Saturday, Sept. 28: After a successful freshman campaign in the summer of 2018, with more than 15 short films screened to an audience of over 300 at the Water Street Market, the organizers have moved the event to the larger venue on the SUNY campus. Predictably, submissions have greatly increased as well, topping 100 this year, coming from a wider range of independent filmmakers across the Hudson Valley.
This annual celebration of art and culture features more than 20 events including music, dance, readings, sculpture, theater, workshops, carnival, puppetmaking, gallery exhibits, films and street art, showcasing the range and depth of its local talent. The majority of events take place within walking distance around the scenic historic village of Saugerties.
That basic philosophy? It’s summed up in a slogan that seems to have stuck over time: “Make pierogi, not war.”
Thursday-Sunday, Oct. 3-6: Of all the horrific dictators ever to plague Latin America, Rafael Trujillo was arguably one of the worst. Whether as president or behind-the-scenes military strongman, he ruled the Dominican Republic for 31 years with an iron hand. His personal hit squad roamed the capital, Santo Domingo – renamed Ciudád Trujillo during his reign – in a red Packard nicknamed the “car of death,” carro de la muerte. A national network of procurers rounded up preteen girls for him to rape. Within one week in 1937, he had his army butcher between 20,000 and 30,000 Haitians in a border incursion known as the Parsley Massacre.
Sunday, Sept. 22: A founding member of the Hollies and a constant in all the alphabet soup of CSNY, CSN and CN, Nash has written more hits than you probably realize. And he knows everyone. That is why it is hard to say which is the more alluring part of this date: the songs or the stories. Luckily, we don’t have to decide.
Saturday/Sunday, Sept. 21/22: The tour, with its special offerings, moves through Kingston studios and galleries in the Rondout, Midtown and Uptown neighborhoods. Free bus service is available to move people to and from each area.
Friday, Sept. 20: The Brooklyn label Barbès Records released a 17-song compilation of a then-ignored genre of psychedelic cumbia from Peru: a blend of psych/rock, surf, Afro-Latin rhythms and indigenous melodies. That album reintroduced the world to chicha music, a sound previously confined to the Amazon and the poorer neighborhoods of Lima. Los Wembler’s, who formed in 1968 in the Amazonian city of Iquitos, were responsible for some of the first hits of the genre and have enjoyed this resurgence in international interest.
Saturday, Sept. 21: This musician, songwriter, MacArthur Fellow and radio host shreds not only the mandolin, but also whatever is left of the perceived walls dividing folk, rock, jazz and modern classical.
This weekend’s festivities include a Fall Gala, fireworks, exhibitions, fly-fishing demo and the unveiling of Will Lytle’s children’s book.
Saturday, Sept. 21: Beginning in the 1890s, Margaretville was the center of the nation’s cauliflower industry. The village’s farmers supplied New York City gourmets for 50 years, before California farms took over. Cauliflower remained a vital component of the Catskills economy for decades.