Dr. Dog, Elvis Perkins in Dearland and A.C. Newman, as well as singer-songwriters Alejandro Escovedo and Allison Moorer, plus bluegrass/jam band acts Old Crow Medicine Show and Cornmeal, and the festival's first-ever hip-hop act ReadNex Poetry Squad. Emphasizing the importance of the Hudson River to the festival, Hudson River Sloop Clearwater has added a number of river front activities such as kayaking and rowboating, and rides on the tall ships Clearwater, Mystic Whaler, and Woody Guthrie. History of the festival The festival was founded in the wake of the Storm King Mountain controversy that focused on the Hudson River from 1963 to 1982. The Festival has also had its origins in the Sloop Clearwater itself. To raise money to build the Sloop, Hudson River Sloop Clearwater founders Pete Seeger and friends held a series of small fundraising concerts in the Hudson River Valley and at Sandy Hook in New Jersey, and passed a banjo around the crowd to collect donations. By 1978, the concerts had evolved into a land-based Festival at Croton Point Park, which hosted the Festival for a decade, until pollution problems from the park's landfill forced a relocation to a suburban college campus. It was not until 1999 that the Festival was able to move back to the park and the shores of the Hudson River. The 2016 festival, which would have been the 50th anniversary of the festival, was canceled so that resources could be directed to a substantial restoration of the sloop Clearwater. The festival returned in 2017. In 2022, the Clearwater Board President, Steve Stanne, announced that the festival could not be held in 2022, but that the board was working toward a "re-envisioned festival" in 2023. Mission of the festival The Great Hudson River Revival is produced by Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, Inc., a nonprofit, member-supported, environmental organization, to raise funds and consciousness on the plight of the river and the earth, as well as uniting the community around the river. All proceeds go directly to support Clearwater's environmental research, education, and advocacy to help preserve and protect the river and its tributaries, as well as communities in the river valley. The Festival makes possible innovative educational initiatives such as Clearwater's New Hudson River School, which has helped more than 430,000 young people and over 250,000 adults experience the wonders of the River from aboard the Sloop Clearwater. References External links Festival website