Nobody knows exactly what the future holds, but we live in a trendy area, and that makes things a bit easier when it comes to predictions.
Trendy area equals tourists, and Ulster County accounts for nearly half of all visits to the Catskills. Taken as a whole, the data clearly shows that the Hudson Valley continues to be ascendant as a travel destination, showing no signs of stopping. What does this mean for the county’s largest and arguably most trendy city? Prognostications are below.
Why do so many people want to visit? One major attraction that doesn’t get discussed enough is our numerous festivals. The festival scene exploded in 2023, setting new attendance records and seeing more large events happening than any time in recent history. There’s just so much to do here, and even more is expected in 2024.
But how are local artists and musicians doing versus a lack of affordable housing, jobs, and other headwinds? The struggle is real, but we’ll look at the silver lining too.
One new way local music and art scenes are being created is in backyards and semi-private pop-up events. These shows are all about community-building, and it’s where lots of local culture is beginning to sprout from.
Finally, we’ll look at the elites of culture – celebrities – and why we’re seeing more and more of them around these parts.
Let’s see what Ulster County has in store…
Tourists takeover Uptown Kingston, Midtown Kingston ascends
It’s hard to believe it was just 2020 when beloved local venue BSP was unceremoniously shuttered, ostensibly for no good reason other than real estate profits. When that venue went down, Kingston nightlife went with it (pandemic lockdowns didn’t help). Then NYC transplants flooded the area and hastened Uptown Kingston’s destiny as an uber-gentrified tourist hub. Though some longtime local businesses are still hanging on (including the humble news outfit you’re reading now), many have been replaced with the late-stage capitalism decadence of luxury goods and services. Though this is a great thing for the area’s booming tourism industry, culture has officially taken a backseat to commerce in the Stockade District. In essence, Uptown has been in many ways reduced Upstate culture to a trademarked logo printed on a $68 hoodie.
Thankfully, Midtown Kingston is responding. Tubby’s consistently drew the most cutting-edge musicians in 2023, selling out shows left and right, drawing fans from other cities, states and even countries. Tilda’s Kitchen came alive, celebrating the “hippier” side of the scene with a communal vibe. West Kill Supply hosted a slew of outdoor shows and became the unofficial hub of the Field Court micro-scene that boasted multiple festivals. Vintage/thrift store Rewind Kingston brought heart to Midtown with a focus on supporting the community on mental health issues. Brookelane, also on Field Court, established a stylish and sustainable interior design shop.
UPAC was packed with top-billing performers, helping to support other area businesses. Pakt was packed with sporadic, super-fun pop-up events, mostly focused on the local LBGTQ+ community. Keegan Ales, sitting at the border of Uptown and Midtown, hosted more well-attended shows, including some outdoor ragers under the big tent. Camp Kingston and the O+ Clinic were set up adjacent to Keegan’s, adding to the community-friendly vibes. The Kingston Pop Museum, though mostly dormant, hosted a smattering of top art and music talent in its cultural boudoir.
We got the highly-anticipated Ollie’s Pizza and Eliza from longtime local owners. Sonder came in with a top-shelf wine bar and restaurant, undergirded with a punk rock attitude. Latin cuisine exploded up and down Broadway – you can grab a taco on almost any block. Dear Kingston charmed the community and was a brief flash of neighborhood bar brilliance before being mysteriously and abruptly abandoned by its owners.
And, of course, there are plenty of beloved longtime local businesses still anchoring Midtown: Dallas Hot Weiners, Monkey Joe’s, Boice Bros. Ice Cream, Eddy’s, Broadway Lights … heck, even The Shamrock bar is still kicking, often open in the morning for die-hard drinkers.
Uptown cannot be totally dissed or dismissed – unlike commerce, culture is not a zero-sum game. Salt Box arrived as an excitingly top-shelf yet unpretentious cocktail lounge. Stockade Guitars emerged as a hub for professional musicians to network, exchange ideas and stories, and even start new collaborations. There was a high-energy but short-lived, punk rock pop-up music venue at 31 Main Street. Salamone’s ensconced its position as one of the best places to grab a sandwich Uptown. And Catskill Mountain High lifted local spirits with a recreational cannabis showcase before their special permit to be open lapsed at the start of 2024.
