Though the event has happened annually for the past 23 years, and has turned into a destination for out-of-towners, drawing some 20,000 participants last year, Hudson’s Winter Walk has prided itself from the get-go on a spirit of spontaneity. It started out as a way for a resurging urban area to encourage after-dark visitation, as antique stores and art galleries began to snap up vacant storefronts and industrial buildings one by one. Performances by modern dancers, a saxophone-playing Santa and the like, who used to appear in store windows on the evening of the Walk, have now had to relocate outdoors as the Warren Street corridor boomed. Some aspects of the event, such as the fireworks that cap it off, remain constant, however.
From 5 to 8 p.m. on Saturday, December 7, a mile stretch of downtown Hudson will be lit up with festive window displays, roamed by horse-drawn carriages, carolers, buskers and Christmastime cosplayers, with music coming from every arts venue, tavern and restaurant doorway and free or discounted treats offered by shops all along the way. Mr. & Mrs. Claus hold court at Hudson Hall. There’s plenty of kid-friendly activities, so bundle up the whole family to be ready for a full evening of fun – and arrive early to find a good parking spot nearby, as Warren Street will be closed to traffic. Municipal parking lots can be found on Columbia, Union and Warren Streets, at the John L. Edwards Elementary School, the Consolidated Firehouse at Seventh and Washington and the Henry Hudson Riverfront Park. County lots on Columbia and State Streets will also be available.
For more details about Winter Walk, visit https://hudsonhall.org/winter-walk-2.
Winter Walk, Saturday, Dec. 7, 5-8 p.m., Free, Warren St. & environs, Hudson, https://hudsonhall.org/winter-walk-2