Sunday looks to be a perfect day for a bit of fiddle music and guitar picking. So, gather yourself, grab a lawn chair and head over to Harmony Hall for this year’s Highlands Bluesgrass Festival & Craft Fair in Sloatsburg.

This year’s festival welcomes renowned bluegrass fiddle sensation Sue Cunningham and her band as the day’s headliner. Cunningham and company are sure  to serenade in the season for local music fans gathered on the great lawn of historic Harmony Hall. Mama Tried, a popular progressive bluegrass band, will share this year’s stage. Harmony Hall Curator Geoff Welch will act as main stage master of ceremonies. Festivities begin at 1 p.m.

The Highlands Bluegrass Festival is presented annually by the Town of Ramapo and the Friends of Harmony Hall~Jacob Sloat House. The event has helped to put Sloatsburg on the musical map as a late summer music festival destination. In addition to the music and crafts, the festival features a variety of children’s amusements, raffles, great food, and historic house tours.

“The Bluegrass Festival is a tremendous achievement that puts our community in the most positive light,” said Sloatsburg Mayor Carl Wright. “It has always been our hope that Harmony Hall would become a showcase west of the Hudson River for local history.”

Festival guests will get a look at local personality and conservator Kenneth Jay Linsner in action as he works to restore a nineteenth century chandelier in the mansion’s South Salon. Visitors will have the opportunity to learn more about Jacob Sloat, and the many people and events that have made the Ramapo Pass one of New York State’s most historic and significant river corridors. The Highlands festival features outdoor crafts, products and services of some of the area’s most talented artisans, including toymakers, jewelers and winemakers.

The Highlands Bluegrass Festival is an opportunity for Sloatsburg to showcase the restoration effort being carried out on the Jacob Sloat House by the Friends of Harmony Hall as well as act as the perfect event to mark the changing season.

The Highlands Bluegrass Festival & Craft Fair at Harmony Hall takes place Sunday, September 9, from 1 – 7 p.m. on the great lawn of historic Harmony Hall in Sloatsburg, New York. A free outdoor event, the festival celebrates one of America’s most unique musical art forms in the heart of the magnificent Hudson Highlands.