The upstate New York animator behind The Aura of Upstate on turning a podcast into an animated show — and making great films with no studio behind him.
Hundreds of Hudson Valley creatives and small business owners gathered at Scenic Hudson's Northside Hub for a magical evening.
Nearly 300 people joined ConnectHV's first outdoor meetup at Water Street Market in New Paltz for food, drinks, and Hudson Valley community connections.
The first capital of New York and a gateway between the Hudson and the Catskills.
The first capital of New York. Three distinct neighborhoods between the Hudson and the Catskills.
Kingston was the first capital of New York, and one of the few American cities where you can still walk through every era of its history.
The streets of the Stockade District still trace the outline of the stockade that Dutch colonists built in the 1650s. The shops and restaurants of the Rondout fill the brick buildings left from its years as one of the busiest canal ports of the 1800s. And the parts of Midtown hollowed out by the loss of industry — a recurring theme in Kingston — are filling back in with new storefronts and artist studios, forward-looking housing developments, and a long list of community initiatives.
All of it fits into three distinct neighborhoods within a couple of miles of each other, a stone's throw from the Hudson and in the shadow of the Catskills. Kingston is a place where thousands of Hudson Valley locals live and work. This is a guide for those locals going deeper, and for visitors ready to meet the city on its own terms.
Two colonial towns merged into one city with three distinct flavors: historic, creative, and waterfront.
The Stockade District
Some of the oldest architecture in the United States alongside chic stores and great food.
The Arts Corridor
An emerging arts corridor where murals cover the walls and a growing nightlife and arts scene draws crowds to Broadway.
Waterfront District
Once a bustling nineteenth-century port, now mixing maritime history with wine bars, boutiques, and restaurants overlooking the water.
Looking for more?
The artists, makers, experts, and voices who live and work in Kingston.
Filmmakers, photographers, musicians, designers, and entrepreneurs — Kingston draws people who make things.
A lover of all the things that heal us: breathwork, reading, friendship, nature, love, food and animals.
Singer, pianist, composer, producer, mother of two
Visual Artist with a tinkerer mindset. Event Photographer and Graphic Designer. I also build art, especially large scale installations.
I'm a HV native. I work as an art installer/preparator and am a classically trained oil painter. I love dance, art, being active outside as well as a good book or podcast. I also love teaching yoga. Looking forward to making new connections!
Bassist here! Versatile, road-tested, with numerous albums and tours under my belt. Looking to connect with musicians for new projects, collaborations, or touring — hardcore punk and beyond.
Lauren works with Mission Driven Finance, an impact investment firm using finance as a tool for change. With nearly two decades of experience and a Bard MBA in Sustainability, she brings an entrepreneurial spirit and deep commitment to justice, equity, and community empowerment. She serves on the Advisory Board of Kingston Common Futures and has supported inclusive financing initiatives for underserved communities.
What's on, what's open, what's worth your time.
Events that bring the city out into the streets, journalism that tells local stories, and the places worth a stop along the way.
Annually, October
A three-day Midtown festival that trades art and music for healthcare — musicians play, muralists paint, and everyone involved gets free medical, dental, and wellness care. The murals stay up year-round, and the weekend is the closest thing Kingston has to a city-wide holiday.
Sunday before Labor Day
A free Irish-heritage festival that takes over the Rondout waterfront with pipe bands, step dancers, and tens of thousands of people at the end of every summer — one of the largest single-day gatherings on the Kingston calendar.
Biennial, mid-October
A weekend-long reenactment of the 1777 British raid that put New York's first capital to the torch. Redcoats land at the Rondout and march on the Stockade while thousands line the streets — the most ambitious Revolutionary War reenactment in the region.
May–July season
Semi-pro soccer club playing its summer home matches at Dietz Stadium. Cheap tickets, loud chants, and a genuinely local Saturday-night ritual.
Saturdays, year-round
Conveniently located in a parking lot off Wall Street for the outdoor season, then the market moves indoors for winter. The city's longest-running weekly gathering, and you'll probably end up running into half of Uptown.
Community radio
Listener-supported community radio (WKNY 1490 AM / 107.9 FM) broadcasting from its Midtown studio. Local music, talk, and public-affairs programming with a deep commitment to community voices.
Arts & culture monthly
The Kingston-based magazine that has chronicled Hudson Valley arts, food, and culture since 1993 — the fullest running editorial record of the region's creative scene.
Newspaper · since 1871
Kingston's daily paper of record. City hall, the school board, the courts, and the minute-by-minute pulse of Ulster County news, in print and online for more than 150 years.
Weekly · Ulster Publishing
Local independent news covering Kingston and the surrounding towns of Ulster County with a focus on community voices and local issues.
The Rondout
The only museum dedicated to the Hudson River's maritime history, set in an old boat shop on Rondout Creek. There's a wooden-boat school, a solar-powered tour boat, and seasonal trips out to the 1915 Rondout Lighthouse.
Midtown · since 1926
A 1,500-seat former vaudeville and movie palace on Broadway, restored into one of the Hudson Valley's premier touring houses. National music, comedy, and dance acts, plus the Hudson Valley Philharmonic.
Uptown / Stockade
The 1676 Dutch stone house where New York's first State Senate met in 1777 — weeks before the British burned the city around it. Now a state historic site with a museum of early Kingston.
