The Village Trip is an annual festival celebrating Culture and Community
across Greenwich Village and theย Eastย Village

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 19 โ€“ SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2025

2025 PROGRAM ANNOUNCEMENTS
Bernstein Weekend โ€“ KidsKoncert & Bernstein Remix!
Proceeds to Benefit Artful Learningยฎ
ย Free Concert in Washington Square Park featuring Kennedy Administration
+ Much, Much More!

The countdown has begun! Ten weeks from now weโ€™ll be striking up the band for The Village Trip 2025, an action-packed festival celebrating culture and community in the haven that is and will forever be โ€œthe Village.โ€ Freedomland is the theme of this yearโ€™s art exhibition and itโ€™s a word that sums up the neighborhoods of Greenwich Village, the East Village and Lower East Side!

Check out this yearโ€™s just-revealed Village Trip poster, created, as usual, by East Village artist and curator Marc Kehoe.

As ever, The Village Trip offers something for everyone, and weโ€™ll come together to honor a number of figures who left an indelible mark not just on Downtown Manhattan but on the world. Weโ€™re delighted to welcome back the inimitable David Amram, now in his eighth year as Artist Emeritus. His latest composition, commissioned by The Village Trip with the Roger Shapiro Fund, opens the festival. Davidโ€™s Five American Voices is a setting of words by some of the great names in Americaโ€™s literary pantheon, and the song cycle reflects the diverse voices of our cultural mosaic.

Leonard Bernstein Weekend

Leonard Bernstein with his wife Felicia and (from left) children Nina, Jamie and Alexander, at home, 1965

David will also be participating in our Leonard Bernstein weekend which celebrates the Maestroโ€™s extraordinary contribution not just to music but to education with two concerts that will raise funds for the Bernstein family charity Artful Learning, the teaching model founded by Alexander Bernstein that puts his fatherโ€™s philosophies of education into practice, making students and teachers co-creators.

Image: Leonard Bernstein with his wife Felicia and (from left) children Nina, Jamie and Alexander, at home, 1965

Family-Friendly Orchestral Concert

Classical Cool! Family Fare KidsKoncert is a family-friendly orchestral concert on September 20 featuring a performance by the talented young winner of the Third Street Music Schoolโ€™s Concerto Competition. Alexander will narrate Saint-Saรซnsโ€™ whimsical and magnificent family favorite, Carnival of the Animals.

Bernstein Remix!

Meanwhile, Jamie Bernstein has corralled a group of distinguished musician friends who run the gamut from Broadway to jazz, classical to Latin American and beyond for Bernstein Remix!, an intimate evening of words and music at the Loft at City Winery on September 21. Her unique all-star line-up includes Colombian harp virtuoso Edmar Castaรฑeda, actor and singer Darius de Haas, renowned classical guitarist Sharon Isbin, and singer-songwriter Janis Ian, whose talent Bernstein championed way back in 1967 on his TV show Inside Pop: The Rock Revolution. The Queer Urban Orchestra (QUO) will play a rarely heard arrangement from 1935 by 17-year-old camp counsellor Leonard Bernstein!

 

We will share more names with you very shortly, plus there will be some surprise guests โ€“ but weโ€™re going to keep you in suspense! Book early or youโ€™ll miss out on all the excitement!

The Village Trip Lecture

The opening weekend will include a number of guided walks, plus The Village Trip Lecture, delivered this year by Clay Risen, New York Times journalist and author of Red Scare: Blacklists, McCarthyism, and The Making of Modern America. Plus รงa change, it sadly seems.

Free Concert in Washington Square Park

The closing weekend, as always, includes The Village Tripโ€™s signature free concert in Washington Square Park. Taking the stage: Kennedy Administration, whoโ€™ll be celebrating the launch of their third album, and Dali Rose, a 22-year-old with a terrific musical pedigree whoโ€™s just released his debut EP.

 

Art Show

Freedomland! The Village Trip Art Show will open on September 16, just ahead of the festival proper, with a party for all those artists whose work is selected for exhibition, as well as friends of The Village Trip. Donโ€™t forget to get your entries in!

Weโ€™ve lots more names and news still to share, so stay tuned, spread the word โ€“ and mark your calendars!

And please consider a donation. However modest, please know that your money makes a big difference to our small non-profit. Every cent goes to performers and production costs โ€“ the organizers all volunteer their time.

We canโ€™t wait to see you all!

Liz Thomson & Cliff Pearson
Joint Artistic Directors

FRAMING THE VILLAGE 2025
the annual Village Trip Art Exhibition, is now open for entries

Once again, Marc Kehoe, esteemed Village artist and art historian, is the curator, and the theme this year is Freedomland! The venue will be The Revelation Gallery at St Johnโ€™s in the Village, where the first Village Trip Art Exhibition took place in 2022.

Freedomland is theย West Village, the East Village, the Lower East Side.
Freedomland is where we experiment, where we create, and where we have freedom to be who we are!

Painting, drawing, collage, photography, video, and sculpture expressing our freedom are all welcome entries. All-weather sculpture will be exhibited in the churchโ€™s beautifully landscaped courtyard garden.ย  Entry is open to all artists aged 18+ who have a connection to Greenwich Village or the East Village/Lower East Side, who live or have lived or worked in these neighborhoods. Full details of entry requirements can be found here.

Those whose work is selected for exhibition will be invited to The Village Tripโ€™s opening party at the Revelation Gallery on September 16.

 

Credit: Marrapodi, Ornstein, Ball, Schreier

PERSON PLACE THING LIVE PODCASTS

 

We are delighted to share with you some photos from our two recent Person, Place Thing live podcast recordings with Jamie Bernstein and Janis Siegel, which will be broadcast on WAMC Northeast Public Radio in early September when the episodes will also be available wherever you listen to your podcasts.

The Village Trip is now in its eighth year, and our annual celebration of culture and community has never been more important, for it shines a light on the people whose lives and work have shaped not only the Village, and not only New York City and these United States but in many cases the world. We owe it to them not to forget. We owe it to them, and ourselves, to honor their achievements. Letโ€™s keep the flame burning.

And please consider a donation. However modest, please know that your money makes a big difference to our small non-profit. Every cent goes to performers and production costs โ€“ the organizers all volunteer their time.

THE VILLAGE TRIP 2018-2024

THE VILLAGE TRIP READING LIST

A selection from the reading list compiled for The Village Trip by Three Lives & Company, Booksellers

Three Lives and Co logo

ย FESTIVAL PARTNERS

The Village Trip Festival thanks its sponsors, partners and supporters.

This project is made possible in part with funds from Creative Engagement, a regrant program supported by The New York City Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA) in partnership with the City Council; The New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Governor and the New York State Legislature; and the Howard Gilman Foundation, and administered by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC).

Travel and Tourism Awards logo

 

The Village Trip has been named Best Urban Celebration Event 2025
in the LUXElife Magazine Travel & Tourism Awards 2025

New York City AIDS Memorial
David Amram
walking tour
opening event audience
Earth Requiem

The Village Trip Mission Statement

To uplift, to entertain and to celebrate the arts for all New Yorkers, their families and all people from around the world who come to visit Downtown Manhattanโ€™s special oases, Greenwich Village and the East Village.