HIGHLAND LIGHTS is Coming to Humble Bee Hollow This April

Hudson Valley Shakespeare, Processional Arts Workshop, and Hudson Highlands Land Trust will host the fourth annual Highland Lights, a community celebration of the unsung heroes of our ecosystems, at Humble Bee Hollow on Saturday, April 26, 2025. Doors will open at 7:30pm and the procession will begin at 8:00pm.

Since 2021, Processional Arts and a growing community of lantern-makers have come together to illuminate the Hudson Highlands landscape in procession, inviting participants to see their natural surroundings in a different light. This year, as the Hudson Valley Shakespeare site undergoes an intensive ecological transformation, Highland Lights returns with a breathtaking procession of giant lanterns, illuminating the unseen wonders that shape our world. This year's theme, "Microcosmos," casts a glowing tribute to insects—the unsung heroes of our ecosystems. These tiny creatures make up over 80% of all animal species, playing vital roles in pollination, soil enrichment, and the food chain. Yet, over a third face an alarming decline. The procession will take place in Humble Bee Hollow, where radiant sculptures of local bees and ants, mayflies and damselflies, beetles and butterflies will light up the night in a mesmerizing display along a woodland trail and meadow in a new preserve that is being lovingly restored by the Hudson Highlands Land trust.

Free, public workshops will be held in The Atrium at Hudson Valley Shakespeare (2015 Route 9) where the community can help craft the luminous, poetic tributes that will bring these extraordinary Hudson Valley insects to life. The workshops will be held March 22 to April 13 on Saturdays and Sundays from 12-6pm. Each weekend will feature different tasks.

"The strength of this project lies with the community. Every person who takes part adds their own imprint, and the collective results have been inspiring,” said Sophia Michahelles and Alex Kahn, co-directors, Processional Arts Workshop. “People will come in this year who know all about local insects, others will learn from them, some will be confidently crafty, others will discover new skills. Together we will shed light on the immense world of small insects around us, and on the gorgeous trails at Humble Bee Hollow. We can't wait!"

"We're delighted to host this community event at Humble Bee Hollow, one of our newest preserves," said Katrina Shindledecker, executive director of the Hudson Highlands Land Trust. "It's wonderful that our recent habitat surveys of important local insect species helped inspire this year's theme. We look forward to seeing the lanterns illuminate the woods and meadows."

HHLT's Humble Bee Hollow is a new 74-acre preserve in Garrison, NY, on part of the former Garrison golf course. This evolving landscape is undergoing natural restoration, transforming greens and fairways into meadows, forests, and wetlands. Through community collaboration, it fosters biodiversity, providing habitat for pollinators, songbirds, and wildlife. Featuring northern hardwood forests, vital foraging areas, and wetlands, it supports species like the Eastern Box Turtle and Northern long-eared bat. The preserve also shelters migratory birds and is part of the Foundry Brook-Hudson River watershed. Humble Bee Hollow offers visitors a serene space to connect with nature and learn more about HHLT's conservation efforts.

If necessary, the rain date for the procession will be Sunday, April 27. HVS's 2025 Season will include William Shakespeare's uproarious comedy The Comedy of Errors, directed by longtime company member Ryan Quinn (The Murder of Roger Ackroyd); "One of the sweetest and smartest romantic farces ever written," (Terry Teachout, WSJ), Thornton Wilder's The Matchmaker, directed by Davis McCallum (Mr. Burns: A Post-Electric Play) and featuring Kurt Rhoads and Nance Williamson; and Octet, a chamber choir musical by Tony Award nominee Dave Malloy (Natasha, Pierre, and The Great Comet of 1812) and directed by Amanda Dehnert (Love's Labor's Lost), produced by special arrangement with Plate Spinner Productions.