Mission

"With such an extensive marketing and promotion campaign, Peekskill Celebration’s name recognition is off the charts. Peekskill Celebration gives us the opportunity to meet and greet our customers and advertisers from our communities and all over the county as well, at an exciting and at the same time, relaxing event. It’s a mutually beneficial relationship. If you have a local business, you too need to be involved. Celebration offers a variety of levels of sponsorships to fit most budgets."

— Carla Chase
President of Yorktown Pennysaver Media Group,
Integrated Print & Internet Advertising Solutions

What is Peekskill Celebration?
Over the years, Peekskill Celebration has grown into an enormous community-wide show of pride.

Celebration begins in May with the Teen Band Bonanza at the Paramount Center for the Arts. Events move outdoors for the Concert Series at Riverfront Green Park, held every Wednesday during July. The Celebration culminates with Festival Weekend, held on the first Friday, Saturday and Sunday in August, which features a national musical act, dragon boat races and a fireworks display, among many other events and activities. Admission to the grounds, entertainment, shuttle buses and parking are all free.

Who Runs Peekskill Celebration?
The festival is produced by the not-for-profit Peekskill Festivals, Inc. and is supported through site fees and sponsorships, along with advertising, raffle and memorabilia sales. Peekskill Celebration is grateful to its sponsors for their continued generosity throughout the years. To see a list of the businesses and organizations that ensure the Celebration maintains its high quality, please click here.

Who Supports Peekskill Celebration?
As a non-profit organization, Peekskill Celebration relies on the cheerful work of over 200 volunteers. An eight-person Board of Directors and dozens of committee chairs and members volunteer countless hours of service to ensure that the Celebration is the best event it can be. Local businesses, municipal officials, community groups and residents routinely make in-kind donations of goods or services.

Where Does the Money Go?
Peekskill Celebration is financially self-sufficient. Proceeds cover expenses involved with producing an event of this magnitude and surplus revenue is reinvested into improving the festival every year.

As an organization that arose from the community, we are committed to giving back. Each year, for instance, we sponsor the Columbus Day Children's Races in Depew Park. In 2005, we donated $20,000 to the City of Peekskill Parks and Recreation Department for the purchase of the new Riverfront Stage. We look forward to expanding our positive impact on the community in the years to come.

How did the Celebration get its start?
The Celebration began in 1997 as the Hudson River Ships and Sails festival, which brought several tall ships to Charles Point Park and sponsored a fireworks display to salute the city, its vibrant past and its role as the gateway to the Hudson Highlands.

Peekskill's location on the Hudson River shaped its history. In the 1650's, New Amsterdam merchant Jan Peek began trading with the Sackhoe native community at Annsville Creek. The spot became known as Peek's Kill, after the Dutch word for stream.

Other settlers established commercial docks, wharves, warehouses and transportation enterprises. Saw mills, grist mills and factories turning out shoes and paper also clustered along the riverbank. 

Peekskill incorporated as a village in 1816. Industry continued to thrive and steamships and sloops plying the river and the Erie Canal made regular visits. By 1850, when the railroad connected Peekskill with Albany and New York City, Peekskill's population reached around 1,300.

In 1861, Abraham Lincoln visited Peekskill, then a center of the Underground Railroad. Hawley and Harriet Green used their home at 1112 Main Street as a safehouse. Prominent residents included abolitionist preacher Henry Ward Beecher and railroad tycoon Chauncey M. Depew, who served as a U.S. senator from 1899 to 1911.

Iron foundries specializing in plows and stoves began to dominate the riverfront. In 1900, the Fleischmann Company yeast factory opened operations on Charles Point and helped improve the quality of baked goods in the United States.

Peekskill incorporated as a city in 1940. Beginning in the 1950's, trucks and trains began to divert commercial traffic from the river. In the 1970's, the city reclaimed the waterfront by creating Riverfront Green Park. Located at Charles Point since 1991, the National Maritime Historical Society publishes Sea History, a quarterly journal.

Local preservationists have inspired renewed interest in Peekskill. The Paramount Center for the Arts celebrated a recent renovation and artists have helped revitalize the city. In 2001, the city created a Downtown Historic District to preserve elements of the past and help build a strong future.