5 Can't-Miss Events in South Ulster County This August |
From blueberries in Ellenville to river paddling in Cuddebackville — August across the county's south end offers five very different weekends worth planning around. |
If you think August means the fun is winding down in Ulster County, you haven't spent time in our southern towns. From Ellenville to Pine Bush, Cuddebackville to Kerhonkson, the south end of the county is packing this month with blueberries, live music, river adventures, chicken BBQs, and spiritual music under the Shawangunk sky. Here are five events that prove the best of summer is still ahead.
1. The 37th Annual Blueberry Festival — Ellenville
Saturday, August 8 · 9 AM – 4 PM https://www.ewcoc.com/blueberry-festival
It's the biggest day of the year in Ellenville, and it's been going strong for nearly four decades. The 37th Annual Blueberry Festival fills the village park with over 100 craft vendors, local food merchants, live music on two stages, kids' activities, and — of course — more blueberries than you can shake a basket at. Blueberry pancakes, blueberry pie, blueberry Lemonade, blueberry jam. Expect a kids' zone with inflatables and crafts, plus a non-profit BBQ area where local organizations serve up the smoky stuff. Admission is free, and the festival runs rain or shine.
This is the kind of small-town festival that still feels like a festival — not a trade show, not a brand activation. Just a community celebrating the fruit that grows wild in the Shawangunk soil.
2. The Neversink River Festival — Cuddebackville
Saturday–Sunday, August 15–16 https://neversinkriverfest.com/
Now in its 30th year, the Neversink River Festival is the friendliest two-day camping-and-paddling party in the Hudson Valley. Hosted by the Neversink River Resource Development at the scenic NDRD headquarters off River Road, this event centers on the beautiful Neversink River Gorge — one of the most underrated waterways in the Catskills. The festival offers flatwater canoe and kayak tours for beginners, a family float trip on the gentle stretches of the river, paddling demos, wildlife watching with naturalists, fishing clinics, and a kids' fishing derby with prizes. Saturday features live music and a catered dinner under the stars; Sunday wraps up with a pancake breakfast and the popular river cleanup.
Camping is available on-site or bring your own tent. It's the kind of weekend where you leave knowing three new neighbors and the name of every bird you heard calling from the trees.
3. Kheturi Kirtan Festival — Ellenville
Thursday–Sunday, August 20–23 https://www.eventbrite.com/e/kheturi-kirtan-festival-2026-tickets-1990806713471
This four-day spiritual music festival is one of the most unique events in the county. The Kheturi Kirtan Festival brings together kirtan artists, yoga teachers, and spiritual leaders from across the country to an ashram nestled in the hills outside Ellenville. Daily kirtan (devotional call-and-response singing) sessions, meditation workshops, yoga classes, satsangs with visiting teachers, and vegetarian meals made from ashram-grown produce. The setting is rustic and intimate — think shared meals, hammocks between the trees, and evening kirtan that runs until the stars come out. It's open to everyone, from daily practitioners to curious newcomers who've never chanted a mantra in their life. No experience needed, just an open heart.
4. Annual Tobey Pomerantz Memorial Chicken BBQ — Kerhonkson
Sunday, August 16 · 11 AM – sold out https://kingstonhappenings.org/events/all-you-can-eat-chicken-bbq/
This is the kind of event people in Kerhonkson plan their summer around. The annual chicken BBQ, benefiting local causes, has been a late-summer tradition for decades. Half a chicken, cooked low and slow over an open pit, served with coleslaw, baked beans, and fresh bread. When the chicken is gone, it's gone — and it always goes. The line starts forming before the gates open. It's a beautiful piece of small-town Ulster County: church volunteers, paper plates, a few folding tables, and half the town stopping by to say hello to neighbors they haven't seen since last August. Bring cash, come early, and leave with a plate that'll make you forget every fancy barbecue you've ever paid top dollar for.
5. The Marlboro Summer Concert Series — Marlboro
Fridays through August · 6:30 PM https://meetmeinmarlborough.com/calendar-festivals-events/
Every Friday evening through August, the Town of Marlboro Recreation Committee takes over Cluett-Schantz Park with live music, local food vendors, craft beer and wine, and a lawn full of families, dogs, and folding chairs. The series has grown into one of the most popular weekly gatherings in southern Ulster County — free, all-ages, and set against the beautiful backdrop of the Hudson River bluffs. Bring a blanket, grab a taco from one of the food trucks, and settle in for a night of music that ranges from local cover bands to regional acts you might not have heard otherwise. The park is walking distance from downtown Marlboro's shops, making it easy to turn the concert into a full Friday evening out.
Plan Your Weekend
August in south Ulster County is proof that you don't need to chase the biggest festivals or the most famous trailheads to find the best of summer. A blueberry pancake in Ellenville, a quiet paddle on the Neversink, a chicken BBQ in Kerhonkson, a kirtan under the stars — these are the moments that make this corner of the Hudson Valley feel like home.
All events are free or low-cost, and most are walking-distance from local restaurants, shops, and parks. Combine a Saturday morning at the Blueberry Festival with an afternoon hike at Minnewaska, or turn the Neversink River Festival into a full weekend of paddling and camping. Whatever you choose, come ready to slow down. |
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37 years of the Blueberry Festival and I have yet to actually find fresh local blueberries FOR SALE there. Lots of blueberry-flavored everything, which is great, but if anyone knows a vendor actually selling pints of fresh ones please let me know in the comments.
skeptical_sue_99I think the Stony Kill Farm stand sometimes shows up with fresh local berries but honestly it varies year to year. Your best bet might be stopping at one of the roadside stands on Rt 52 on the way in — I've had better luck there than at the festival itself.
The Neversink River Gorge is genuinely one of the most beautiful stretches of water in the whole region and almost nobody outside of Orange and Sullivan County seems to know it exists. The festival is a great excuse to finally get out there if you've been putting it off.
You nailed it — 'underrated' might even be an understatement for that gorge, and the festival's wildlife naturalists and paddling demos make it one of the easiest ways to experience it for the first time without needing any gear or experience of your own.
Been going to the Kerhonkson chicken BBQ for probably 15 years and that line comment is no joke. My husband thinks showing up at 10:45 is early enough. It is not. It has never been early enough. Bring cash and get there before 11 or you are eating a sad sandwich somewhere else.
Donna RaftisYour husband and my sister must be the same person. She showed up at 11:05 last year and they were already telling people it would be a wait. At that point just go home lol. 10:30 is the move, full stop.