Hudson Valley Flamenco Festival Returns For Second Year

NEW PALTZ – The Hudson Valley Flamenco Festival returns to Ulster County for its second annual season Oct. 12th and 13th.

The two-day event spotlights local flamenco artists, features a live flamenco performance and offers festival-goers additional flamenco dance and percussion workshops.

“I was blown away by last year’s turnout and this year will be even better,” said Anna Mazo Georges, flamenco artist and HVFF producer. “We’re going to have another world-class performance and add a new workshop series to this year’s festival.”

Flamenco has its roots in Spain’s southern region of Andalusia and combines dance, song and music known in Spanish as bailé, canté and toque. The artform emphasizes percussion, complex rhythms and improvisation.

The United States is home to one of the largest concentrations of flamenco artists outside of Spain, and in 2010 flamenco was added to UNESCO’s List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

The Festival kicks off with a live performance scheduled for Oct. 12th at 4:30 p.m. at the Rosendale Theater. Workshops are slated to begin Oct. 13th at 11:30 a.m. at the Unison Arts Center in New Paltz. Tickets can be purchased in advance through Unison at unisonarts.org. Performance tickets can also be purchased at Rosendale Theater on the day of the show.

The Hudson Valley Flamenco Festival (HVFF) unites local artists from the Hudson Valley to

inspire the public to join together and experience the arts in a new and different way.