When Independence Day falls on a Thursday, there's lots to be thankful for—a reprieve from 9-5 drudgery, a long weekend for many, and—holy freedom fries!—SO MANY FIREWORKS!
All over the Hudson Valley, the skies will be lit up to celebrate the glorious and free America— and we've got a solid little list of where you can watch fireworks this July. Most festivities include live music, food, and the ever-so-charming company of your neighbors decked out in red, white, and blue. So make sure your pets are indoors (and safely occupied with some ambient sound), pick your favorite town, and stake out a spot for the starlit spectacle.
(This is an incomplete list, of course, but feel free to let us know about your plans too!)
Saugerties, 6/28
Washington Ave
12477 Saugerties
For some free fun, make your way down to Cantine Memorial Field to celebrate American Independence. Gates will open at 7pm, offering free hot dogs, free beverages, face painting, games, and giveaways and of course, admission. The firework display will begin at dusk.
Accord - 6/28
299 Whitfield Rd
Accord, NY 12404
For all you speedsters out there, the Accord speedway is the perfect venue to get your adrenaline fix before freedom festivities. Watch the daring racers rip through the mud before the sky glows with twinkling flames when the sun sets. A tentative rain date is set for July 5.
Albany/Troy - 6/28-7/11
There are so many fantastic upcoming firework shows in this Albany/Troy area we just couldn’t decide. But you can with this full list!
Kent - 6/30
Arts on the Lake
640 Route 52
Kent, New York 10512
The Arts on the Lake Music Festival will team up with the Town of Kent Fireworks to start off the summer with a bang. During the early evening hours, enjoy the music of folk/pop duo, The Two of Us at 7pm with a long list of Beatles tributes. The firework finale starts at so make sure to bring picnic dinners, lawn chairs and drinks for the evening.
Germantown - 6/30
50 Palatine Park Rd,
Germantown, New York 12526
Germantown offers more than a light show this independence day. Attendees can enjoy numerous food vendors, handmade crafts, and other fun events. Live music will come courtesy of Southbound before the fireworks begin.
Brewster - 6/30
Highlands Shopping Center
Independent Way,
Brewster, NY 10509
The Southeast Fireworks Extravaganza returns on this Sunday evening once again. Live music Kicks off at 7:30pm and fireworks start at 9:30pm. Rain date: 7/7.
East Fishkill - 7/01
Red Wing Park
11 Old Farm Road
Hopewell Junction, NY 12533
Enjoy a concerts before the rockets’ red glare this independence season. Before the big boom, enjoy Annie & The Attaboys along with Adam & The New Hearts at 1pm, at 7pm, on the sandy shores of Red Wing Park. Firework are planned to rocket to the sky around 9:15pm with a backup rain date scheduled for July 3.
Beacon - 7/1
Memorial Park
Robert Cahill Drive,
Beacon, NY, 12508
The City of Beacon will have its own firework show on Sunday, June 9, at Memorial Park. The evening begins with food and music at 5pm. Afterwards, the real show will begin around 9pm and carry on until dusk with dazzling displays of Independence Day fireworks.
Catskill - 7/3
13 Scribner Hollow Rd,
Hunter, NY 12442
At Scribner’s Catskill Lodge, picture your typical Fourth of July American backyard BBQ on a much bigger scale. Bring a chair and blanket and settle in with your favorite BBQ food while passing the time with some lawn games. The party will carry on from 6pm to 10 pm.
New Paltz - 7/6
249 Libertyville Rd
New Paltz, NY 12561
New Paltz’s Independence Day celebration is the ideal place for both adults and children to enjoy the festive day. There are plenty of food trucks, bouncy houses, henna body art and face painting to keep you entertained after doors open at 5pm. Music will also be provided by local musicians: Mark Rust, Hudson Valley Bluegrass Express, and Soul City. Admission is free and fireworks start at dusk
Town of Newburgh: Independence Day Celebration Party - 7/3
Cronomer Hill Park,
Gardnertown Rd &, Powder Mill Rd,
Newburgh, NY 12550
Local Fire Company displays, food, and games start at 6pm and fireworks begin at dusk. Call 845-564-4552 for more info.
City of Newburgh: Fourth of July Celebration - 7/4
Newburgh’s Waterfront Unico Park,
Front St & Fourth St,
Newburgh, NY 12550
Family Day events kick-off at noon with vendors and artists on the river at Unico Park. There'll be music from 7-9pm, with fireworks at the People's Waterfront Park starting at 9pm. Call 845-565-2138 for more info.
"Eat local" is a mantra to live by—for our health, for the environment, for the strength of our economy and community. The brainchild of Accord-based artist Maria Reidelbach (the genius behind Kelders Farm's giant gnome), Stick to Local, is a fun, gameified way to keep this mantra alive in our consciousness while getting to know area farms.
The project is a map of Hudson Valley farms and food businesses. Participants must visit each farm to earn a colorful sticker to complete the map. The free folding maps have spots for each colorful, theme-shaped sticker from places like Kelder's Farm, Westwind Orchard, and the Kingston Farmers' Market. There are also incentives for collecting stickers like free mini golf passes and a chance to win a stay at the Pine Ridge Dude Ranch.
Stick to Local will celebrate its fourth birthday and the launch of the 2018 stickering season TONIGHT at Arrowood Brewery in Accord. Set amid the climbing rows of hops, with the sounds of ducks quacking and sheep baahing in the background, this farm brewery is the perfect location for this launch party.
