Bearsville Center in Woodstock, home to the historic Bearsville Theater, is no longer for sale, months after owner Lizzie Vann put it on the market for $7.995 million. “We have had a re-think about Bearsville and we are taking it off the market for a period while we work out what to do,” she said. […]
John W. Barry
Woodstock Drum Circle Kicks Off 27th Year on Village Green
For all of Woodstock’s reputation for nurturing artists, musicians, and innovators, one tradition stands out: the weekly drum circle on the Village Green. “What lies at the center of these events is the sheer frivolity of it,” Kevin Johnson, 72, a trained drum circle facilitator who coordinates the circle on Sundays from 4 p.m. to […]
Ukrainian Folk Ensemble YAGÓDY Brings Lviv Sound to Saugerties
YAGÓDY, a seven-piece ensemble from Lviv, Ukraine, will bring a mix of folk songs, vocal harmonies, percussion, and theatrical performance to The Local in Saugerties on Friday night. The group features three vocalists, along with accordion, drums, bass, and dulcimer, plus Ukrainian wind instruments. Its performance program, “Ukrainian Folk Ritual: YAGÓDY,” blends the sacred and […]
Carnegie Funds Saugerties Library Events Celebrating America’s 250th Anniversary
The Saugerties Public Library will host a range of events celebrating libraries, local history and America’s 250th anniversary thanks to a $10,000 gift from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the same group that paid $12,500 in 1914 to build the town’s library. Andrew Carnegie, a Scottish immigrant who made his fortune in steel, benefited […]
Town Tinker Tube Rental, on Market Seven Years, May Have a Buyer
Town Tinker Tube Rental, shuttered and for sale since the pandemic, may have finally found a buyer. “I do have someone in the pipeline who has been talking to me since last October,” said Town Tinker owner Harry Jameson, 72, who opened the business in 1980. “He has not responded for a couple weeks now, […]
Deadheads Gather in Woodstock to Celebrate Bob Weir’s Legacy
A much younger Bruce Ginsberg was helping renovate a holistic healing center in Arizona in 1978 when he struck up a friendship with basketball star and Grateful Dead superfan Bill Walton, who was recovering from a season-ending fractured ankle. That’s how Ginsberg ended up as Walton’s backstage guest that summer at a Dead show at […]
Silvia Owners Plan New Tavern and Cafe on Former Gemela Property
The ownership group behind the restaurant Silvia is preparing to open two new businesses on Mill Hill Road in Woodstock, taking over the property formerly occupied by Gemela. The larger building on the site will be called The Penny Tavern, while the smaller building will be called The Penny Cafe, according to Silvia co-owner Craig […]
Buzzing Bee Market Opens on Route 212 in Saugerties
Like many people during the pandemic, Conchi Perez of Saugerties picked up a hobby. For Perez, a native of Mexico, that hobby was backyard gardening. She started with vegetables. Then she discovered dahlias. “I fell in love with dahlias,” she said. The hobby also gave Perez something else: confidence. She set up a flower stand […]
Woodstock Library UCAT Stop in Limbo as County Seeks Drivers
Ulster County’s plans to add a bus stop for Woodstock’s new library, a mile and a half east of its former location, are in limbo as officials seek to hire more drivers to expand its network. Ulster County Area Transit’s Route Z includes stops at the corner of Route 212 and Rock City Road, within […]
Woodstock’s Zach Djanikian Co-Scores New Netflix Red Hot Chili Peppers Documentary
Woodstock multi-instrumentalist Zach Djanikian was onstage with Graham Nash in September 2024, preparing for soundcheck, when his cell phone rang. The call was from his childhood friend, Ben Feldman. Years earlier, as Djanikian set out on a music career, Feldman became an attorney before making a sharp turn to pursue filmmaking. Now Feldman had a […]
Former Lodge and Pinecrest Property Faces Zoning Hurdles as Future Remains Uncertain
Bill Murray once wanted to take a late-night swim at The Lodge in Woodstock. The actor, who was in the area while filming the 2019 movie “The Dead Don’t Die” in Fleischmanns, became a regular at the bar, hotel, and restaurant tucked behind Woodstock Elementary School. He showed up at Levon Helm Studios, dropped by […]
Not Fade Away Seeks New Woodstock Home After 35 Years in Town
In October 1983, Marty Leffer was in a Lake Placid hotel, waiting for an elevator. He had two tie-dyed shirts from a bundle he hoped to sell to thousands of Deadheads, fans of the Grateful Dead, who had descended on the upstate village that had hosted the Winter Olympics about four years earlier. Nearly 8,000 […]
Saugerties to Use $155,000 State Housing Grant to Examine Affordability
