2025 marked a significant milestone for The Winter Hoot, which was held from January 31st to February 2nd at the Ashokan Center in Olivebridge, NY.

Embraced by the Ashokan Center’s joyful aura, the folk music community gathered to revel in three days of music, art, and food while celebrating the Winter Hoot’s twelfth anniversary.

With music as its driving force, Hoot attendees were also encouraged to traverse the center’s 365 acres, the once favored hunting and fishing grounds of the Munsee Indians. An instrument petting zoo offered young, aspiring musicians the chance to pick from a variety of instruments and play to their hearts’ content. Also, those wrapped in winter layers could marvel at the ice-sculpting prowess of Thomas Brown in action.

Winter Hoot - Ice Sculpting — Thomas Brown Ice Sculpture

Music at the Winter Hoot is presented on two stages. Skillfully curated, the selection of musicians represented a wide spectrum of styles while maintaining the depth and breadth of what the Hoot embodies.

Winter Hoot - Aspiring Musician — Aspiring Musician Sits In With The Band

The Pewter Sessions are hosted in the Pewter House, a small room emulating the life of settlers in the 1700s. These sessions offered short, intimate performances by artists with little to no amplification. The Esopus Performance Hall serves as the main stage, offering a diverse lineup ranging from children’s music and family square dancing to full-band sets that stretched late into the night.

Two performers who stood out during this year’s Winter Hoot were Billy Keane, a Berkshires-based musician, and Kyshona, a South Carolinian now residing in Nashville. Each delivered raw, stripped-down performances during their Pewter Sessions sets. Both artists took the Esopus stage by storm, proving exactly why they were chosen to play.

But no Hoot would be complete without Mike Merenda, Ruthy Ungar (Mike & Ruthy), and their band, The Mammals. Mike and Ruthy are the driving force behind The Hoot. On Saturday night, the Ashokan Center grounds were illuminated by a crescent moon bookended by Saturn and Venus. Channeling this cosmic energy, The Mammals played to a packed and exuberant Esopus Hall crowd, most—if not all—singing along with each song.

Rooted in the Ashokan Center’s mission “to inspire learning and build community through shared experiences in nature, history, music, and art,” the Winter Hoot—along with its summertime counterpart, the Summer Hoot—brings this harmonic vision to life in a gathering that blends tradition, connection, and melody.