Explore a region steeped in history, legend and lore.
Rip Van Winkle lives on at the Rip Lives! 2012 Outdoor Art Exhibit. For the third year, the mountaintop towns of Haines Falls, Tannersville, Hunter, Windham and Prattsville will display over 50 Rip Van Winkle statues in various outdoor locations, September 6 to October 2, all painted by various artists. You never know where Rip will show up.
A rustic barnlike theater set amid 100 acres of tall trees and farmland in Woodstock, charming Maverick Concert Hall seats just a few hundred guests for America’s oldest continuous summer chamber music festival and winner of the Chamber Music America/ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming. The rustic 1916 concert hall with its perfect acoustics makes for ideal listening. On September 16, hear the Tokyo String Quartet perform Haydn, Webern and Schubert.
Multi-media exhibits excite all your senses at The Museum at Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, an immersive trip back to the Sixties and Woodstock with film and music, interactive displays, personal stories and artifacts. Experience the Woodstock festival again, or for the first time, while helping preserve the historic site of the 1969 event that defined a generation.
Experience the working past at Hanford Mills Museum in East Meredith, site of one of the last surviving 19th-century sawmills. Learn about steam power, timer framing and even woodstove cooking in upcoming fall weekend workshops. See the Museum's water-powered gristmill in action at the October 7 Harvest Festival & Folkways Fair, complete with farmers’ market and traditional crafters. What a fun way to find history.
Keeping the northern Catskills region alive is The Zadock Pratt Museum in Prattsville, with collections from the 17th-century to today. Hear stories of the War of Independence, Civil War, Transcontinental Railroad, Washington Monument and Smithsonian Institution from the lips of an important early American family at this historic site’s programs, exhibits and special events.
Then visit nearby Pratt Rock, “America’s First Mt. Rushmore,” a giant cliff carving that pays tribute to town father Zadock Pratt. Pratt Rock Park is open to the public daily. A steep climb to the rocks leads to a carved cliff wall 500 feet above the road. Bring your camera.
Music and film are center stage at the Doctorow Center for the Arts, a new multi-arts complex that includes a three-screen cinema and the intimate Evelyn Weisberg Concert Hall. On October 13, see Kenny Barron in a solo classical jazz concert, one of many upcoming performances.
Piano lovers can see and hear the world’s finest instruments at the Center’s Piano Museum. See a collection of rare vintage pianos from the era of Mozart and Beethoven, explore exhibits and hear performances by concert pianists during your guided tour that travels the keys from classical to jazz and pop. Call ahead, tours are by appointment.
For more information, visit the Catskills region.