Two weeks of hi-jinks and high ideals, a rainbow-coloured, family-friendly festival to energize and honor a truly unique neighborhood to which America and the world owes so much. A community festival for a global village that was the forge in which so much of our culture was hammered out, and where so many shape-shifting movements that have helped change all our lives began.
Welcome to the sixth Village Trip where you will meet old friends and new whose performances will entrance and delight; make you dance and make you laugh; pique your interest and tickle your fancy. Perhaps make you see things in a new light. Our programs aim to shine a light on hidden figures and bring into focus the people whose lives and work crossed on Downtown’s crooked streets.
As is now tradition, two free outdoor events bookend our 15-day extravaganza. We open with a block party on West 4th Street at Music Inn with David Amram, Avram Pengas, The Fightscuffs and a host of friends, and close in Washington Square Park with BETTY, Janie Barnett and Tish and Snookie. Be there!
In the intervening days, we celebrate the life and legacy of Lead Belly with the New York premiere of Curt Hahn’s acclaimed documentary. We dip into the songbooks of Cy Coleman, and Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn with two concerts by the inimitable Janis Siegel, while Diane Garisto and Stoned Soul Picnic take us on a journey of exploration of the music of Laura Nyro. And we present the best of Latin jazz with Bobby Sanabria and Ascención.
We honor the 70th anniversary of Shakespeare in the Park with a concert featuring selections of the music composed for its first 12 years by David Amram, who will be sharing the stage with Gail Papp. Playwright Daniel Carlton directs The Village Trip’s centennial tribute to writer and activist James Baldwin.
Professor Ruth Feldstein addresses the subject of “Performing Politics in the Village: Black Women Entertainers and the Civil Rights Movement” in the third annual Village Trip Lecture, and we mark the publication of Rolling Stone senior writer David Browne’s groundbreaking book Talkin' Greenwich Village: The Heady Rise and Slow Fall of America’s Bohemian Music Capital with an author interview and discussion.
There are a few more goodies still to come, including details of our grand evening of Irish music when a thrilling line-up of some of New York’s finest Irish musicians will celebrate the lives and groundbreaking work of Mick Moloney and Dan Milner. And don’t miss the session that will follow at the bar next door – the craic will be good!
Stay tuned - you never know, The Village Trip is always full of surprises.
Please sign up ….. and come to The Village Trip 2024!
