The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
A broad array of roots music, food, fun
The Clearwater Festival is the country’s oldest and largest music and environmental festival. It’s known as “the festival that cleaned up a river.”
CROTON-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. — The Big Daddy (or maybe it’s Earth Mama) of music and environmental festivals is back next weekend, as Clearwater’s Great Hudson River Revival — commonly known as the Clearwater Festival — returns to Westchester County’s dazzling Croton Point Park.
This year’s performers at the festival on the banks of the Hudson River, just over the border from upper Fairfield County, include:
Saturday: Ani DiFranco, Beausoleil Avec Michael Doucet, C.J. Chenier and the Red Hot Louisiana Band, Hot Rize, Joanne Shenandoah, Karim Nagi Turbo Tabla, Langhorne Slim, The Kennedys, The Mammals (Featuring Mike + Ruthy), The Nields, They Might Be Giants, Tom Chapin, Tom Paxton & The Don Juans and the Willie Nile Band.
June 17: Betsayda Machado, Dave Alvin & Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Deadgrass, Funkinships, Jalen N’Gonda, Jeff Tweedy, Mipso, Rhiannon Giddens, Ruben Gonzalez, Terrance Simien & The Zydeco Experience and The Mavericks.
Other performers include Arm-of-the-Sea Theater, Beth Orton, Dan Zanes and Claudia Eliaza, David Amram, Josh White Jr., Making Movies, Margaret Glaspy, Roger The Jester, The Amazing Max, The Greenheard, The War And Treaty, Upstate Rubdown, Vanaver Caravan, Walkabout Clearwater Chorus, Yael Deckelbaum & Prayer of The Mothers Ensemble, Choir! Choir! Choir!, Jay Ungar & Molly Mason, Mario Cancel, Parker Milsap, River Whyless, The Amazing Max, Vanaver Caravan, Work o’ the Weavers and Zeshan B.
The festival goes all day both days, with gates opening at 9 a.m. and music starting at 11 and ending at about 8:45 p.m. Tickets are available in advance at clearwaterfestival.org or 888-718-4253.
Tickets also will be available at the gate at a slightly higher price.
Non-member advance prices as of press time were $85 per day ($60 for ages 12-17, $76.50 for seniors, disabled, veterans and active military), $110 for a pass that can be used either day and $150 for a weekend pass. Camping passes are also available. Children 11 and under are free.
Started by the late folk icon Pete Seeger more than 40 years ago — but just as much the baby of his late wife, Toshi Seeger — the Clearwater Festival is the country’s oldest and largest music and environmental festival. It’s known as “the festival that cleaned up a river.”
Pete Seeger, who would have turned 99 last month, began the festival with his wife as an annual fundraiser for Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, an environmental organization he also founded, and his legacy of “harnessing the spirit of change through the power of song” lives on in it.
The family-oriented festival also features lots of programming, activities and vendors for kids, including a family stage, juggling and roving artists, a children’s area, storytelling, river beachcombing and other activities, including a working waterfront that offers rides on small boats and tall ships such as the sloop Clearwater and the schooner Mystic Whaler.
A Handcrafters’ Village will showcase over 40 crafters and folk artists with quality hand-made items, demonstrations and workshops. A Green Living Expo features sustainable products, services, concepts and technologies for informed lifestyle and business choices. Discovery and Tideline tents feature Clearwater’s original hands-on environmental education programs and Hudson River research.
An Environmental Action Tent highlights Clearwater’s watershed and environmental justice initiatives in our Hudson Valley communities. An Artisanal Food & Farm Market offers Hudson Valley foods and specialty items, as well as demonstrations and performances by local musicians.
All eight stages are powered by solar or bio-diesel generators. The Clearwater Festival is wheelchair accessible and most stage programming is staffed with American Sign Language Interpreters.