Ten days of art, music, theater, comedy, cabaret, talks, and walking tours will honor the boundary-breaking spirit that has made Greenwich Village, the East Village, and the Lower East Side into a vital crucible for creative action for more than 250 years.
NEW YORK, NY - JULY 29th, 2026 -The Village Trip Festival 2026 will take place September 25 through October 4, 2026, across Greenwich Village, the East Village, and the Lower East Side. This year's theme, Revolutionary Voices, honors the songwriters, composers, authors, actors, artists, and activists whose work began in the Village and rippled out to reshape how the world understands art, freedom, and the human condition — from Woody Guthrie to Leonard Bernstein, Paul Robeson to Bob Dylan, and Eugene O’Neill to Dorothy Day. At a moment when so much of the progress made in the past is now under attack and our shared values are being undermined, The Village Trip calls attention to the people who raised their voices to support those in need and stood up to those in power.
Now in its eighth edition, the annual festival brings together music, theater, comedy, visual art, cabaret, talks, and walking tours across the neighborhoods that have long served as a forge for artistic and political activism.
The Village Trip is designed to appeal to a broad range of audiences, including classical and new music aficionados, jazz and folk fans, history buffs, families, children, and members of the LGBTQIA+ communities. Many events are free with ticketed events ranging from $10 to $60.
Key events at this year’s festival include:
Free outdoor concert on Gansevoort Plaza in the Meatpacking District -
Headliner: The Slambovian Circus of DreamsGreenwich Village Folk Festival at 40 - A star-studded concert presented at the Great Hall of Cooper Union
Let Freedom Sing: Paul Robeson–His Words, His Music
Dorothy Day: A Radical Saint of the City, Lecture by Robert Ellsberg
Miles and Trane at 100: A Celebration with David Amram and Friends
Woody Guthrie’s Songs to Grow On presented by the NYC Children’s Theater
The Ahn Trio with James Moore–The Art of Collaboration: Sting, Jobim and Baechle
America Sings a Siren’s Song: New music by Nehemiah Luckett, Victoria Bond, and Samuel Adler.
Village Voices: Featuring World premiere of works by Ella Milch-Sheriff and Scott Wheeler
Classical Cool: Ich Bin Ein New Yorker - Orchestral concert for all ages, hosted by Nina Bernstein Simmons
“Who Are We”? Songwriting Workshops for Kids led by David Massingell and Liz Queler
Stand Up & Be Counted: The Village Trip Comedy Night
Walking tours: Thomas Paine, Aaron Burr, Eugene O’Neill, Beat Poets, Wild Women of the Village, Dylan and Springsteen
A full list of events can be viewed at the festival’s official website:
https://www.thevillagetrip.com/
The Village Trip is spearheaded by Founder, Executive Producer, and Joint Artistic Director Liz Thomson, and Joint Artistic Director Clifford Pearson.
“In America’s big birthday year, The Village Trip has taken its arts and activism mission to heart,” says Liz Thomson, Founder and Joint Artistic Director. “We will celebrate the revolution that brought about the independence, honoring some of the many figures whose courage, creativity and intellectual heft have shaped life since 1776 – and lives far beyond America’s shores. Many of their voices rang out from the Village, among them Thomas Paine, who wrote ‘These are the times that try men’s souls.’ And indeed they do, perhaps more than most! Yet what this neighborhood – Greenwich Village, the East Village – teaches us is that, however trying the times, brave souls always fight back. Entertaining and enlightening, family-friendly and rainbow-colored, The Village Trip will inspire and engage and energize. Come on down and join the revolution!”
“The goal of The Village Trip is to activate the neighborhoods of Lower Manhattan and show that they are still places where new ideas, new forms of art, and new social movements take off,” says Clifford Pearson, the festival’s Joint Artistic Director. “In the face of gentrification and growing wealth disparity, Greenwich Village remains a critical force in cultivating and presenting the most exciting works of music, art, theater, literature, and comedy—from both the past and today.”
"We're thrilled to welcome The Village Trip Festival to Gansevoort Plaza for the first time this year, bringing its spirit of creativity, community and cultural exchange into the heart of the Meatpacking District," says Jeffrey LeFrancois, Executive Director of the Meatpacking Business Improvement District. "It's a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the artists, writers and musicians whose ideas helped shape New York and to experience the energy that makes Lower Manhattan such an enduring center for artistic expression."
"We're excited to be part of The Village Trip, a festival that honors the creative spirit and legacy of Greenwich Village. The heritage of that adventurous and upending time opened our minds and hearts toward creating a better world. Our band is happy to be carrying that 'flag' with you all into the 21st century!" -Joziah and Tink of the Slambovian Circus of Dreams
ABOUT THE VILLAGE TRIP
The Village Trip is a 501(c)(3) non-profit festival where arts and activism meet. Each autumn, it brings the songs, diverse voices, and stages of the past and present Greenwich Village and East Village together again – for New Yorkers who call these streets home, and for anyone who's looking for a place where a better world gets a fresh start.
A full list of board and advisory board members is available at:
https://www.thevillagetrip.com/the-village-trip-board-of-directors