COUNTING DOWN...

The Village Trip in 2021 runs from Saturday 18 to Sunday 26 September, with its usual mix of words and music at venues across the Village.

Free Concert in the Park on Saturday 25: Bringing It All Back Home to Washington Square, with

Bobby Sanabria and His Multiverse Big Band.

Bobby Sanabria and His Multiverse Big Band

In the days before and after, there will be a variety of events, including an increased number of outdoor events โ€“ walks and talks, each exploring a facet of Villageย lifeย andย culture. And of course we will return once more to the historic Bitter End in its sixtieth birthday year to celebrate New York Cityโ€™s folk music heritage.

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Dancing in the street โ€“ The Village Trip big-tent program offers something for everyone during its nine-day run

Greenwich Villageโ€™s rich history of creativity and activism will drive dozens of events throughout the iconic neighborhood, from Saturday September 18 through Sunday September 26 during The Village Trip, the third annual festival celebrating the history and heritage of the Village.

Bobby Sanabria
Bobby Sanabria

Seven-time-Grammy-nominee Bobby Sanabria and his Multiverse Big Band will bring Latin jazz to a free concert in Washington Square Park on Saturday September 25. โ€œA force of natureโ€ (Jazz Times), the Band is part of the rich downtown history of salsa meets jazz long celebrated by Art Dโ€™Lugoff at the Village Gate and later at Le Poisson Rouge. The ultimate feel-good music, itโ€™s just what the doctor ordered for a festival that aims to rally the Village โ€“ so come dance in the streets to an afternoon of terrific music with some very special guests.

David Del Tredici: photo Susan Johann
David Del Tredici: photo Susan Johann

The Village Trip 2021 promises something for every taste and every age. On Tuesday September 21, Judson Church will host a special performance of Eve Beglarianโ€™s opening movement to Earth Requiem: Wake Up, commissioned by artist Diana Wege. Both women live and work in the Village, as do composers Harold Meltzer and David Del Tredici, whose music will fill the sanctuary of St Johnโ€™s in the Village on Thursday September 23 and Friday 24.

We are privileged also to feature the world premiรจre performance of Prelude, Prayer and Dance for Unaccompanied Viola by David Amram, Artist Emeritus of The Village Trip. Written for Consuelo Sherba, this new piece will form a unique double bill at Judson, with Earth Requiem.

At the historic Bitter End, the festival will celebrate two very different aspects of Village music history: On Saturday September 25, guitar quartet Bodies Electric will showcase the music of Edgard Varรจse, and Frank Zappa and the Psychedelic Circus while on Sunday September 26, Sing Out! an all-star celebration of the New York folk revival will bring this yearโ€™s festival to a close.

There will be busking, readings, discussions, and events for children, plus a concert by the young students at The Third Street Music School Settlement. Thereโ€™s also a full program of walks and talks, among them:

  • David Amram, will lead a walk through the haunts and hangouts that mark his 65 years in the Village, his personal and professional friendships with a roll-call of legendary musicians and writers. A truly unique opportunity.
  • Bill Groom, production designer for the Amazon series The Marvelous Mrs Maisel, will give an illustrated talk about the neighborhood featured in the series.
  • Bill Goldstein, who is writing a biography of playwright and AIDS activist Larry Kramer, will talk about work on that book at the NYC AIDS Memorial
  • Public historian Kathleen Hulser will lead a tour focusing on the โ€œBad, Rad, and Boho Women of the Villageโ€
  • Brad Gooch will talk about his novel Smash Cut, set in the Village of the 1970s and โ€˜80s
  • Jesse Rifkin of Walk On the Wild Side will lead two tours exploring the rich history of music in the Village

โ€œThis year, The Village Trip will have special resonance and meaning, as the neighborhood recovers from Covid and looks to the future. As a Village resident, I know we all need the chance to remember what weโ€™ve been through and celebrate where we are headed.โ€

Clifford Pearson, Joint Artistic Director of the festival

 

David Amram opens Bringing It All Back Home to Washington Square 2019
David Amram opens Bringing It All Back Home to Washington Square 2019

The Village Trip 2021 Progam Listing

Today

Busking in Father Demo Square

Father Demo Square 220 Bleecker Street, New York, NY, United States

Folk, rock, jazz, classical โ€“ come and experience the infinite variety of Village music and musicians!

