The Dark: PS21’s fearless winter festival of live performance radiating across Columbia County

The Dark is a new annual festival from PS21 : Center for Contemporary Performance that celebrates and elevates the depths of winter. Taking place February 16–22, 2026, the festival will unfold at PS21 and across Columbia County—in theatres, restaurants, libraries, saunas, and outdoor public spaces. Featuring more than 60 international artists and over 80 performances, The Dark offers a packed week of world-class contemporary performance, installation, music, dance, and theatre—all exploring winter as a time of community and solitude, fire and ice, darkness and light. A major new attraction for the region, the festival positions Columbia County as a year-round cultural destination—not just a summer one.

It is a light in the dark—and The Dark is the light.

Explore all the performances below

DANCE

Wednesday, February 18, 2026 • Thursday, February 19, 2026 • The Masonic

Trisha Brown Dance Company

In Plain Site

more info
Thursday, February 19, 2026 • Friday, February 20, 2026 • Saturday, February 21, 2026 • Sunday, February 22, 2026 • PS21 Ice Skating Rink

LaJuné McMillian

Constellations

more info
Saturday, February 21, 2026 • Sunday, February 22, 2026 • Hudson Hall

sweat variant / Okwui Okpokwasili & Peter Born

my tongue is a blade

more info

THEATRE

Tuesday, February 17, 2026 • Thursday, February 19, 2026 • Friday, February 20, 2026 • Spencertown Academy Arts Center

Sister Sylvester

Drinking Brecht

more info
Wednesday, February 18, 2026 • Thursday, February 19, 2026 • Time and Space Limited

Bert & Nasi / Tim Etchells

L’Addition

more info
Wednesday, February 18, 2026 • Thursday, February 19, 2026 • Pocketbook Hudson

Autumn Knight

Nothing #62: a bluff

more info
Saturday, February 21, 2026 • Sunday, February 22, 2026 • Spencertown Academy Arts Center

Julian Brave NoiseCat

We Survived the Night: A Coyote Story in Four Parts

more info
Saturday, February 21, 2026 • Sunday, February 22, 2026 • Art Omi Barn

Sophia Brous & Gundega Laiviņa

Songs for the Dark

more info
Sunday, February 22, 2026 • Crandell Theatre

Walid Raad

Artist Talk

more info
Sunday, February 22, 2026 • Stonykill Coffee and Records

Alex Harvey & Victoria Finney

The Willows

more info

MUSIC

Monday, February 16, 2026 • The Masonic

Arone Dyer / Dronechoir

Lode*

more info
Monday, February 16, 2026 • Pavilion Theater

Phil Kline

Force of Nature (February)

more info
Monday, February 16, 2026 • St. James Church

Kara-Lis Coverdale

Music for Organ

more info
Monday, February 16, 2026 • Basilica Hudson

Lee Ranaldo & Leah Singer

Contre Jour

more info
Monday, February 16, 2026 • St. James Church

Raven Chacon & David Lang / Williams College ensembles

Voiceless Mass and the little match girl passion

more info
Tuesday, February 17, 2026 • The Masonic

Sarah Hennies & Tristan Kasten-Krause

Prisoner’s Cinema

more info
Tuesday, February 17, 2026 • Black Box Theater

Kara-Lis Coverdale

A Series of Actions in a Sphere of Forever

more info
Wednesday, February 18, 2026 • Crandell Theatre

Ben LaMar Gay

Cold Was the Ground

more info
Thursday, February 19, 2026 • Crandell Theatre

Natural Information Society

Perseverance Flow

more info
Friday, February 20, 2026 • Black Box Theater

Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou / Thomas Feng

Night Prayers

more info

FILM

Tuesday, February 17, 2026 • Crandell Theatre

Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe

Nsenene / Grasshopper Republic

more info
Friday, February 20, 2026 • Crandell Theatre

Music by Peni Candra Rini with Andy McGraw / Director Garin Nugroho

Setan Jawa

more info
Saturday, February 21, 2026 • Crandell Theatre

David Lang & Bill Morrison / Ensemble Contemporaneous

darker

more info

INSTALLATIONS

Monday, February 16, 2026 • Tuesday, February 17, 2026 • Wednesday, February 18, 2026 • Thursday, February 19, 2026 • Saturday, February 21, 2026 • Sunday, February 22, 2026 • Black Box Theater

Andrew Schneider

NOWISWHENWEARE (the stars) Open Universe

more info
Monday, February 16, 2026 • Tuesday, February 17, 2026 • Wednesday, February 18, 2026 • Thursday, February 19, 2026 • Friday, February 20, 2026 • Saturday, February 21, 2026 • Sunday, February 22, 2026 • PS21 Grounds

John Fitzgerald

The Vivid Unknown: CloudQatsi

more info
Thursday, February 19, 2026 • Friday, February 20, 2026 • Saturday, February 21, 2026 • Black Box Theater

Andrew Schneider

NOWISWHENWEARE (the stars) Guided

more info

AUDIO/VISUAL EXPERIENCE

Monday, February 16, 2026 • Tuesday, February 17, 2026 • Wednesday, February 18, 2026 • Thursday, February 19, 2026 • Friday, February 20, 2026 • Saturday, February 21, 2026 • Sunday, February 22, 2026 • Chatham Bookstore

Ant Hampton & Time Based Editions

Borderline Visible

more info
Tuesday, February 17, 2026 • Wednesday, February 18, 2026 • Thursday, February 19, 2026 • Friday, February 20, 2026 • Saturday, February 21, 2026 • Sunday, February 22, 2026 • Creative Legion

Sister Sylvester & Deniz Tortum

Shadowtime

more info
Tuesday, February 17, 2026 • Wednesday, February 18, 2026 • Thursday, February 19, 2026 • Friday, February 20, 2026 • Saturday, February 21, 2026 • Chatham Public Library

Ant Hampton with Tim Etchells

The Quiet Volume

more info
Tuesday, February 17, 2026 • Wednesday, February 18, 2026 • Thursday, February 19, 2026 • Friday, February 20, 2026 • Saturday, February 21, 2026 • Sunday, February 22, 2026 • Creative Legion

Ant Hampton with Tim Etchells

Not to Scale

more info
Thursday, February 19, 2026 • Friday, February 20, 2026 • Saturday, February 21, 2026 • Sunday, February 22, 2026 • Kinderhook Knitting Mill

Sister Sylvester

Constantinopoliad

more info

GROUNDS ACTIVITIES

Saturday, January 31, 2026 • PS21 Grounds

Sauna sessions

more info
Monday, February 16, 2026 • Tuesday, February 17, 2026 • Wednesday, February 18, 2026 • Thursday, February 19, 2026 • Friday, February 20, 2026 • Saturday, February 21, 2026 • Sunday, February 22, 2026 • PS21 Ice Skating Rink

Ice Skating at PS21

more info
Monday, February 16, 2026 • Tuesday, February 17, 2026 • Wednesday, February 18, 2026 • Thursday, February 19, 2026 • Friday, February 20, 2026 • Saturday, February 21, 2026 • Sunday, February 22, 2026 • Pavilion Theater

Community Bonfires

more info

The Dark: PS21’s fearless winter festival of live performance

radiating across Columbia County from February 16—22, 2026.

 

DANCE • THEATRE • MUSIC • FILM • INSTALLATIONS • SAUNAS • ICE SKATING • BONFIRES

 

Explore THE DARK