Come summer, all the (upstate) world’s a stage—one spanning the vast valley at the base of the Catskill, Adirondack, and White mountains. The region, a veritable fertile crescent of culture, is dotted with on- and off-the-beaten path destinations worth celebrating all season long. The fun unfurls both indoors and out—at proper venues and in fallow fields—evoking everything from Shakespearean England to the Summer of Love and dozens of artistic expressions in between. This festival season, everything’s larger-than-life in the Hudson Valley: from visual and performing arts; classical to contemporary live music; even open artist studios and site-specific installations. What better reason to celebrate? Dive in.
Storm King Art Center
New Windsor
Ambition abounds at Storm King Art Center in New Windsor, a 500-acre outdoor museum synonymous with exploring art in nature. Highlights of the 2023 season include a special exhibition of large-scale, outdoor sculptures by Beatriz Cortez, dubbed a meditation on migration and movement via volcanoes; never-before-seen works by Swiss artist Ugo Rondinone, bound by solar and lunar themes, punctuating the South Fields and occupying the main floor gallery; and a brand-new, site-specific commission by the British artist RA Walden—titled, access points // or // alternative states of matter(ing)—which will unfold across several acres of the South Ponds, marking a decade of Storm King’s Outlooks program and depicting the six most common elements on Earth. Can you name them?
Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival
GarrisonNothing evokes London’s South Bank quite like Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival’s open-air theater tent in Garrison overlooking the scenic Hudson River—an entirely apropos stage on which a double-bill of Shakespeare plays will unfold this season. Enjoy “Love’s Labor’s Lost” (featuring the Bard’s side-splitting comedy infused with an original pop/rock score) and “Henry V” (in which the timeless quandary of leadership resonates with fresh urgency for a contemporary crowd), or check out the world premiere of “PENELOPE,” a retelling of the Odyssey from the perspective of Odysseus’s wife, a character originally relegated to the margins. Pack a pre-show picnic or take a nightly walking tour of the grounds—all while overlooking the Hudson Highlands.
PS21
Chatham
This season, PS21 shines a spotlight on a constellation of celebrated and emerging artists via 40 live contemporary arts events slated to unfold across the venue’s 100 acres of orchards, meadows, and woodlands in Chatham. The open-air Pavilion Theatre will welcome dancers and choreographers; musicians and singers; actors, directors, and international street artists (nouveau cirque, anyone?)—each of whom, by breathing life into traditional genres or creating new ones, will leave an indelible mark upon the lush arts landscape that is the Hudson Valley. PS: Don’t miss James Casebere’s site-specific art installation, an architectural sculpture that stands in the (literal) balance between humans and the natural world.
Kaatsbaan Spring Festival
Tivoli
The idyllic 153-acre Kaatsbaan Cultural Park in Tivoli plays host to a cast of talented performers across a trio of weekends in June—including a mixed dance bill featuring the José Limón Dance Company and American Ballet Theatre Studio Company (June 3-4); the contemporary strains of a classical string quartet called ETHEL (June 9-10); plus a post-modern dance turned storytelling collaboration between Emily Coates and Emmanuele Phuonn. Book your return trip for June 25 when the Big Apple-based Baryshnikov Arts Center ventures upstate to honor the 75th birthday of their founder and artistic director featuring the music that kept him on his toes.
Caramoor Summer Music Festival
Katonah
Since its founding in 1945, Caramoor in Katonah has been dubbed a distinctive haven for culture—one situated at the intersection of sight and sound. The summer season features nine weeks of curated live music matched with one of five distinct venues: Large-scale concerts swell from beneath the open-sided tent of the Venetian Theatre while the casual Friends Field equally invites picnicking and frolicking. The Spanish Courtyard evokes an air of romance while a Sunken Garden for Music and Meditation invites calm. Make a date today to stroll the lush grounds, tour the historic Rosen House (complete with a dedicated Music Room), nosh on pre-concert nibbles, or simply bask in the beautiful music.
Bard SummerScape
Annandale-on-Hudson
Aptly titled “Breaking Ground,” the Fisher Center at Bard’s 20th anniversary season marks two decades of innovative performance by adventurous artists—spanning contemporary to classical—staged on the college’s Annandale-on-Hudson campus. SummerScape, an eight-week-long arts festival, runs the gamut from opera (Henri VII), dance and a world-premiere theater commission from Sufjan Stevens (“Illinois”) to music, film, and cabaret—plus one 20th Anniversary Community Day Celebration (July 15) and a summer-long party (with live music and dancing) under the Spiegeltent. A pair of weekends in August, dubbed the 33rd Bard Music Festival, explore the life and work of Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958), one of the 20th century’s greatest symphonists.
Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival
Becket
In 1931, when Ted Shawn first stumbled upon a 220-acre farm in the Berkshires, he unwittingly pioneered modern dance in America. Today, his legacy continues at “the Pillow” (whose moniker stems from the Biblical boulder) where, for nine weeks each summer, artists from around the globe perform diverse dance forms—from elegant ballet and innovative contemporary dance to virtuosic tap and traditional Indigenous dance—under cover at the Ted Shawn Theatre or en plein air on the Henry J. Leir Stage. A week-long mini festival, “Hip Hop Across the Pillow,” celebrates 50 years of the groundbreaking art form in the United States.
Upstate Art Weekend
Hudson Valley
Mid-summer marks the fourth edition of Upstate Art Weekend (July 21-24)—a self-guided tour of art destinations across the Hudson Valley—an event that’s grown exponentially since founder Helen Toomer decided a celebration of the region’s vibrant culture a fitting antidote to social distancing in 2020. The New Art Dealers Association (NADA) returns to Catskill’s Foreland arts campus for this year’s event—including over 100 galleries, museums, and organizations presenting incredible works, exhibitions and site-specific projects—showcasing ceramics, photos, paintings, and prints, plus a plethora of other media. Wend your own way for a different kind of (aesthetically pleasing) road trip.
Catbird Music Festival
Bethel
In a nostalgic nod to 1969 (when half a million music lovers descended on Max Yasgur’s dairy farm to hear 32 acts over three days), Catbird Music Festival (August 19+20) is tweeting a sweet sounding, star-studded summer lineup at Bethel Woods. The wide-ranging bill—featuring 22 artists across a pair of stages—promises to be nothing short of memorable. Headliners at the inaugural edition of this two-day camping and music event, to unfurl upon the very field that landed Woodstock on the world’s (music) map, include the Lumineers, Tyler Childers, the War on Drugs, and the Trey Anastasio Band plus myriad additional music makers.
Art Omi
Ghent
Experiencing Art Omi—Columbia County’s 120-acre sculpture and architecture park —is like a gift from the Hudson Valley heavens. The decidedly bucket-list destination, open to the public free of charge, is nothing short of breathtaking. The sprawling space boasts the work of contemporary artists and architecture; a range of large-scale immersive installations in nature; and a 1,500-square-foot gallery. “Pippa Garner: $ELL YOUR $ELF” opens June 24 and features mixed media by the visionary American artist—including a custom vehicle commissioned by Art Omi, an homage to the 50th anniversary of the artist’s Backwards Car. Pack a picnic and peruse the grounds at your leisure; daily, from dawn to dusk.