Saugerties aims to use a $115,750 state grant to determine who’s being shut out of the housing market as costs surge throughout the Hudson Valley. The town, one of three so-called “Pro-Housing certified” municipalities in Ulster County that received a share of $5 million in grants last month, will probably hire its planning consultant, Nelson […]
Winston Farm Developers Craft Responses to Questions on Proposal
Developers behind a proposal to transform the historic 840-acre Winston Farm property in Saugerties say they’re preparing to respond to more than 500 public comments that Town Supervisor Fred Costello said include questions about water quality and usage, protecting wildlife and preserving open space. “Winston Farm is carefully reviewing each question and crafting responses, both […]
Hurley School Sale Closes, Five Years After Approval and $250,000 Short
The Onteora School District finally completed its sale of the former West Hurley Elementary School to a Brooklyn developer that wants to turn it into housing, five years after the Planning Board approved the deal and 30 percent short of the initial price. Cedar East Development sealed the $800,000 deal with the district on Feb. […]
Woodstock School of Art Pursues $700K Barn Rehabilitation
The Woodstock School of Art is undertaking a $700,000 rehabilitation of its historic barn, a project its executive director said will expand programming, improve public access, and lower long-term operating costs at the historic Route 212 campus. The renovation will convert the oldest building on the property from seasonal use to a year-round facility, allowing […]
Assa Sacko-Zarcone Steps Into General Manager Role at Radio Woodstock
With thousands of attendees, multiple stages and a sometimes frenetic pace, the Mountain Jam Festival often developed a rhythm of its own, one that built steadily over several days and rivaled the tempo of the nationally known acts that drew crowds to the Catskills over the years. Staged by Radio Woodstock (WDST 100.1 FM) owner […]
Woodstock Hometown Hero Jim Weider Returns to Bearsville
As a teenager, Jim Weider worked at a stereo shop in downtown Woodstock called the Sound In. Weider said the shop was run by Kermit Schwarz, a local character beloved by local musicians of the time, was known for smoking three cigarettes at a time who often sported a ring of the antacid Maalox around […]
Fire Destroys Tinker Street Building in Woodstock
A fire that destroyed a multi-unit building on Tinker Street in Woodstock, but caused no injuries or fatalities, remains under investigation by Ulster County fire officials and state police. The fire broke out at 117 Tinker St., with the first call coming in to the Woodstock Fire Department at 9:44 p.m. Saturday. It was reported […]
Hollywood Returns to Windham as Film Crews Revisit Catskill Mountain Country Store
She stood at the top of the mountain in a red ski suit and pink goggles, pushed off, and seconds later disappeared midair, screaming. That opening crash from the 1988 film “Working Girl,” a comedy-drama about a Staten Island secretary clawing her way up Manhattan’s corporate ladder, helped set the movie’s plot in motion. But […]
A Packed House in Windham for a Conversation on the Future of Local News
More than 100 Catskills residents braved single-digit temperatures on Saturday for a conversation about the future of local journalism. “The Future of News: Global and Local,” hosted by Windham resident and The Overlook board member Josh King alongside other community members at the Catskill Mountain Country Store & Restaurant, explored the rise of nonprofit journalism, […]
Lizzie Vann Lists Bearsville Center to Focus on Lasher, Library Properties
Lizzie Vann’s decision to list Bearsville Center for sale is not an exit from Woodstock but rather a pivot. After listing Bearsville Center for $7.995 million last week, Vann said she is selling the landmark Woodstock complex to redirect her focus and capital toward new projects nearby, including housing, public green space and adaptive reuse […]
Longtime Site of New World Home Cooking to Become Wedding Venue
From epic Woodstock Film Festival parties that drew the likes of Woody Harrelson and Adrian Grenier to countless first dates and plenty of live music, New World Home Cooking was more than a restaurant. It was a scene. Now the former eatery run by local chef Ric Orlando and his wife, Ulster County Public Defender […]
Bearsville Center Is Up for Sale for $7.9 Million
Bearsville Center—the historic Woodstock property that includes the Bearsville Theater, Utopia Studios Bearsville and several other businesses—is up for sale, according to the listing agent. The asking price is $7,995,000, said Thomas Collins, managing director of SVN/Deegan-Collins Commercial Realty in Kingston, which is handling the sale. The property was listed within the past few days […]
Dead’s Bob Weir, long a Woodstock Presence, Recalled as Band’s `Krazy Glue’
