Overcoming the Hurdles, Pleasantville Music Festival Returns
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The world has changed in so many ways since the last time the Pleasantville Music Festival was held in 2019.
Local music fans who have flocked to the village, typically on the second Saturday of July, for a day of sun (hopefully!), good vibes and great music will get the chance to return to Parkway Field for the 16th annual festival this weekend.
Spectators will find the setup very similar to previous years, with continuous music for about nine hours starting at noon on three different stages featuring a variety of well-known bands and local and regional groups, delicious food and drink, vendors and a day to sit back and enjoy.
Of course, for the organizers, this promises to be a frenetic week of preparation where a 7,200-resident village tries to pull off a major event, mobilizing a small battalion of volunteers who help make it all possible.
“The good news is we’ve got a lot of folks who’ve done this before,” said Pleasantville Mayor Peter Scherer. “The challenge is we haven’t done it in three years, so those of us who’ve done it before have to remember what exactly the hell we did. But I’m really optimistic. There isn’t any doubt that everybody’s drinking from a firehose the last week, but it’s all in service of a great goal and getting back live on the field for the festival is a consummation that is about to be realized.”
To have a successful music festival you have to have great music, and that’s the case again this year despite an unexpected curveball last week. The headliner is X Ambassadors, which represents a bit of a departure for the festival, said Director Bruce Figler.
“We have never had a headliner in their prime,” Figler said of the group best known for their hits “Renegade,” “Jungle” and “Unsteady.” “X Ambassadors is a band that hasn’t been around that long and normally our headliners are bands that made their name decades ago.”
They will be preceded on the Main Stage by Crash Test Dummies, Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears, Glenn Tilbook of Squeeze and Clare Maloney & The Great Adventure. Grammy Award-winner Paula Cole leads the lineup on the Chill Tent Stage while Illiterate Light does the same on the Party Stage.
Plus, the festival’s three top Battle of the Bands finishers, Platinum Moon, Carter-Quinn Tanis and Noshows, will kick off the day’s music on the each of the three stages.
Figler had some unwanted excitement last week when 10,000 Maniacs canceled their appearance along with the rest of their summer tour because of health issues in the band. The scramble was on to find a replacement to slide into the hour opening before X Ambassadors goes on the Main Stage.
Less than 48 hours later, the festival was able to secure the Canadian alternative rock band Crash Test Dummies, and Figler was grateful they were able to pinch hit.
“Our hearts go out to the band. We wish them a quick return to health,” Figler said of 10,000 Maniacs. “The festival will go on, adapting as we have all learned to do lately. We are pumped to welcome Crash Test Dummies to the Festival.”
Scherer was also grateful this year that Northwell Health, which operates Phelps and Northern Westchester hospitals, stepped in to be the exclusive presenting sponsor.
“I’m just pleased to think that Northwell is coming and seeing this as an opportunity to be more visible in the community they serve,” he said.
Capacity will be roughly 5,000, the same as previous years. Masks at Parkway Field will be optional.
The gates at Parkway Field on Marble Avenue will open at 11 a.m. with the music scheduled to being at about noon. Through Tuesday, tickets will be $60 for adults (ages 22-64), $30 for seniors (65 and up) and students (12-21). Children under 12 years old are admitted free if they are accompanied by an adult with a ticket.
From Wednesday, July 6 through Friday, July 8 ticket prices increase to $65 and $32, respectively. At the gate on Saturday prices will be $70 and $35.
For those driving to the festival, there’s parking at the Pace University campus at 861 Bedford Road. There will be free shuttle bus service to the field.
For more information, including on all the bands, and tickets, visit www.pleasantvillemusicfestival.com.
Martin has more than 30 years experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including a frequent focus on zoning and planning issues. He has been editor-in-chief of The Examiner since its inception in 2007. Read more from Martin’s editor-author bio here. Read Martin’s archived work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/martin-wilbur2007/
