McCallum and starring veteran company member Kurt Rhoads in the title role, “King Lear” brings Shakespeare’s epic tale of power, betrayal, and family collapse to the company’s striking open-sided theater in Garrison. The Sunday, June 28 performance begins at 5pm, taking advantage of the long summer evening as Lear’s kingdom—and sanity—come apart. Arrive early to picnic on the grounds before settling in for one of the season’s most anticipated productions.
