The Fourteenth Summer Hoot was held at the Ashokan Center in Olivebridge, August 28-30. The Hoot, which started out as a fun idea by Ruthy Ungar and Mike Merenda (of the Mammals) to try their hand at putting on a festival, has matured into an annual event that goes beyond music to embrace the beauty that is the Hudson Valley.
The festival signals the end of Ashokan’s summer music and dance season. The Hoot, held twice a year (summer and winter), acts as a fundraiser for the Center to achieve its mission “to inspire learning and build community through shared experiences in nature, history, music, and art.”
The backdrop for the festival is nature. As you drive towards the Ashokan Center, you are greeted by mountains reaching towards the sky with big billowy clouds floating above the lush green landscape.
Held in summer, the festival is able to use both indoor and outdoor locations for music. At the base of Hoot Hill are the Toshi stage and Pete stage, followed by the Pewter House, a small room, unamplified for acoustic three-song sets, and the Performance Hall stage located at the center of the Ashokan Center.
To preserve the high caliber of entertainment it has assembled over the years, the festival draws together performers who harmonize with the spirit of the Hoot. Each year first-time festival performers are welcomed into the Hoot family. In 2026, The Milk Carton Kids, Chatham County Line, Kara McKee, and Gail Ann Dorsey made their Hoot debuts.
With music there is dancing. At the base of Hoot Hill, dancing is a given. On Saturday, The Springtails, a duo from Michigan, shared swing-era tunes for an exuberant crowd, while local favorites The Big Takeover had everyone moving and grooving with their roots/reggae/ska sound on Sunday afternoon.
The musical spectrum of the Hoot is broad, from Jim Kweskin and Samoa Wilson’s jug band to the Jordan Hamilton Trio’s cello-based hip-hop, to Furnace Mountain’s bluegrass, to the indie-folk Americana of festival hosts The Mammals.
The festival offers more than live music: those in attendance can camp on-site, wake up to morning salutations and group yoga, hike the 365 acres, explore the Esopus Creek and Mill Pond, attend a Saturday night bonfire, kick up their heels square dancing, join a free-form jam, and gaze into a star-filled night sky that is ambient-light-free.
Those in attendance are encouraged to bring their children. To ensure that the youngest have a good time, the festival hosts rides and games, a kids’ zone, an instrument petting zoo, and, on Saturday, the annual kids’ parade around the site.
Fourteen years ago, the Hoot started as a what-if proposition. Now, through music and art, it has evolved into a vehicle that educates and encourages the safeguarding and maintenance of nature. That’s because once the land is gone, it is not coming back.