As 2008’s Mountain Jam Festival unfolded at Hunter Mountain, Radio Woodstock’s Greg Gattine remembers waiting outside Bob Weir’s hotel room as the Grateful Dead co-founder, rhythm guitarist, and songwriter returned from a workout. “There’s sweat pouring off his head, a towel around his neck,” said Gattine, 63, the radio station’s program director and morning host. […]
Scott Adams, ‘Dilbert’ Creator With Roots in Windham, Dies at 68
Scott Adams, the creator of the long-running comic strip Dilbert, whose national reputation unraveled in recent years after a series of racist remarks, died Tuesday at his home in Pleasanton, California. He was 68. Long before his rise as a corporate satirist—and decades before his public downfall—Adams grew up in Windham, graduating from Windham-Ashland-Jewett Central […]
Bearsville Theater Honors Bob Weir With Two Nights of Music and Community
The Bearsville Theater will host two nights of music and remembrance Wednesday and Thursday to honor Bob Weir, the Grateful Dead guitarist and co-founder who died Saturday and whose decades-long career left deep roots in the Hudson Valley. Wednesday’s event, titled “A Gathering to Celebrate the Life and Music of Bob Weir,” is free but […]
Hudson Valley Film Commission Navigates Transition as Major Takes Charge
The Hudson Valley Film Commission, a modest group rooted in Woodstock with links to Hollywood’s biggest names, is navigating life without longtime director Laurent Rejtö, who died last year at 63 without a formal succession plan. “He never formally passed the torch—and gave me all his passwords,” Stacey Cormier Major, who took over as executive […]
David Bowie Birthday Bash Set for Colony Woodstock
Phoenicia musician Robert Burke Warren was collecting his gear after a David Bowie tribute gig just after the new year when a 25-year-old woman approached the stage and smiled. “She looked at me and said, ‘thank you,’” Warren said, recalling his 90-minute show at the City Winery in New York City on Jan 3. It […]
Phish’s Mike Gordon to Play Bearsville Theater
Mike Gordon, bass player for the band Phish, will bring his own band to the Bearsville Theater in Woodstock for a show on March 13. Gordon’s history with Woodstock runs deep. He has performed multiple times at the Bearsville Theater. He attended more than one Midnight Ramble at Levon Helm Studios; and sat in with […]
Bearsville Theater General Manager Bango Steps Aside in Reshuffle
Bearsville Theater, the local music venue with a national reputation, kicks off the new year with a new beginning as General Manager Frank Bango steps aside to seek a rhythm to life beyond nightlife. “It’s a beautiful job and a beautiful place,” said Bango, 56, who moved to High Falls after running the Bowery Ballroom […]
Former Bowie Guitarist Gerry Leonard Among 30 Acts Coming to The Local
Irish-born guitarist Gerry Leonard says he was “enchanted” by the Hudson Valley while recording at the former Bearsville Studios in Woodstock with musicians Paula Cole, Jonatha Brooke and Rufus Wainwright. “That got it in my bones,” said Leonard, 63, then a New York City resident. Soon enough, the New York City resident was hopping on […]
A Guide to Local New Year’s Happenings
Amateur night. Out with the old, in with the new. Bidding farewell to a friend in the waning hours of Dec. 31, 2025, and bellowing, “Hey, I’ll see ya next year.” New Year’s Eve looms large over us all. So how will you ring in 2026? Will you remain tucked in at home and watch […]
Steve Earle to Play Orpheum in Saugerties
Folk rocker Steve Earle will perform Jan. 18 at the Orpheum Theatre in Saugerties as he and writer Daisy Foote offer a preview of a theatrical musical they are developing based on the 1983 film “Tender Mercies.” Woodstock husband-and-wife musical duo Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams, who recently performed with Earle in Westchester County, will […]
Mountain Jam Will Not Be Held in 2026
There will be no Mountain Jam festival in 2026, according to a message posted on the festival’s official website and confirmed by organizers. The festival’s founder Gary Chetkof expressed a return in 2027. “Keep spreading the love, and—as always—jam on.,” the message reads. Mountain Jam had an enduring 14-year run at Hunter Mountain, featuring artists […]
Now Gone, ‘Free Speech’ Signs Raise Questions, Whip Up Mystery
The matter of free speech can generate plenty of discussion. That was certainly the case in Woodstock this week, but perhaps not in the way you might think. The discussion was triggered by two signs screwed into posts on the edges of the Village Green. One post stands along the sidewalk bordering the Green and […]
Woodstock Eatery Gemela Hits Market for $4 Million
The former site of the Mud Club and Early Terrible on Mill Hill Road, now home to the cafe Gemela, is on the market for $4 million, the latest potential shift for dining and drinking options in central Woodstock. “We love Woodstock—we love the hell out of this town,” said Nicolas Ballinger, who has owned […]
