Kaatsbaan to Present 2026 Annual Festival on Labor Day Weekend

For three Saturdays in a row, Kaatsbaan Cultural Park presents the 2026 Annual Festival at 120 Broadway, Tivoli, NY 12583. The festival begins on August 29, 2026, and continues on September 5 and September 12. Each Saturday will feature a distinct lineup and focus.

Labor Day weekend programming centers on individual playwrights reading and performing their own works: Rachel Jendrzejewski (through collaborators Terry Hempfling and Lauren Lewis), Jeanette Harrison, Ty Defoe, Vickie Ramirez, Rose Jarboe, Sylvan Oswald, Jim Fletcher, Lucy Sexton, and Adrienne Truscott. A musical double-bill closes out the day with The Bearded Ladies Cabaret sing-along and concert/dance party byCRICKETS (JD Samson, Roddy Bottum, and Michael O'Neill). Books for sale provided by the artists and Oblong Books. Food vendors include Pamana Kitchen's plant-based Filipino cuisine.

The 2026 Annual Festival also marks the return of Kaatsbaan's outdoor Meadow and Mountain stages with expansive views of the Catskill Mountains and immersion in the natural beauty of the Hudson Valley. Performances are around an hour, are all ages, and the festival schedule permits an easeful and day-long schedule of art and nature alongside Tivoli's walkable downtown amenities. Tickets are offered on an incentive-based, affordable structure. Individual tickets and all-day passes are available at https://kaatsbaan.org/performances-festivals.

Annual Festival | Saturday, September 5

12pm Fire Lighting Gathering

1pm Meadow Stage (outdoors): Playwrights' Platform, Program 1. Playwrights' Platform-in which playwrights read and perform their short plays-is a newly created live anthology, responsive to the needs of boundary-bending playwrights and focused on the stories central to their writing. Audiences are invited into the hearts and minds of these award-winning theater artists to explore each turn of phrase and unique worldview. Program 1 features Six Nations: One Fire by Vickie Ramirez, Ty Defoe, and Jeanette Harrison (Democracy Cycle commission awardees); encyclopedia by Rachel Jendrzejewski; and Mx. Rogers' Neighborhood: You Can Never Go Down The Drain by Rose Jarboe.

3pm Black Box Theater (indoors): Playwrights' Platform, Program 2. Program 2 features excerpts from I Leave Saint Cloud by Sylvan Oswald; a collage of early Yiddish Theatre presented by actor/poet Jim Fletcher, composer/cellist Lori Goldston, and composer/sound designer Chloe Alexandra Thompson; and Blonde as Hell by Lucy Sexton and Adrienne Truscott.

7pm Meadow Stage (outdoors): CRICKETS, opened by The Bearded Ladies. CRICKETS: Concert and DJ Dance Party. Musicians Roddy Bottum (Faith No More), Michael O'Neill (MEN), and JD Samson (Le Tigre, MEN) supercharge the night with their messy minimalist punk-funk-electro-rant-queer-guitar-synthesizer-drum-machine stories. 'A thumping new reprisal of toxic masculinity... delightful and delirious.' (Rolling Stone)

The Bearded Ladies Cabaret, AAAHHHHHH: A Sing/Scream/Shout-Along Cabaret. For all their favorite people-misfits, rabble-rousers, chanteuses, and the people who love and need them-the Beards have invited special guest musicians and selected songs for an evening of singing, of stories, of community, and the power of coming together for a future filled with hope. Hosted by Jarbeaux and The Bearded Ladies Cabaret with special guests Carmine Covelli on drums and V. Shayne Frederick on keys.

The more events you attend, the deeper the discounts.

- One performance ticket is $25 ($15 for students)

- All-day passes:

- A two-performance, same-day ticket bundle is $40 ($25 for students)

- A three-performance, same-day ticket bundle is $50 ($30 for students) *only 8/29*

- Add a concert ticket to your same-day bundle and receive a $10 discount

- Concerts are also individually priced. Buy concert tickets early and receive a $10 discount per ticket. Offer ends July 31.