Free

Land of the Blacks Walking Experience

Washington Square Arch Washington Square Park, New York, NY, United States

Black Gotham Experience will present a walking experience called "Land of the Blacks" for The Village Trip 2021. The walk will center around the lives of Black people that lived […]

$15

Open Design Studios

Architecture and design firms โ€“ including Thomas Phifer and Partners (180 Varick Street, 11th Floor), Architecture Research Office (170 Varick Street, 7th Floor), and Suchi Reddy (Reddymade, 80 West 3rd […]

$15

Free Kick-Off Concert on Eighth Street

Intersection of Eighth and MacDougal streets Greenwich Village, New York, NY, United States

David Amram will headline a free outdoor concert to launch The Village Trip 2021 and will be joined by special guests, including Rene Manning, Earl McIntyre, and guitar quartet Bodies Electric.

Free

Walk on the Wild Side: The Folk Scene, Before and After Bob Dylan

Abingdon Square Veterinary Clinic 130 West 10th Street, New York, United States

Music historian Jesse Rifkin leads us back, โ€œdown the foggy ruins of timeโ€, on a tour of places associated with the folk revival. The tour examines the fabled Greenwich Village […]

$25 โ€“ $30

Land of the Blacks Walking Experience

Washington Square Arch Washington Square Park, New York, NY, United States

Black Gotham Experience will present a walking experience called "Land of the Blacks" for The Village Trip 2021. The walk will center around the lives of Black people that lived […]

$15

Storytime in Washington Square Park

Washington Square Arch Washington Square Park, New York, NY, United States

Children's Book Readings. Hear authors, including Diane Zahler, Ann Burg and Giselle Potter, read from their latest books and take questions from the audience. Free for kids of all ages. […]

Busking in Father Demo Square

Father Demo Square 220 Bleecker Street, New York, NY, United States

Folk, rock, jazz, classical โ€“ come and experience the infinite variety of Village music and musicians!

Free

Eating the Village: Pizza, pork, pastries, and more

Visit some of the Village's independent food purveyors--from the city's oldest butcher to a favorite pizza parlor and a French pastry shop--and hear the stories behind them and the neighborhood. […]

Bad, Rad, and Boho Women of the Village Walking Tour

Judson Memorial Church 55 Washington Square South, New York, NY, United States

Join public historian Kathleen Hulser to hear about mavericks such as Emma Goldman, Isadora Duncan, Dorothy Day, Mabel Dodge, Louise Bryant, Eleanor Roosevelt, Lorraine Hansberry, Nina Simone, Jane Jacobs, and […]

$25 โ€“ $30

Smash Cut: Author Talk with Brad Gooch

Lobby Bar at the Washington Square Hotel 103 Waverly Place, New York, NY, United States

Brad Gooch will speak about his bookย Smash Cut: A Memoir of Howard & Art & the 70s & the 80s. Vanity Fairย has described the memoir, chronicling an incandescent moment in […]

$25.00

West Village Theater Crawl

Visit the Lucille Lortel, Cherry Lane, Rattlestick, the New Ohio Theater and other theaters and hear about their illustrious histories, the talented people who have performed there, and their upcoming […]

$15 โ€“ $20

Diana Wege’s Earth Requiem: Wake Up + World Premiere of Prelude, Prayer and Dance for Unaccompanied Viola by David Amram, performed by Consuelo Sherba

Judson Memorial Church 55 Washington Square South, New York, NY, United States

This event will also be livestreamed.
A unique opportunity to experience Eve Beglarianโ€™s opening movement of Earth Requiem: Wake Up and the world premiรจre performance of Prelude, Prayer and Dance for Unaccompanied Viola by David Amram, Artist Emeritus of The Village Trip, commissioned for this yearโ€™s festival by the Roger Shapiro Fund for New Music. Performed by Consuelo Sherba.

$10 โ€“ $20

Lorraine Hansberryโ€™s Village Voice

Virtual Webinar on Zoom

Playwright, activist, and villager Lorraine Hansberry is best known for her award-winning play A Raisin in the Sun, which premiered on Broadway in 1959. She had an unflinching commitment to […]

An Evening of Chamber Music by Harold Meltzer

St Johnโ€™s in the Village 218 W 11th St, New York, NY, United States

This event will also be livestreamed.
A journey through the โ€œgraceful, sensual and contemplativeโ€ sound worlds of the much-garlanded East Village composer

$10 โ€“ $20

New York Studio School โ€“ A Tour of the Arts with Bee Chessman

New York Studio School 8 West 8th Street, New York, NY, United States

Since its founding in 1964, the New York Studio School has been an innovator in arts education, prioritizing daily continuity of study for artists through work in the studio. In […]

Free

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Chamber bets on The Village Trip festival, pop-up art, shopping promo to reboot foot traffic:

โ€œArt, shopping, music and cultural history are the keys to bringing foot traffic back to the Village, the local chamber of commerce says.โ€

Read the full article in The Village Sun