March is when the Hudson Valley’s calendar starts to loosen its tie. Winter’s still hanging around, but the programming tilts outward—louder, stranger, more social. This month’s lineup swings from steel pan virtuosity and avant-jazz precision to synth-pop legacy acts and indie songwriters with viral afterlives. There are monsters on the big screen, memoirs on the mic, puppets behaving badly, and dance forms that carry centuries of tradition in their steps. Add in fermented foods, artisan cheese, and a few deep-thinking talks about land and responsibility. (Looking for Irish/St. Patrick’s Day events? Here’s our round-up.)
Jonathan Scales Fourchestra
March 5 at the Falcon in Marlboro
Steel pan virtuoso Jonathan Scales is known for his work with the Duhks and Bela Fleck and the banjoist’s sidemen Victor and Roy “Future Man” Wooten and Howard Levy. His funky Fourchestra features bassist MonoNeon (Prince, Nas), drummer Sput Searight (Snarky Puppy, Snoop Dogg), and percussionist Weedie Braimah (Trombone Shorty, Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah). Kim Kalesti opens at the Falcon. (Joe Pug plays March 6; Robbie Fulks folks it up March 20.) 7pm. Donation requested.
Duunes
March 6 at the Park Theater in Hudson
Duunes is the ongoing project led by young New York singer-songwriter Harrison Cohen, who, according to an Instagram interview, started his first band in fifth grade to write songs to “convince my parents to buy me things.” Makers of epic, original modern pop that’s been compared to the Killers and Kings of Leon, Duunes cut a 2024 cover of Cage the Elephant’s “No Rest for the Wicked” that has racked up more than 25 million views. Noshows opens. (Killer Film slays March 14; Ari Hest appears April 3.) 8pm. $19.79 advance; $27.08 day of show. Tickets
Godzilla Double Feature
March 7 at the Rosendale Theater
Godzilla’s longevity comes from his elasticity: a monster sturdy enough to absorb Cold War anxiety, pop surrealism, and ecological dread. This double feature in Rosendale pairs two extremes. Monster Zero is peak mid-’60s sci-fi spectacle—aliens, mind control, and gleeful excess. Godzilla vs. Hedorah veers darker and stranger, channeling pollution panic through abrasive visuals and tone. Together, they show why Godzilla remains culturally durable: endlessly adaptable, never just escapist. 7pm. Tickets
Imar
March 7 at the Towne Crier Cafe in Beacon
It’s Saint Patrick’s Day month, so some Irish-descended music is in order for our March column. This year’s related pick is this show by Celtic folk quartet Imar, a group that’s actually based in Glasgow, with its only Irish-born member being uilleann piper Ryan Murphy. The band’s music is rooted in the traditional styles of Scotland, Ireland, and the Isle of Man, three regions that once shared the same Gaelic language. (Tom Chapin’s birthday bash is March 14; Cherish the Ladies land March 20.) 8pm. $35. Tickets
Ralph Alessi and Escalation
March 7 at the Local in Saugerties
While recording for the vital ECM Records label, trumpeter Ralph Alessi has released 13 albums as a leader and worked with Steve Coleman, Ravi Coltrane, Jason Moran, Don Byron, Fred Hersch, and Uri Caine. His Escalation quartet boasts some other prominent names—drummer and vibraphonist Ches Smith, pianist Matt Mitchell, and bassist John Hebert—and, true to ECM’s signature vision, fuses avant-garde jazz with contemporary classical styles. (Artemis arrives March 14; Nik Bartch’s Ronin jams March 19.) 8pm. $24.31. Tickets
Robin Wall Kimmerer
March 13 at the Cary Institute in Millbrook
Braiding Sweetgrass author Robin Wall Kimmerer brings together Indigenous wisdom and ecological science to shift how we see the world in her talk “Ecology, Indigenous Knowledge, and Caring for the Earth.” A Potawatomi botanist and storyteller, she reframes nature not as a resource to exploit but as a community to which we belong, urging reciprocity, gratitude, and respectful stewardship. At the Cary Institute in Millbrook, expect insights on blending traditional ecological knowledge with Western science to inspire deeper care for land, water, and all living systems. 7pm.
