Hi Friends,
Did you make it through the Nor’easter OK? I hope your road closures were short, your wifi was stable, and all the dogs in your neighborhood enjoyed the widest selection of sticks. Maybe our collective prayers to Satan Central Hudson helped a little bit.
The start of October is looking stunning and there are so many ways to enjoy it that I’ve actually written a whole extra newsletter issue about it!! We could all use a little help planning these few precious autumn weekends. Our bartender at Pitanga North on Monday was also quaking in his Crocs about the onslaught of Homecoming Weekend/Parents’ Weekend/Alumni Weekend across the area’s colleges, so maybe you also need a little help avoiding that. I gotchu.
If you’re into it I may do more plan-ahead listings for the holiday season and beyond. But it’s up to you! By responding to the poll below you’ll be redirected to our list of October Festivals & Featured Events.
Would you like to get one more email a month with upcoming highlights?
Potter Bros's Sidewalk Sale is Oct 9 to 12 on Route 28 in Kingston, with 2027 Burton, Salomon and Blizzard gear on the racks. A free lift ticket comes with a qualifying purchase.
Tickets are on sale for the eighth annual Kingston Design Showhouse, a midcentury stone house in Saugerties open Oct 17 through Nov 1. It's $38, and the money goes to Circulary, which keeps building materials out of landfills.
The Saugerties Animal Shelter is looking for foster homes for cats while staff fight a ringworm outbreak that started in May. Intake and most adoptions are paused, though some kittens are still available at off-site events.
The Flying Goose in Kerhonkson and The Stumble Out Bar in Livingston Manor are both hiring bartenders!! Be someone’s hero!
|
Friday, October 2
VERBATIM Text Sound Expo at Sugar Maples Center for Creative Arts in Maplecrest: Small presses and experimental music take over a 100 year old church in Big Hollow, with vendors out on the lawn between two ridges. Runs Oct 2 and 3, and the evening performances are by donation. Extremely Gunks-coded.
KNOCKERS UP! Opening at Citiot in Catskill: Deb Parker of Sister Salvage hangs vintage pinups from her own collection at The Gallery at Citiot for First Friday, 5 to 8. It stays up all October, straight through Catskills Comedy Fest.
Country Living Fair at Dutchess County Fairgrounds in Rhinebeck: 275+ vendors of antiques, artisan goods and boutique brands fill the fairgrounds Oct 2 to 4, with speakers, workshops and live music. Gates open at 10am and single-day tickets start at $28.
Gray Willow Oktoberfest 2026 at Crystal Brook Resort & Mountain Brauhaus in Round Top: The Mountain Brauhaus goes full Bavarian Oct 2 to 4 with a German band, schuhplattler dancers, German food and plenty of beer and wine.
Woodstock School of Art Barn Auction at Senate Garage in Kingston: Woodstock School of Art auctions 78 works by historic and contemporary artists to finish renovating its barn. Auctioneer James Cox runs the bidding, Stone Soup feeds you and DJ Major Mayhem plays. Admission is $25.
Gays of Hudson Meetup at Liberty Farms at The STAY at Liberty Farms in Ghent: Fred and Friends start early to catch the sunset at a glamping farm in Ghent. Two Lucky Ducks Kitchen sells homemade dumplings from 5 to 7, and the meetup runs until 7:30pm.
Saturday, October 3
Palestine Heirloom Seed Library On-Farm Fashion Show at The Seed House in Ghent: An on-farm fashion show fundraiser for the seed library featuring a new collection by Neville Wisdom, wine from Wild Arc, and olive oil from Dar Lafi. Catwalk in the field as the leaves turn.
CPW Fall Exhibitions Opening Reception in Kingston: Tanya Marcuse's five-by-ten-foot Woven tableaux plus her new Deer series, and Pixy Liao's 45 photographs staging and dismantling straight romantic power dynamics with her partner Moro. Vassar's darkroom club takes the Community Gallery. Pixy and Moro play as PIMO at 7:30.
Pougkeepsie Farm Project's Harvest Fest at Poughkeepsie Farm Project in Poughkeepsie: Pulso de Barro headlines two stages of live music at the Poughkeepsie Farm Project, plus food and drink vendors, a makers market, kids activities and pick-your-own flowers. $10 suggested, pay what you choose, rain or shine.
Wheat Meet n Greet at Branchwater Farms in Milan: Branchwater samples its limited-release Wheat whiskey and mixes cocktails from 2 to 5, with vendor friends selling alongside. Their words: can't wheat.
Seed Processing Open House at Hudson Valley Seed Co. in Accord: See how seed gets from the field into those art packs, 10:30am. Free.
