Press Release
Source: Hudson River Sloop Clearwater
The Great Hudson River Revival (The Clearwater Festival) is celebrating Pete Seeger 100th birthday today by offering 20% off ticketing for its annual event, returning to Croton-On-Hudson, New York on June 15-16. To cash in on this birthday gift, enter coupon code “Pete100” HERE: (valid through 5/15).
Mavis Staples, The Lone Bellow, Immortal Technique, Ani DiFranco, The Wailers, Railroad Earth, The Mammals, and a host of musical artists will be featured on the line-up of this year’s event, which is also celebrating the 50th anniversary of the sloop Clearwater this year, the iconic ship Seeger built to advocate cleaning up the Hudson River. This year’s festival will feature a Youth Activist Training event led by a group of young activists like 13-year-old Alexandria Villaseñor, who made headlines this year when she spent 12 Fridays outside the United Nations advocating for climate justice.
Additional artists in the Clearwater Festival line-up include Del McCoury Band, Chapin McCombs Chapin, Alan McClintock, Arif Choudhury, Betty & the Baby Boomers, Chief Perry, Children at the Well, Dennis Yerry, Dirty Stay Out Skifflers, Edukated Fleas, Ernie Sites, Evan Pritchard, Evy Mayer, Geoff Kaufman, Greenheart, Jacob & David Bernz, Jamie Brickhouse, Jan Christensen, Jonathan Kruk, Late Show’s Gospel Choir, Laurie & Ira McIntosh, Leeny Del Seamonds, Lonnie Harrington, Luis Ramos, Magpie, Marita Solberg, Mel & Vinnie, Mercedes Garcia, Niemo, Norah Dooley, Peter Siegel, Ramapo Spirit of the Mountain Drummers, Reggie Harris, Reggie Seasar, Rik Palieri, Sheila Arnold, Spirit of Thunderheart, The Rad Trads, The Rix, The Storycrafters, Walkabout Clearwater Chorus, and William Ruiz.
The Clearwater Festival is a destination for music fans and families alike, featuring a variety of unique, family-friendly activities that no other festival offers. The Working Waterfront offers rides on small boats and the tall ship, sloop Clearwater, while the Crafts Area showcases crafters and folk artists with quality hand-made items, demonstrations and workshops. The Green Living Expo is the place to learn about sustainable lifestyle and business choices, and The Discovery and Tideline tents feature hands-on environmental education programs and Hudson River research. The Environmental Action Tent highlights Clearwater’s watershed and environmental justice initiatives, and the Artisanal Food & Farm Market offers food sourced from the Hudson Valley.
“Participation – That’s what’s gonna save the human race.”
The Clearwater Festival is wheelchair accessible and most stage programming is staffed with American Sign Language Interpreters. The Festival is dependent on almost 1,000 volunteers who work in all areas across the Festival. Volunteers experience the festival from behind-the-scenes and work on committees from performer hospitality to peacekeeping and zero-waste. Volunteer registration is open and a list of committee descriptions is available on Clearwaterfestival.org.
To stay up to date on all Clearwater Festival news and forthcoming ticket sales, please visit ClearwaterFestival.org.
This year’s event will pay special tribute to Seeger and the sloop, celebrating both of these milestone anniversaries throughout 2019.
“Whether you’ve never come to Clearwater Festival before, or have been many times, this year will be special,” said Greg Williams, Executive Director of Hudson River Sloop Clearwater. “We’re recognizing our 50th birthday and Pete Seeger’s 100th birthday with famous folk musicians, new artists from a variety of genres, and youth activism that would have given Seeger renewed hope for the future.”
“I don’t know how we got here Pete. But we’re standing together, arm in arm, building 100 years after your birth,” said Festival Director Jason Samel. “We are so lucky to have you among us. May it be a day of remembrance of what is good in us all, and a celebration of a man’s work that will never die as long as we continue to stand up and ‘sing.'”
The Great Hudson River Revival is produced by the nonprofit, member-supported, environmental organization Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, Inc. All proceeds go directly to support Clearwater’s environmental education and advocacy.
History of the Great Hudson River Revival (Clearwater Festival)
Back in the mid-sixties, after centuries of accumulated sewage pollution and industrial dumping of toxic chemicals, the Hudson River, like many of America’s most important estuaries, was declared “dead.” The river’s fragile ecological system was devastated. Not a single fish was found in many areas, and the level of commercial fishing had dropped so dramatically as to be regarded as nonexistent. Recognizing this incredible social and environmental tragedy, in 1966, Pete Seeger decided “to build a boat to save the river” by holding small, fundraising river concerts throughout the Hudson River Valley where he opened his banjo case to collect contributions to build the sloop Clearwater, a tall ship that would become recognized as America’s Environmental Flagship and a symbol of environmental advocacy. Since the 1960s, the Clearwater Festival has grown into the country’s largest annual environmental celebration, its music, dance, storytelling, education, and activism attracting thousands of people of all ages to the shores of the Hudson River.
Past artists include: Pete Seeger, Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, Joan Baez, David Crosby, Citizen Cope, Lucinda Williams, Emmylou Harris, Natalie Merchant, Jason Isbell, Neko Case, Guster, Drive-By Truckers, Indigo Girls, Martin Sexton, Steve Earle, Bela Fleck, Lake Street Dive, Arlo Guthrie, Los Lobos, Angelique Kidjo, Richie Havens, Old Crow Medicine Show, Grace Potter, Susan Tedeschi, Taj Mahal, Billy Bragg, Hot Tuna, Josh Ritter, Punch Brothers, Dawes, The Lone Bellow, Blind Boys of Alabama, and thousands more.
About Hudson River Sloop Clearwater
Founded over 50 years ago by world renowned musical artist and activist Pete Seeger, Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, Inc. has been at the forefront of the environmental movement as champion of the Hudson River. Clearwater is a 501(c)3 tax exempt nonprofit, member-supported corporation whose mission is to preserve and protect the Hudson River, its tributaries, and related bodies of water.
Clearwater’s tireless work resulted in the passing of landmark legislation including The Clean Water Act. The organization provides innovative educational programs, environmental advocacy, and musical celebrations, including the renowned annual Clearwater Festival, to inspire, educate, and activate millions of people.
Today, Clearwater is carrying forward Pete Seeger’s legacy, partnering with schools and community leaders to raise the bar of environmental education, realizing that this time the health of the Hudson River must go hand in hand with creating a sustainable world of green jobs in a green economy. Clearwater’s unique approach to public outreach has made the sloop Clearwater a symbol of grassroots action through hands-on learning, music, and celebration.