The Vanaver Caravan’s DanceFest
March 14 at Rondout Valley High School in Accord
After a six-year hiatus, DanceFest returns to Rondout Valley High School in Accord as its 30th anniversary edition, gathering nine Hudson Valley dance studios for a single, wide-ranging evening. Presented by The Vanaver Caravan, the program spans ballet, modern, world dance, Irish step, Bharatanatyam, Ukrainian folk, and Appalachian clogging, with the host company spotlighting its percussive, tradition-rooted style. Proceeds support regional arts education. 7pm. Tickets
“Makin Cake”
March 15 at the Stissing Center in Pine Plains
Dasha Kelly Hamilton’s “Makin’ Cake” in Pine Plains uses the simple act of baking as a sharp lens on American history, race, class, and culture. At once witty and incisive, the performance traces how scarcity and abundance shaped both the cake itself and the stories we tell about who gets a slice. After the show, stick around for conversation and—yes—cake for all, turning reflection into shared experience. 3pm. Tickets
Melissa Auf der Maur Book Launch
March 19 at Basilica Hudson
Canadian musician and alt-rock lifer Melissa Auf der Maur launches her new memoir Even the Good Girls Will Cry, digging into her ’90s journey from Montreal’s DIY scene to stints in Hole and The Smashing Pumpkins. This Hudson launch features a conversation with a special guest, a book signing, and a Darkwave DJ set from Auf der Maur—melding nostalgia and insight into one evening. 7pm. Tickets
Gary Numan
March 20 at the Paramount Hudson Valley Theater in Peekskill
After a triumphant 2024 tour with Ministry and Front Line Assembly and a 2025 live album, the influential English synth-pop icon is out on the road once again for a handful of rare US dates. One of them is in our area, and it finds the “Cars” hitmaker having recently completed work on his 23rd album, which is scheduled to come out later this year. Tremours opens. (Spyro Gyra jazzes it up March 14; Joan Osbourne does Dylan March 28.) 8pm. Tickets
Hudson Valley Pickle Festival
March 15 at the MJN Convention Center
Brine lovers rejoice: the Hudson Valley Pickle Festival returns to Poughkeepsie with everything from tangy classics to inventive ferments. Sample a spectrum of local pickles, krauts, kimchis, and other lacto-fermented delights from regional makers, meet the artisans behind them, and learn what makes a good pickle great. Alongside tastings, enjoy talks, demos, and pickle-centric fun that honors the region’s thriving fermentation scene. A salty, sour celebration for curious palates. 12pm. Tickets
Cheese the Day
March 21 at the Rosendale Theater
Cheese the Day brings a curated tasting of New York State’s artisan cheeses to Rosendale, spotlighting affineurs, farmers, makers, and mongers behind award-winning curds. Part celebration and benefit for the New York State Cheese Council and the Meeting of the Milkmaids, the afternoon pairs flavorful samples with a screening of the documentary Shelf Life and a panel discussion with expert cheese voices. The event supports training, marketing, and community within the state’s vibrant cheese ecosystem. 10am-4:30pm. Tickets
Firebird
March 21-26 at The Egg
Touki Delphine’s “Firebird” arrives in Albany as a reimagining of Igor Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite—performed not by musicians, but by an orchestra of more than 600 recycled car tail lights. The guided, immersive experience unfolds as both concert and installation, choreographing light and sound into a mythic spectacle. Touring nationally, the project treats industrial debris as symphonic instrument, turning orchestral music into a fully physical, spatial encounter. Multiple times. Tickets
Matt Berninger
March 24 at the Bearsville Theater in Bearsville
“I got my voice back, so I needed to say something new,” explains Matt Berninger about the making of Get Sunk, his second solo album, which was recorded after “a long period of writer’s block and self-disgust.” The National singer, now living in New England, enlisted his band mate Kyle Resnick, Booker T Jones, the Walkmen’s Walter Martin and Paul Maroon, and others to play on the disc. With Ronboy. (Eucademix experiments March 7; Patterson Hood and John Moreland team up March 21.) 7pm. $48.65-$80.15. Tickets
Jewish Film Festival
March 26-April 2 at the Jacob Burns Film Center
The Jewish Film Festival returns to the Jacob Burns Film Center in Pleasantville, framing Jewish history through intimate, personal stories rather than abstraction. The 2026 lineup spans fiction and documentary, tracing family secrets, artistic lives, political struggle, and survival across the 20th century and beyond. From Holocaust reckonings (a rare screening of Claude Lanzmann’s Shoah) to contemporary crises, the festival underscores how collective history is built from individual lives—resilient, complicated, and deeply human. Multiple times.
Jessica Kirson
March 28 at the Bardavon in Poughkeepsie
Stand-up dynamo Jessica Kirson brings sharp, self-aware comedy to Poughkeepsie. Known for high-energy delivery, absurd characters, and a knack for turning vulnerability into laughs, Kirson has built a huge following online and on stage alike, with TV appearances and sold-out tours under her belt. Her set mixes personal observation with relentless wit, delivering a night of unfiltered, laugh-out-loud stand-up. 7pm. Tickets
Uncanny Valley Puppet Slam
March 28 at the Ritz Theater in Newburgh
Uncanny Valley Puppet Slam returns to Newburgh with a new slate of short-form puppetry for adults. Part of the Hudson Valley Puppetry Festival, the evening treats puppetry as an experimental art form rather than nostalgia, drawing on vaudeville, cabaret, and performance art. Rapid-fire works from William PK Carter, Carole D’Agostino, Opal Elwell, Scott Hitz, Chris Palmieri, Cabot Parsons, and Brad Shur move from comic to unsettling, foregrounding the medium’s physicality, craft, and capacity for provocation in live performance. Hosted by Liz Joyce. 7pm. Tickets
This article appears in March 2026.
