This year’s Festival will feature a global line-up that has cross-generational appeal. From Folk to Bluegrass, Native American to African, Cajun to Swing and Indie-Rock to Blues, we have a line-up that transcends musical boundaries and geographic borders.
Artists confirmed to date include: Ani DiFranco, Bela Fleck, Martin Sexton, John Dawes, Punch Brothers featuring Chris Thiele, Josh Ritter & The Royal City Band, Joan Osborne & Holmes Brothers, Deer Tick, The Klezmatics, Donna The Buffalo, Peter Yarrow, Tom Paxton, Alejandro Escovdeo, Aoife O'Donovan of Crooked Still, Tim OBrien, Tom Chapinv, {{Joanne Shenandoah, Toshi Reagon & Big Lovely, Raul Midon, Jill Sobule, Sara Watkins of Nickel Creek, Ollabelle, Sarah Lee Guthrie & Johnny Irion, Guy Davis Band, David Amram, Joe Purdy, Melissa Ferrick, Joseph Firecrow Band, The Deadly Gentlemen, Dala, Bhi Bhiman, David Wax Museum, Joel Rafael and many more.
We’ll also be celebrating a number of milestones with sets by Arlo Guthrie & The Guthrie Family (Woody Guthrie’s 100th birthday), Preservation Hall Jazz Band (50th anniversary) and Walkabout Clearwater Chorus (25th anniversary).
World music artists will have a bigger presence at Clearwater’s Festival this year. Tinariwen is a group of Tuareg-Berber musicians from the Sahara Desert region of Mali. Balkan Beat Box elicits a blend of musical styles fusing electronica with hard-edged folk music from North Africa, the Middle East, the Balkans and Eastern Europe. Alsarah perform a unique blend of East African retro-pop influenced by the spirit of Sudanese and Nubian cultures.
The Dance Tent will feature a wide array of dance styles from around the globe including: The Klezmatics (Klezmer), Steve Riley & The Mamou Playboys (Cajun), Cedric Watson & Bijou Creole (Zydeco), Jay Ungar & Molly Mason (Swing, Contra Dance, Waltz), Brave Combo (Polkas from around the world), Jesse Lege & The Bayou Brew (Cajun), Forro In The Dark (North Brazilian Forro), Jose Conde Y Ola Fresca (Latin Groove), Sharon Katz (South African Dance) and more.
Clearwater Festival is a festival family-oriented weekend event taking place every year at Croton Point Park in Westchester County. The Festival offers attendees an opportunity to gather to enjoy music, celebrate the Hudson River, and take part in the organization’s commitment to protecting our environment and community, and mission to inspire, educate and activate the next generation of environmental leaders.
The Festival’s family-oriented programming includes the Family Stage, juggling and roving artists, face painting plus lots of other activities and vendors. Kids 12 years old and under get in free.
Performances that make the Clearwater Festival unique include Story Grove, where festival goers can sit under the cool shade trees and listen to America’s best-loved storytellers. The Arm-of-the-Sea Theater, a contemporary mask and puppet theater company, performing large-scale production by the river’s edge.
New to the festival this year is The Traveling Musical Petting Zoo - from accordion to zither, The Zoo’ is a fully interactive, hands-on exhibition for musicians, young and old, novice to professional.
The Festival offers much more than just great musical artists; at the Working Waterfront, attendees can go out on small boats and tall ships, including the sloop Clearwater and the Mystic Whaler.
The Discovery and Tideline Tents feature Clearwater’s original hands-on environmental education programs and Hudson River research.
The Environmental Action Tent will highlight Clearwater’s watershed and environmental justice initiatives in cities up and down the Hudson.
The juried Crafts Area showcases over 50 crafters and folk artists with quality hand-made items, demonstrations and workshops. The Green Living Expo Tent is the place to learn about products, services, concepts and technologies that can inform your lifestyle and business choices.
An expanded Artisanal Food & Farm Market, a big hit at last year’s festival, will offer up Hudson Valley foods and specialty items.
The Festival's success is dependent upon the 1,000 volunteers who make possible all that festival goers see and hear and experience. There are many ways for the people to get involved as volunteers, with over 45 committees to choose from, including Site Crew, Working Waterfront, Environmental Action and many others. Those interested in volunteering at the Clearwater Festival should contact Linda Richards, volunteer coordinator at [email protected], or 845-726-8080, ext. 7105.
The festival is wheelchair accessible and most stage programming is staffed with American Sign Language Interpreters.
All proceeds from the Clearwater Festival directly support Clearwater's environmental education, advocacy and research to help preserve and protect the Hudson River and its tributaries, as well as the communities of the Hudson River Valley.
About Clearwater Festival, Great Hudson River Revival: Inspired by Pete Seeger’s desire to clean up the river over forty years ago, the Great Hudson River Revival initially helped raise the funds to build the sloop Clearwater, which has since become a world-renowned floating classroom and a symbol of effective grassroots action. Today, Hudson River Sloop Clearwater is a non-profit organization that sails at the forefront of the nation’s environmental challenges. The revenue raised by the Revival goes to support Clearwater’s numerous educational programs and its work toward environmental and social justice—as well as keeping the Clearwater afloat.
Clearwater's Great Hudson River Revival is produced by the nonprofit, member-supported, environmental organization Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, Inc. All proceeds go directly to support Clearwater’s environmental research, education and advocacy efforts to help preserve and protect the Hudson River and its tributaries, as well as communities in the river valley.
About Clearwater: Clearwater’s mission is to preserve and protect the Hudson River, its tributaries and related bodies of water. Clearwater conducts innovative environmental programs, advocacy and celebrations in order to inspire and energize the next generation of environmental leaders. Clearwater’s concerts, sloop education programs and environmental advocacy programs have inspired, educated and activated millions of people for over 40 years. Founded in 1969 by music legend and environmental activist Pete Seeger, the organization began with the launch of sloop Clearwater—a majestic replica of the sloops that sailed the Hudson in the 18th and 19th centuries. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the 106-foot-long tall ship is among the first vessels in the U.S. to conduct science-based environmental education aboard a sailing ship, creating the template by which environmental education programs are conducted around the world today. Since the launch of Clearwater, America’s Environmental Flagship, more than half a million young people and hundreds of thousands of adults have experienced their first real look at an estuary’s ecosystem aboard the sloop.