“Farming is a high-stakes calling, where a farmer’s livelihood is often dependent upon unpredictable elements, like weather,” says event organizer and Daisycutter vocalist Sara Milonovich. “For many, the margins are often so slim that one catastrophe can be all that stands between survival and going out of business. With every farm that disappears, we jeopardize our nation’s food security and access, and risk losing our valuable green space to development… When disaster strikes, the amount of time it takes to get aid can be crucial to a farm’s recovery. The goal of Rootstock is to establish an emergency fund that farmers can access in times of crisis.”
Here’s Sloan Wainwright and her band performing the low-down blues “Meet Me in the Morning”:
Rootstock 2018 will take place on May 12 from noon to 6pm at Scenic Hudson’s Red Barn at Long Dock Park in Beacon, New York. Early bird tickets are available now for $20 at the Rootstock website: https://www.rootstockfest.org/concert.
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Before becoming a formidable singer and guitarist, Allen played drums in his family’s soul band the Allen Brothers. The New York Blues Hall of Fame inductee has racked up dozens of awards, including a number 11 placing in blues bible Living Blues for his 2015 release Feel These Blues.
Here, Slam and his band stretch out on the epic “Been Mistreated” back in 2014:
The Slam Allen Band will perform at the Towne Crier in Beacon, New York, on December 31 at 9:30pm. Willa & Company will open. Tickets $45-$100. For more information, call (845) 855-1300 or visit http://www.townecrier.com/.
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Rudd, 82, was the leading and most influential trombonist of the early free jazz movement that developed in New York during the early 1960s. His name-making work from this heady era includes the albums he made with saxophonist Archie Shepp for the Impulse! label; 1964’s ESP-Disk debut by the New York Art Quartet and New York Eye and Ear Control film soundtrack; and numerous collaboration with Steve Lacy, Cecil Taylor, Carla Bley, Charlie Haden, Pharoah Sanders, Gato Barbieri, Larry Coryell, the Jazz Composer’s Orchestra, and others. In addition to being a trailblazer on his instrument, the one-time Bard College educator and Alan Lomax assistant was a pioneer of world/Western music fusion, a practice he explored on his later albums as a leader, such as 2002’s MALIcool and 2005’s stunning Blue Mongol. His most recent release was this year’s Embrace.
Besides being an intrepid musical explorer, Rudd was easily one of the warmest and sweetest souls I’ve encountered in my years as a Hudson Valley music journalist. In 2009 I profiled him for Chronogram.
Here he is in collaboration with Sonic Youth circa 2006 on a version of the traditional “Dry Bones” for a Hal Wilner-curated Harry Smith Project concert in New York:
Rudd is survived by his life partner, the producer and ethnomusicologist Verna Gillis; and his two sons from prior partners, Christopher and Greg Rudd. Chronogram’s condolences go out to all of them and the rest of the late musician’s friends and other relations.
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In addition to appearing on “CBS This Morning” and “Late Night with David Letterman,” Maddock has performed with no less than Bruce Springsteen himself. Prior to forming Wood, he fronted earnest indie outfit Fire Next Time.
In this sepia-shot video, he croons Wood’s signature tune at New York’s Rockwood Music Hall, where he’s held down a popular and long-running residency:
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James Maddock will perform at the Rosendale Cafe in Rosendale, New York, on December 30 at 8pm. Admission is $15. For more information, call (845) 658-9048 or visit http://www.rosendalecafe.com/.
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During the leadup to a set of live dates that took place over the weekend in Washington, DC, Boston, and Brooklyn, the singer-songwriter and fellow musicians Sam Cohen and Josh Kaufman released a new single (“There Go the Nightmericans”; the B side, “Clockwork,” was previously released by Cohen). Proceeds raised from the tracks’ sales will benefit resistance-activist reserve the Emergent Fund—a much-needed resource in light of the present administration’s assault on democracy.
“The question of what to do about the walking nightmares currently in the high seats of American power has for a year now borne heavy on my mind, too (surprise),” says Perkins. “Desperate times calling for all manner of desperate measure, here we have a Hail-Mary’d wakeup call to their presumably only shallowly buried better selves, pitched from the recess of a song they very well may never hear. At its center is a guided meditation for those who wish to participate in expelling what nightmares may be driving Mr. Trump and his enablers.”
Here’s Perkins performing “There Go the Nightmericans” live last July:
To download the tracks and learn more, visit https://www.facebook.com/ElvisPerkinsMusic/. For more information on the Emergent Fund, visit https://www.emergentfund.net/grantees.
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Formed in New Paltz in 2007 and fronted by the alluring NeeNee Rushie, the Big Takeover has taken their rocksteady stew of ska and roots reggae all around the continental U.S. and released their fourth album, Silly Girl, this year.
Here’s the band stirring it up with “Stay with Me” at the 2015 Summer Hoot:
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The Big Takeover and Los Thujones will perform at Colony in Woodstock, New York, on December 31 at 8pm. Tickets are $30 in advance and $40 day of show and include a champagne toast and midnight brunch. For more information, call (845) 679-7625 or visit http://www.colonywoodstock.com/.
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Filmed and edited locally by John Slackman, the “Drunk at Work Again” clip stars group members Josh Stark (vocals, guitar), Harrison Cannon (bass), and Mike Rasimas (drums). Imbibe here, if you will:
Knock Yourself Out will perform with the Octomen, MSL, Dirt Bikes, and M Roosevelt at Quinn’s in Beacon, New York, on December 31 at 8:30pm. A $10 donation is suggested. For more information, call (845) 202-7447 or visit https://www.facebook.com/QuinnsBeacon/.
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