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 weโll 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 โthe Village.โ Freedomland is the theme of this yearโs art exhibition and itโs a word that sums up the neighborhoods of Greenwich Village, the East Village and Lower East Side!
Check out this yearโs 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 weโll come together to honor a number of figures who left an indelible mark not just on Downtown Manhattan but on the world. Weโre 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. Davidโs Five American Voices is a setting of words by some of the great names in Americaโs literary pantheon, and the song cycle reflects the diverse voices of our cultural mosaic.
Leonard Bernstein Weekend
David will also be participating in our Leonard Bernstein weekend which celebrates the Maestroโs 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 fatherโs 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 Schoolโs 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 weโre going to keep you in suspense! Book early or youโll 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 Tripโs signature free concert in Washington Square Park. Taking the stage: Kennedy Administration, whoโll be celebrating the launch of their third album, and Dali Rose, a 22-year-old with a terrific musical pedigree whoโs 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. Donโt forget to get your entries in!
Weโve 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 canโt 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 Johnโs 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 churchโs 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 Tripโs opening party at the Revelation Gallery on September 16.
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. Letโs 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 READING LIST
A selection from the reading list compiled for The Village Trip by Three Lives & Company, Booksellers
ย FESTIVAL PARTNERS
The Village Trip Festival thanks its sponsors, partners and supporters.



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