After a one-year absence, the Belleayre Music Festival will return this summer. The festival is set for the Belleayre Mountain Ski Center, in a new venue, and there are other changes on tap.
The not-for-profit Belleayre Music Festival suspended its event in 2015 after 23 summers. Operations Director Garrett Burris says it was difficult to fundraise after Hurricane Irene in 2011 and there were other factors.
“The rise of places like Bethel Woods and like Mountain Jam just right down the road, it made it difficult for us to fill the 700 person-plus tent as well as rising artists’ costs and the like,” says Burris. “So what we decided to do was take a one-year absence, take a look at what we could do to change the format and what we could do to improve what we are offering. And we decided, in coordination with ORDA, to move into a smaller venue indoors to take out the rain and take out the weather factor that had been a problem for us in the past and to offer a more intimate concert setting and to be able to offer lower ticket prices.”
ORDA is the Olympic Regional Development Authority, which owns and operates the Belleayre Mountain Ski Center. This year’s festival will take place inside Belleayre Mountain’s Discovery Lodge.
“So what we wanted to do was basically be able to appeal to people that may not be able to afford the $50, $60 tickets in the tent but can afford $20, $30 in the Discovery Lodge and get a much more intimate concert experience out of that,” Burris says.
He says the festival is in comeback mode and will put on performances for six weekends rather than the usual 10 or 11. This way, he says, festival organizers can maximize the money they were able to raise in the off year as well as keep a reserve fund to return in a larger capacity in 2017. He says the festival aims to retain its core audience, but wants to appeal to a younger crowd — younger than 45. When asked which artists will attract the younger audience, Burris responds:
“Younger artists! Simply put is just younger artists in more mass appeal genres,” Burris says.
He would not tip his hand as to which artists fit this description, though the festival lineup will be announced April 6. The lineup features Rock and Roll Hall of Famers; rising Nashville stars, 2016 Grammy winners, and big names in jazz. The festival is in Highmount, a hamlet in the Town of Shandaken, in Ulster County. Robert Stanley is town supervisor.
“We’re excited that it’s returning. It absolutely is a benefit for the whole area, if not the whole region, but specifically my town,” says Stanley. “I know the Hamlet of Pine Hill itself, during the summertime generally things get a little bit slower outside of the ski season, and the music festival was always welcome,” Stanley says. “And people that attend that event generally go for dinners or such just before the event, so it’s a welcome return.”
Stanley says last year’s absence was felt in area businesses, like local restaurants. Plus, he says:
“Culturally, something was missing. Again, it’s a quality-of-life issue,” says Stanley. “A lot of locals like to attend many of these events and it gives them something to do.”
Again, Burris.
“We want to be the destination at the end of the night for someone who has spent their day looking through Catskills shops, doing Catskills hikes, has booked a room at a Catskills hotel in the surrounding area and maybe has dinner or lunch at a local restaurant before they come up,” says Burris. “We want to be the destination that brings people to the area so they can explore and find out what else there is to offer around here and then cap it off with an exciting concert at the end of the night. I have yet to hear one business owner or one community member from around here say that they weren’t completely excited to have the music festival back.”
The festival takes place six weekends from July 2 to September 3.
