The Clearwater Festival, held at Croton Park in Croton, NY, will not take place in 2022 as the event undergoes a re-envisioning process to help create a festival the Clearwater organization can sustain into the future.
The festival began in the 1960s as a small “folk picnic” by Pete and Toshi Seeger to help raise funds for the building of the sloop Clearwater. The festival has since grown to be one of the country’s oldest and largest annual music and environmental festivals. Its award-winning Zero Waste program has also been a model for many festivals around the country.
Clearwater Festival usually takes place on Father’s Day weekend. Over the years, it has been staffed by a team of volunteers, and it has become the organization’s way of reaching out to others. It helps bring together community, celebration, education, and activism for the protection of the Hudson River.
The pandemic has affected the festival due to the severe reduction of cash flow usually brought in by the event. The organization did not have enough cash to begin planning and production for a 2022 Clearwater Festival, so therefore there will not be a festival this summer. Although there were two virtual events in 2020 and 2021, online event participation has gone down as more things are moving in-person, so a virtual option is not viable.
Hopefully, the new re-envisioning process will bring the festival back in person for years to come.
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