Land In Black Hands Harvest Gathering: Of Seeds & Soils at Land In Black Hands Land Base in Kingston: Hands on soil training, a talking circle on Indigenous narratives with Chenae Bullock, food by Chef Yunique and seeds to take home. 12 to 5 off Wilbur Ave, $10 suggested, register ahead.
Disco Picnic Fall Lunch in Amenia: Three fall courses: delicata and cauliflower soups side by side, a scotch egg nested in parmesan polenta with garlicky maitakes, then fall fruit with crème anglaise. Donation based from here on out.
Isola Turns Two at Isola Wine and Tapas in Kinderhook: Six sparkling wines from Europe's islands and coasts, light bites from Chef Mikayla and live music by Sound of Somewhere, 4 to 5. One hour, lots of bubbles, and you can text to book dinner after.
Hudson Oktoberfest presented by Upper Depot Brewing in Hudson: Upper Depot turns Saturday into an eight-hour Oktoberfest, noon to 8pm, with beer and bites. Tickets are on Eventbrite and there are no refunds.
Belleayre Fall Festival at Belleayre Mountain in Highmount: Free admission and free parking, with live music on the Subaru Stage, gondola rides, craft vendors, and stein-holding and pie-eating contests. Runs Oct 3, 4, 10 and 11, 10am to 5pm.
Catskill Food Festival at Dutchman's Landing Park in Catskill: Food trucks, local food vendors, live music and artisan shopping set up on the Catskill waterfront, noon to 6pm, rain or shine.
Oktettafest at Tetta's Market in Olivebridge: Tetta's Market throws a small-batch Oktoberfest with brats, beer and pretzels around the fire pit. I’m only letting them get away with this shitty AI flier because they’ve saved my friends’ asses during ice storms.
Sunday, October 4
Lil Deb's Oasis Block Party in Hudson: This is the end, my friends! Lil Deb's concludes ten years in Hudson with a block party. Catch this tropical-comfort-food fixture before it closes its doors for good.
Jing (Ellen) Xu: I Do Have Choices Artist Talk at Garrison Art Center in Garrison: Xu walks through her modular clay-and-canvas works on the last day of her show, 3pm, while Garrison Craft is in full swing outside. The talk is free and doesn't need a craft fair ticket.
For The Girls Market at Eastdale Village in Poughkeepsie: All women owned vendors: vintage and Y2K clothes, tooth gems, hair tinsel and permanent jewelry, 10 to 4, right next to the Eastdale farmers market. Free entry.
Red Owl Flea at Red Owl Collective in Kingston: The monthly flea takes over the Red Owl parking lot with 20+ vintage sellers, local makers, antique dealers and food. Sunday, 10am to 3pm.
The Moth at Safe Harbors: Community Storytelling Performance at Ritz Theater in Newburgh: Participants in a weekend Moth storytelling workshop each take the stage in the Ritz lobby to share a story, 5 to 7pm. Free and open to the public.
Here's a fun contradiction. I don't consider myself a "digging in the crates" guy. I've largely sworn off physical media, and I tend to focus on the newer side of music. It's easier for me to keep moving forward than to try to swim backward. In spite of this, I wrote my law school thesis on the copyright laws that govern sampling, arguing for a compulsory license that would drive equity for newer musicians and the legacy acts they borrow from. So I guess I'm an advocate for the crate diggers from the sidelines, and I'll be cheering from those same sidelines for legendary French psych-jazz band Cortex on Friday at The Egg in Albany.
Cortex formed in Paris in the mid-'70s and released a small handful of super progressive albums before breaking up in 1981. I know absolutely zero people who can claim to have been fans back then, because who was listening to French jazz prog in the '70s? Nevertheless, you have heard their stuff! They had a renaissance in the aughts after a bunch of hip-hop producers got hold of their reissues. Once Dilla and Madlib sample you, there's no turning back. You can hear little bits of Cortex on more than 200 records now.
Their tour is presented by Jazz Is Dead, the full-circle experiment from composer Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad, A Tribe Called Quest's DJ. Their label records new work with jazz musicians who would not be household names but for those aforementioned crate diggers. They are doing the Lord's work. Adrian Younge usually tours with a full orchestra, and Ali Shaheed Muhammad has ceded DJ duties to OG turntablist J.Rocc for this tour. In essence, this is a show full of all the basic ingredients of hip-hop with none of the actual hip-hop. A crate digger's nirvana. I'll be there with my crate-digger buddies for emotional support. Say hi if you're coming through.
MAKE LOVE THIS WEEK
Go to one thing on this list by yourself and start a conversation with the first person holding the same pretzel you are.
Cheers,
Amy
A Maker and Lover