Pete Caigan Is Still Searching for That Sound
Ask Pete Caigan about his three decades in the music business and the Woodstock resident will regale you with his passion for recording and his time collaborating with some of the biggest names in the industry. He has an engineering credit on Sarah McLachlan’s 2003 album “Afterglow,” which sold 2 million copies. He mixed songs […]
The Local in Saugerties Reaches Half of Fundraising Goal in a Month
The Local in Saugerties, a nonprofit music venue whose performers have included Lenny Kaye of the Patti Smith Group and Tony Levin of Peter Gabriel’s band, raised more than half of its $40,000 target since it began a funding campaign last month. The $22,400 raised so far includes $15,000 from the New York State Council […]
Many Sides of Woodstock Music Legend John Sebastian Explored in New Documentary
Millions know Woodstock resident John Sebastian, a member of both the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame, as much for co-founding The Lovin’ Spoonful as for his hit “Do You Believe in Magic.” Now, the many facets of Sebastian’s life and work are at the center of a new […]
Woodstock’s New Library, Two Decades in the Making, Postpones Grand Opening
After 20 years, two architects and two defeated referendums, Woodstock’s new library was set to celebrate its official opening on Dec. 13, marking a new chapter in its 112-year history in a space triple the size of its predecessor on Library Lane. But the event is being postponed while contractors complete work on the entrance […]
Woodstock Holiday Open House Set for Friday Evening
Woodstock’s 43rd annual Holiday Open House kicks off at 4 p.m., aiming to jumpstart holiday sales with a festive and enticing atmosphere as stores festooned with holiday trimmings stay open until 8 p.m. Visitors are invited to pop into village stores to enjoy the holiday decorations while checking gifts off their holiday shopping list. Among […]
Classic Christmas Tunes Reimagined With Memphis Soul at Saugerties Gig
Grammy-winning musician Mike Farris, a former Bearsville resident and guitarist for the 1990s band the Screamin’ Cheetah Wheelies, has long had an edgy relationship with the holiday season. “For pretty much my whole life, I had a hard time with the holidays,” said Farris, who now lives in Tennessee. “It was a struggle for me […]
Barbara Boris, Yoga Teacher With a Devoted Following in Woodstock, Dies at 66
Barbara Boris was a huge “Star Trek” fan. Martin Brading, Boris’s life partner for more than two decades, said she enjoyed the fantasy, escapism and philosophical debates that framed the show. “She was a Trekkie,” Brading said with a laugh. “She was a very tender person, very kind—thoughtful and compassionate, a gentle soul,” he added […]
With an Overhaul, the Former Cafe Espresso and Tinker Street Cafe Building Gets Its Groove Back
The porch roof of 59 Tinker St., one of Woodstock’s most storied buildings and a touchstone of its musical past, came down this week after rot and water damage forced reconstruction to preserve the historic building. Anyone driving past this week may have joined in Woodstock’s collective gasp as they saw that the roof over […]
Ken Burns’ ‘The American Revolution’ Illuminates the Hudson Valley’s Role in the War that Defined a Nation
Crispus Attucks. Lexington and Concord. John Adams. Sam Adams. How much do you actually remember about the American Revolution from grade school? And how much do you think the average American adult knows? Filmmaker Sarah Botstein, who with Ken Burns and David Schmidt serves as co-director on the new PBS Documentary, “The American Revolution,” has plenty to […]
Slice of History Hits Market as Woodstock Pub Asks $1.8 Million
Imagine sitting at the corner of Deanies Alley and Maple Lane in Woodstock on a comfortable summer evening as music swirled in the air, the sound of a hoedown mixed with the clinking of glasses and chirping of crickets. That was the Woodstock of the 1940s and 1950s, when The Irvington was a nightlife hot […]
Jack DeJohnette Remembered: ‘Very Involved and Invested in Woodstock.’
With the death of Grammy-winning drummer and pianist Jack DeJohnette on Oct. 27, Woodstock lost a pillar, an anchor, a compass needle pointing home, and that proverbial porch light left on by a loved one, to guide you from the car door to the front door. Yet the rhythm, the downbeat, the melodies, the soul, […]
Jack DeJohnette, Musician with Towering Legacy Stretching from Miles Davis to Levon Helm, Has Died
Drummer, pianist, and Woodstock resident Jack DeJohnette, a towering figure and anchor of Woodstock’s enduring artistic legacy who dazzled, inspired, challenged, and delivered creative resolution to audiences across decades, performing with everyone from Miles Davis to Levon Helm, has died. He was 83. DeJohnette, a recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master […]