'Inspired guest curator Michèle Steinwald' (The Dance Enthusiast) returns after her first festival in 2025, noted for its 'programming that leans into reflection, intimacy, and resonance' (Rural Intelligence), which has been recognized as 'a thoughtful, challenging, and innovative [festival] that has something-and likely many more that one thing-for everyone' (The Berkshire Edge). This year, Steinwald's curatorial selection brings together multidisciplinary expressions of storytelling, community, and joy.

In Steinwald's words, 'The 2026 festival program reflects what I learned during my time in Tivoli last year. Kaatsbaan audiences and local artists influenced the direction of the festival in how we are centering communities and first-person narratives. Each Saturday of the festival is a mini festival of its own flavor with multiple shows that build into an all-day celebration. Our goal is to create an inviting and uniquely Kaatsbaan experience for everyone to enjoy.

'I am particularly moved that we are able to pay homage to the legacy and power of collective organizing and creative expression rooted in Minnesota by including works by choreographer Pramila Vasudevan, playwright Rachel Jendrzejewski (1982-2025), and a work originally choreographed for TU Dance directed by the iconic and influential Toni Pierce-Sands (1962-2025). With the recent passing of Rachel and Toni, this moment to be with their life's work is even more meaningful.'

Kaatsbaan's Managing Director, Naomi Miller, offers that 'Kaatsbaan's signature festival, which first gathered artists and audiences during the pandemic for collective healing, continues to grow and offer new ways to come together in creativity and celebration. Working with Michèle has expanded the scope of artists we present, to everyone's benefit. Come for distinct moments of joy and transformation, stay for the power of community.'

Available for free throughout the festival

Performance Lending Library

A curated selection of audio-guided physical experiences adapted for Kaatsbaan's environment, each under 30 minutes. Bring your smart phone/tablet (data streaming required), earbuds/headphones, and be led into a range of embodied performance practices with your imagination as the site of the artwork. Do at your own pace in and around Kaatsbaan:

• Bridget Fiske, Joseph Lau, Stelios Manousakis, and Stephanie Pan, A Concept Album of Architectural Choreographies: A guerrilla audio tour in semi-public spaces
• Terry Hempfling and Rachel Jendrzejewski, Backwards Walk
• GUTSOIL ARTS | Pramila Vasudevan, Mossing | Marrowing Vitality Scores

Laura Curry, Cita en Bici / Bike Date. From an earnest conversation while biking, choreographer and social practice artist Laura Curry has turned a seemingly simple research process, started in 2013 in South and North American cities, into a sisterhood of mothers, daughters, aunties, grandmas, and fem/trans individuals who are also cyclists. Share stories while on a bike ride with Laura on the Empire State Trail or your local neighborhood route. Book directly with the artist onsite during the festival or at BikeDateProject@gmail.com.

2026 Visual Arts Exhibition, Earthly Delights. Artistic works evoking planets, plants, insects, and other biological forms erupting out of the mystical Kaatsbaan landscape. These unique pieces created by nine contemporary artists working predominantly in the Hudson Valley offer an inspiring alchemy of structure, form, beauty, and soul. Artists include Laura Battle, Thea Berman, Sharon Broit, Gaston Lachaise, Ian McMahon, Virginia L. Montgomery, Portia Munson, Kris Perry, Aurora Robson, and Nadia Yaron. The exhibition is curated by Hilary Greene.

Kaatsbaan's programs are made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. At time of press, the festival is made possible by the Bank of Greene County Charitable Foundation, Hudson River Bank & Trust Foundation, Kaatsbaan's Board of Trustees, and Thendara Foundation.

About Kaatsbaan Cultural Park

The mission of Kaatsbaan Cultural Park is to provide an extraordinary environment for cultural innovation and excellence by providing artists at any stage of their careers with creative residencies at state-of-the-art facilities, and presenting audiences and communities with annual festivals, educational programs, and events. As both an incubator for creativity and presenter for world-class artists in dance, theater, music, film, spoken and written word, and culinary and visual arts, Kaatsbaan provides artists with state-of-the-art dance studios, accommodations, an indoor theater, and outdoor stages. Sited on 153 Hudson River-adjacent acres, Kaatsbaan is free of urban facilities' space and time constraints, allowing for exciting levels of artistic exploration, creative action, and achievement-just two hours north of New York City.

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