And let’s not forget the local Uptown favorites that have survived by embracing (or sometimes ignoring) tourists without sacrificing what made them beloved Uptown local businesses for years: Stella’s, Stockade Tavern, The Market Basket, Vincenzo’s, Plaza Pizza, Kingston Candy Bar, Half Moon Books, Snapper Magees, Chic’s Sports Bar and Dietz Stadium Diner, Rocket Number Nine and Rhino Records, to name a few.
Finally, let’s not shaft Downtown Kingston: Big Cat and ArtPort entered the scene as very cool DIY event spaces and party spots we desperately needed to fill BSP’s absence. The Rondout cafe scene is stronger than ever. Downtown is rising too, though with less area to expand.
But here’s the bottom line: Uptown Kingston culture peaked with BSP’s salad days. It’s still a great place to hang out, but it’s Midtown’s turn to be the city’s cultural capital.
Hudson Valley will become the festival capital of New York State in 2024
The number of festivals that took place last year in the Hudson Valley is frankly ludicrous. For much of the summer and fall, there was a major festival drawing hundreds if not thousands of people every single week. Sometimes there were several on the same weekend.
The Saugerties Garlic Festival was absolutely mobbed, setting record attendance numbers. Rosendale’s Street and Pickle fests were buzzing with activity.
It wasn’t just the food festivals reigning supreme – venues like Arrowood Farm hosted several mini-music festivals with well-established performers. The 3-day O+ Festival lit up venues all over Kingston. Street festivals proliferated in cities and towns all across the Hudson Valley, and were more popular than ever thanks to a lingering post-lockdown urge to socialize, coupled with a large volume of recent transplants who want to get involved in their new community.
Throughout the year, fairgrounds were full and holiday festivities were numerous and well-attended. There were book festivals, art festivals, guitar festivals, cultural festivals, block parties, and still one of the best Renaissance faires in the country.
Our area is perfectly situated to be a destination for millions of residents in cities and towns that lie just a short drive from here. Tourism is hotter than ever and will only increase, save for another lockdown. Our numerous festivals are central to attracting visitors to the Hudson Valley, and having clearly demonstrated their proliferation in 2023, will become an inseparable part of our area’s appeal in 2024.
Local musicians and artists will struggle to survive, but some will thrive
Making music or art in the Hudson Valley has paradoxically never been easier or harder. It’s easier because of all the money that’s rushed in via transplants and tourists. Some local bands can pack a small local venue while barely promoting the show, thanks to built-in audiences at many venues. Some local artists and makers are experiencing a burst in local interest, as there have never been so many visitors and newcomers looking to invest in one-of-a-kind cultural artifacts. Simply put: There are more people with more money supporting the arts in Ulster County than ever before.
But there’s an inky-black dark side for creative types in our area: Unaffordable rent and cost of living expenses with no sign of abating, lack of day job opportunities outside of gig and service economies, and lots of competition from new arrivals with NYC-sized bankrolls powering their creative output.
In addition, creators must consider more universal headwinds including continued corporate hegemony over independent musicians and artists via the tech industry, the steady march of artificial intelligence into the creative process, a looming economic crisis, and the threat of future pandemic lockdowns once again destroying the live music industry.
The local musicians and artists who embrace these sea changes and put in the hard work will find great success, taking advantage of Hudson Valley’s population and money burst. On the flipside, many local artists and musicians will simply give up or limp along in 2024, fatigued by the financial, social and technological pressures that demand around-the-clock vigilance to overcome.
