article by Andy Hall

The Hudson River Music Festival:  50 Years in the Making

Fifty years ago, folk legend Pete Seeger – who would have celebrated his 107th birthday last month – hosted his very first “Folk Picnic” along with wife Toshi in New York’s Hudson River Valley. The picnic, which was held annually for over a decade until it became the Great Hudson River Revival in 1978, was created to bring awareness and funding to the cleanup of Seeger’s beloved Hudson River, which was in environmental peril. The festival, also known as the Clearwater Festival, featured music as the driving force behind the grassroots movement.

Now in its second year, the Hudson River Music Festival, which was inspired by the Seegers’ picnics, will carry on the spirit of music along the water’s edge at Croton Point Park in Croton-on-Hudson, NY, this Father’s Day, Sunday, June 21.

This year, the event will feature three stages – with acts including Hudson Stage headliners Jesse Welles, Daniel Donato, Warren Haynes, Margo Price and Grahame Lesh; Tom Chapin and the Chapin Sisters, Leah Song of Rising Appalachia and the Guthrie Family Singers on the Rainbow Stage; and yoga and breathwork, a “Bash the Trash” workshop utilizing repurposed items to build instruments, and Grateful Dead and Beatles music for kids from Rock and Roll Playhouse on the North Star Stage.

The family-friendly festival will also showcase a “curated” selection of community environmental organizations and grassroots activist groups – as well as a panel, “Climate Change: Science, Policy, Action,” with special opening remarks by Grahame Lesh, at 2 p.m. There will also be a special space for an ongoing Circle of Song, a folk tradition where audience members are invited to participate along with a variety of performers, 11 a.m.-7 p.m.

The idea of the Hudson River Music Festival was initiated by founding members of the nonprofit RiverFest FPS (For Pete’s Sake) to honor Seeger and his legacy as a folk singer, environmentalist and activist. Stephen Sullens, founder and president of Harper House, which produces the festival along with RiverFest and DayGlo Presents, says that Seeger’s vision is actively carried out.

“Along with Woody Guthrie, Pete Seeger was among the earliest to combine music and activism around broad political issues including civil rights, climate change and disarmament,” Sullens says. “You could certainly argue that the time we face now is reminiscent of that same period in the past, and this festival reflects Pete’s vision. The list of artists were very much curated with an eye toward that history and legacy.

“Additionally, we are thrilled to use this festival as an opportunity to bring the music-loving Hudson Valley community together to infuse a more grassroots energy into the preservation of those ideas.”

Festival Details: 

Hudson River Music Festival
Date: Father’s Day, Sunday, June 21, 2026
Location: Croton Point Park, Croton-on-Hudson, NY
Gates:  10:00 a.m.
Learn More: www.hudsonrivermusicfestival.com

Hudson River Music Festival Announces Lineup And Return To Croton Point Park June 21