Old Songs Festival
Forty-six years in, Old Songs Festival remains the Capital Region’s most immersive folk weekend — 100+ workshops, contra dances, and three nights of traditional music from around the world at the Altamont Fairgrounds. June 26–28, 2026.
Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival
The Finger Lakes GrassRoots Festival returns July 16–19 at the Trumansburg Fairgrounds for its 34th year. Rhiannon Giddens, Taj Mahal, Del McCoury Band, and Donna the Buffalo headline four days of global roots music, camping, and community across 4 stages.
Hudson River Music Festival
The Hudson River Music Festival returns to Croton Point Park on Father’s Day, June 21, 2026 — one day of jam, folk, and roots music on the Hudson with Warren Haynes, Grahame Lesh, Margo Price, and Cimafunk. Pete Seeger’s spirit lives on.
Catskills Irish Arts Week
Catskills Irish Arts Week transforms East Durham, NY into a living Irish village every July — workshops, ceili dances, and late-night sessions with 40+ master musicians. North America’s largest summer school for traditional Irish music. July 13-18, 2026.
Silver Bay Mountain Music Festival
There is a particular quality of light on Lake George in September — warmer than summer, softer, with the first traces of amber creeping into the Adirondack treeline — that makes everything feel like it is happening inside a postcard.
Sterling Stage Folkfest
Memorial Day weekend in Upstate New York carries a particular energy. The lakes are still too cold for swimming, the trees have just finished leafing out, and the whole region feels like it is stretching awake after a long winter.
Gregory Alan Isakov at SPAC | August 22, 2026
His album Evening Machines earned a Grammy nomination, and a 2016 collaboration with the Colorado Symphony proved his arrangements could breathe in orchestral space without losing their intimacy. Catch the show at SPAC on August 22, 2026. Get your tickets now.
Leslie Mendelson at Caffe Lena | April 23, 2026
Leslie Mendelson heads to Caffe Lena on April 23, 2026. Mark your calendar.
Livingston Taylor at Caffe Lena | May 2, 2026
On May 2, 2026, Livingston Taylor performs at Caffe Lena. On Saturday, May 2, 2026, that room belongs to Livingston Taylor. Get your tickets now.
Sawyer Fredericks at Caffe Lena | May 22, 2026
Sawyer Fredericks is coming to Caffe Lena on May 22, 2026. His records since then have gotten progressively more rooted: folk, blues, Americana, voice-first songwriting that trusts the listener to sit still. Get your tickets now.