This is the classic art/business divide: If one is focused solely on creating, one will not likely have a business, and one’s creativity will not be sustained long enough to pay the rent. Conversely, if one is focused solely on the business, there will be little time for creativity. The creators who can manage this tricky balance will thrive, but much of local culture will be dominated by those artists and musicians who don’t have to worry so much about the business side thanks to inheritances, gifts, grants, pensions and other windfalls related more to their connections than their craft. In other words, it’s far easier and more common to start with money and then sustain a music or art career as opposed to building a music or art career from nothing. The same is true of many of the new local businesses that offer extremely niche products and are only open a fraction of the time. These vanity projects will continue to have a strong presence in our art and music scene, but diamonds in the rough will emerge from the pressure. Oh, and there will continue to be a ton of musical tribute acts, because it’s far easier to draw an appreciative, paying crowd while riding the coattails of an already-beloved musician or band.
Semi-private music venues and pop-up concerts will gain in popularity
Last year we saw an interesting trend emerging: More local shows were being held in backyards and pop-up venues than ever before. For the most part, the addresses of these shows were not promoted, so you had to know someone to get in.
A backyard garden in Kingston at a popular local musician’s home was the scene of several outdoor rock shows (damn, those are some cool neighbors). The aforementioned pop-up venue at 31 North Front St. in Kingston similarly flew under the radar. Nationally-known acts were drawn to a semi-secret venue in Saugerties which featured a big backyard stage and professional sound and lighting, with the surrounding forest as a majestic backdrop.
College-age punk rockers set up a killer (but now-defunct) secret basement venue in New Paltz, while others opted to play shows of questionable legality in abandoned homes, parking lots, and even out of the back of a van.
This trend has a lot of drivers. In a digital world, fans are looking for more intimate connections with their favorite musicians, as well as ways to support them directly without intermediaries skimming their profits. It’s easier to build a music scene around semi-private spaces because of this unfiltered intimacy. The scene can be self-policed and “that drunk guy that won’t stop requesting ‘Free Bird’” can be avoided altogether. You won’t be shoulder-to-shoulder with as many people the fire department allows in the room, which is great for those who sadly bear the lingering trauma of the pandemic. These shows are the quickest way to build a like-minded community that can support and sustain itself.
Local music fans and musicians alike are waking up to the joy of these semi-private, pop-up shows, so expect to see more in 2024.
Celebrity sightings in the Hudson Valley will increase in 2024
Our area is trending even in celebrity culture. An increase in big-name performances, major film productions and a flourishing luxury dining and lodging scene has turned the area into a celebrity magnet, and that power of attraction will only grow in 2024. Our proximity to New York City, coupled with our large Brooklynite transplant crowd means celebrities can feel comfortable taking a short trip to relax here. The seen-everything NYC transplants aren’t going to blow up their spot when they’re spotted, the longtime locals have also seen it all (many are NYC transplants from years or decades ago). And if these celebrities are really looking to go unnoticed, there are plenty of rural getaways to hide from the public. Some of them love it so much they move here.
In 2023, we saw Gordon Ramsay (who shot an episode of Kitchen Nightmares at Love Bites in Saugerties), Carlos Santana (Frank Guido’s Little Italy in Kingston), Kelsey Grammer (who tended bar at Belleayre Mountain – he owns American Brewing Co. in Margaretville), Jason Momoa (Colony in Woodstock), Kiefer Sutherland (OIe Savannah in Kingston), Robert Pattinson (Cinnamon Indian Cuisine in Rhinebeck), Judy Greer (Beacon), Snooki (hosting a pop-up shop in Beacon), Dave Portnoy (Sovrana Pizza & Deli in Albany), Shawn White and Nina Dobrev (The Dutchess Biercafe in Fishkill), Matthew Gray Gubler (Kevin McCurdy’s Haunted House in Wappingers Falls), (Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Samuel’s Sweet Shop in Rhinebeck, not surprising since he’s co-owner with Paul Rudd). And that’s just a list of the celebrities that were spotted by local media – surely more were spotted by citizens or unnoticed while incognito. If you missed them… Well, If nothing else, now you have a list of local attractions deemed fit for a celebrity.
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