June 18, 2010
Saturday and Sunday, Fathers Day weekend, June 19 and 20, from 10:00 a.m. to dusk, the biggest and oldest festival of its kind, Clearwater’s Great Hudson River Revival—an environmental celebration with music, dance, storytelling, education and activism—will draw thousands of people to Croton Point Park on the Hudson River.
The sloop Clearwater, built and launched in 1969, a time when the Hudson River was infamous for the environmental degradation it had suffered, was among the first vessels in the U.S. to conduct science-based environmental education aboard a sailing ship. The 106-foot-long tall ship will be moored at Croton.
“This is the festival founded by the iconic Pete Seeger 40 years ago to help clean up the Hudson River, and it’s got something for everyone,” says Bill Flank, an adjunct professor of chemistry and environmental science at Pace, longtime headmaster of Boy Scout Troop 1 in Chappaqua, and member of New Castle’s Environmental Review Board and a member of the Clearwater Board of Directors.
On seven stages throughout the park, hear performers Pete Seeger, David Amram, Steve Earle, Shawn Colvin, the David Bromberg Quartet, Joan Osborne, Buckwheat Zydeco and many more artists – see the list below – as well as world music groups from West Africa, Quebec, Colombia and Haiti. Also find a juried crafts fair, green living exhibits, a marketplace, food vendors, and river activities – sail on the sloop Clearwater or take rides in small boats. Roving performance artists and hands-on education displays and activities take place both days, all day long.
Children under 12 are admitted free; discounts are available for seniors, students and the disabled. Tickets for Saturday only or Sunday only are $55 in advance, $80 at the gate; a weekend pass for both days is $75 in advance, $115 at the gate.
Revenue raised by the festival goes to support Clearwater’s educational programs and its work in preserving and protecting the Hudson River and its tributaries, as well as communities in the river valley.
Visit http://www.clearwater.org/festival/index.html for details and ticket purchase.
History of the Festival
Back in the mid-sixties, after centuries of accumulated sewage pollution and industrial dumping of toxic chemicals, the Hudson River, like many of America’s most important estuaries, was declared “dead”. The river’s fragile ecological system was devastated. Not a single fish was found in many areas, and the level of commercial fishing had dropped so dramatically as to be regarded as nonexistent. Recognizing this incredible social and environmental tragedy, Pete Seeger, a popular musician and respected activist, decided “to build a boat to save the river”. Holding small, fundraising river concerts throughout the Hudson River Valley, he literally passed his banjo among the crowd, collecting contributions to build the elegant tall ship that would become a symbol of environmental advocacy, the flagship of the American Environmental Movement, the sloop Clearwater.
This nomadic folk festival picnic continued to travel through out the Hudson River Valley, then in 1978 the gathering set down roots at a historic river park, Croton Point, on the Hudson River and was coined The Great Hudson River Revival. However, ten years later, due to pollution problems with the landfill at the park, the festival was forced to move from the river. This move resulted in a decade of exile inland at a suburban college campus. In 1998, however, the Clearwater board of directors pushed to move the festival on or near the Hudson River, and a year later the Clearwater Festival returned to its spiritual home, the shores of the Hudson River at Croton Point Park.
Since the 1960s, the Clearwater Festival has grown into the country’s largest annual environmental celebration, its music, dance and storytelling, education and activism attracting thousands of people of all ages to the shores of the Hudson River.
STEVE EARLE
SHAWN COLVIN
DAVID BROMBERG QUARTET
PETE SEEGER
JOAN OSBORNE
BUCKWHEAT ZYDECO
SUBDUDES
KELLER WILLIAMS (Loopless Acoustic)
RAILROAD EARTH
DONNA THE BUFFALO
FELICE BROTHERS
STEVE FORBERT
TOSHI REAGON & BIGLOVELY
JONATHA BROOKE
RHETT MILLER
DAN BERN
LUCY KAPLANSKY
MIKE DOUGHTY
DAVID AMRAM
SARA WATKINS
DALA
ANGEL BAND
TAO SEEGER BAND
THE LEE BOYS
MILTON
SARAH LEE GUTHRIE & JOHNNY IRION
HAZMAT MODINE (Global Blues)
*NEW - Renamed and Expanded World Dance Stage*
EILEEN IVERS (Fiddle Player of Riverdance)
KAKANDE (West African ensemble)
JAY & MOLLY’S PURA VIDA QUARTET with RICK MOHR calling (Contra Dance)
CJ CHENIER & THE RED HOT LOUISIANA BAND (Zydeco)
BROTHER JOSCEPHUS & THE LOVE REVIVAL REVOLUTION
NIGHTINGALE (Contra Dance)
LE VENT DU NORD (Traditional Music of Quebec)
BUCKWHEAT ZYDECO
SLAVIC SOUL PARTY (Eastern European Brass Band)
FOLKLORE URBANO (Colombian Folkloric Dance Band)
SUBDUDES
BONGA & THE VODOU DRUMS OF HAITI (Haitian drumming and dance)
PLUS . . .
Walkabout Clearwater Chorus
Arm-of-the-Sea Theater
Kim & Reggie Harris
Jay Mankita
Dog on Fleas
Paul Richmond
The Storycrafters
Samite
Ken Corsbie
Bob Reiser
Nancy Tucker
Roland Mousaa
Tom Winslow
Thomasina Winslow
Tomorrow’s Children
Diane Wolkstein & Jeff Greene
Rude Mechanical Orchestra
Elizabeth Mitchell & You Are My Flower
The Power of Song
Marva P. Clarke
Rick Nestler
Grenadilla
Roger the Jester
Paul Richmond
The Edukated Fleas
Evy Mayer
Linda Richards
Mel & Vinnie
Robert DeMayo
Eric Russell
Steve Stanne
Dan Einbender
Folksoul Band
Ann Shapiro & Tom Callinan
Betty Boomer
Captain Killian & Crew
Nancy Marie Payne
Hope Machine
Ezzell Floranina
The Dirty Stay Out Skifflers
Uncle Rock
Bobaloo Basey
Matt Turk
Terry Sullivan
Stout
Melissa K. Knowles
Tony Duncan
Vern Coffey
Nettie Lane
Peter Schuerholtz
Eric Kollenberg
Bruce Engholm
Bruce Harpster
Chris Kitzmiller
PLUS . . .
• Juried Crafts Fair
• Green Living Exhibitors
• Marketplace
• Activist Area
• Food Vendors
• River activities
• Sails aboard the sloop Clearwater and schooner Mystic Whaler
• Rides on small boats
• Circle of Song (sing-along)
• Story Grove (storytelling)
• Children’s Crafts and Activities
• Family Stage Performers
• Kids Vendors
• Hands-on education displays and activities
• Jugglers, Roving Artists, Face Painting and more
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