The Rondout
Restored streetcars and subway cars from New York and beyond, plus a mile-and-a-half excursion ride along the creek to Kingston Point on the Hudson. Weekends and holidays in season.
Uptown / Stockade
Originally built in 1660, the current structure was opened in 1852, and its 225-foot steeple is still the tallest thing Uptown. George Clinton — the first governor of New York — is buried in the churchyard.
Kingston Plaza
Seasonal heritage train rides out of Kingston along the Esopus Creek, from fall-foliage runs to the popular Polar Express in December, pulled by a vintage diesel with open-air cars.
From nonprofits advancing the arts to service companies restoring homes, Kingston's business community reflects the city's range.
European-inspired neighborhood bistro serving farm-friendly seasonal fare with Hudson Valley ingredients.
General store, café, and restaurant – part bakery, part deli, part market – offering house-baked breads, pastries, cured meats, pickles, and pies in Kingston’s Rondout since 2022.
Bakery, café, and bar in Uptown Kingston known for fresh-baked breads and pastries each morning, sandwiches for lunch, and a full bar featuring craft beer, wine, and spirits.
Opened late August 2023, maison après is the flagship boutique and studio workspace for in-house upcycled line “la vie après l’amour,” carrying select preloved vintage clothing, housewares, locally made apothecary, jewelry, and ceramics. The space also includes the après cafe serving espresso drinks, tea, matcha, + snacks, and an art gallery space where they host community events like mending nights and dinners.
Culinary concept shop and demo kitchen in the Stockade District offering high-quality cookware, stylish tabletop wares, and intimate hands-on cooking workshops.
Men’s clothing, gift, and curiosity boutique embodying the “Upstate & Chill®” lifestyle with casual apparel, accessories, skincare, and locally inspired home goods.
Boutique co-working club with 30-foot arched ceilings and chic mid-century modern décor, offering an open-plan workspace plus multiple conference rooms, phone booths, and dedicated desks.
Diverse, inclusive co-working hub in Uptown Kingston offering bright and airy shared offices, private desks, phone booths, meeting rooms, and communal lounges for professionals to do their best work.
Independent bookstore, bar, and cafe open daily, serving new books, pastries, savory pies, craft beer, wine, cider, coffee, and more.
Kingston is best known as the first capital of New York State and for its blend of colonial-era architecture — the Uptown Stockade District contains some of the oldest buildings in the United States — alongside a creative-class boom that has filled Midtown with galleries, music venues, and restaurants. The annual O+ Festival, the Rondout waterfront, and a strong farm-to-table dining scene round out its reputation.
Long before Dutch colonists arrived, the land around Kingston was home to the Esopus, a Lenape people who spoke the Munsee dialect of Algonquian and lived in seasonal settlements along the Esopus Creek and the Hudson — farming corn, beans, and squash and hunting and fishing the valley. As New Netherland pushed inland, conflict over land erupted into the Esopus Wars (1659–1663), which forced the Esopus from their homeland. Their descendants endure today in communities including the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of Mohican Indians in Wisconsin, the Munsee-Delaware Nation in Ontario, and the Ramapough Lenape Nation.
Kingston is comprised of three historic districts. Uptown — the Stockade District — is the colonial-era core, with Wall Street shopping and Revolution-era buildings. Midtown is the arts and music corridor along Broadway, home to galleries, UPAC, and the bulk of the city's nightlife. The Rondout waterfront is a nineteenth-century port that now mixes maritime history with restaurants, distilleries, and antique shops.
O+ (pronounced "O Positive") is an annual three-day festival held each October in Midtown Kingston that trades art and music for healthcare. Musicians perform across multiple venues and visual artists paint city-wide murals in exchange for medical, dental, and wellness care provided on site. The murals stay up year-round and have become one of Kingston's defining visual elements.
Late September through October is the most popular window — peak foliage in the surrounding Catskills, mild weather for walking Uptown and the Rondout, and the O+ Festival mid-month. Summer brings Stockade FC home games and the outdoor Kingston Farmers Market on Wall Street, and in reenactment years the Burning of Kingston fills the streets each October. December lights up the Rondout and Uptown for the holidays, with the Catskill Mountain Railroad's Polar Express running just outside town.
Kingston's restaurant scene spans neighborhoods. Uptown has Wall Street institutions and chef-driven new arrivals; Midtown is the home of inventive cocktail bars and a growing late-night scene; the Rondout offers waterfront dining and craft distilleries. You can browse the full list of restaurants on the ConnectHV Kingston directory.
Yes — Kingston works especially well as a two- or three-day base. A weekend covers the Stockade District's historic core, a meal and walk along the Rondout waterfront, a Midtown gallery hop, and at least one nearby Catskills hike or Hudson cruise. Add a third day if you're catching a UPAC show or a Stockade FC game.
America's oldest art colony, a music-history landmark, and a walkable village on the edge of the Catskills.
A whaling port turned design capital, where a mile of nineteenth-century Warren Street climbs from the river.
Historic colleges, a thriving culinary scene, and the world's longest elevated pedestrian bridge.
Dramatic Hudson views, world-class architecture, and a waterfront that runs late.
World-class modern art, a boutique-lined Main Street, and incredible access to the Hudson Highlands.
Hudson Valley makers, neighbors, and small businesses are already on ConnectHV — add your name to the map.
