I was lucky enough to win the Broadway Direct lottery for highly discounted tickets for my son and I to the first ever Broadway Festival. Instead of hundreds of dollars, I was able to pay just under $100 each ticket for both Friday and Saturday. I planned to write this since when I was looking to find out more about the Festival, there was nothing online since it was the first one ever. Hearing horror stories of pervious outdoor festivals, I was nervous. If they do plan to do this again next year, at least you have this to give you an idea of how it went.

We got Friday and Saturday tickets,  and I was happy with that because the Sunday line up seemed more sparce although I’m sure it was still amazing. We were most excited to see Renée Elise Goldsberry and Chris Jackson since we are huge Hamilton fans.

It was hosted in a beautiful venue in Hudson Valley, Kingston New York called Hutton Brickyards and it did not disappoint. This was about a 2-hour driver for us, so not terrible and I was relived it was not in NYC because it would have been much more chaotic. This was such a peaceful, serene venue and probably my favorite part of it all. The view was so nice, and we got luck with amazing weather, 80 degrees and sunny each day we were there however the sun was beating down on us making it feel even more hot than 80. Mission was giving out free cooling towels which really came in handy both days.

Since we won a lottery, we did not have reserved seating or VIP. They were able to have assigned seating under the canopy area for the entire time, and some extra attractions such a VIP meet and greets we did not have the opportunity to attend. With that being said, we were able to stand under the main stag canopy and still see very well – but it was a lot of standing!

What I loved about this festival was a beautiful view of the Hudson River that gave a perfect breeze all night long, and a large grass area for that outdoor festival feel but enough shade that you can retreat if you wanted. There was something going on at all times with enough room in between shows to shop the merchants, use the restrooms.

Speaking of restrooms they had a ton of them.  There is an actual restroom facility,  plus tons of portapotties all over.  One thing lacking is seating if you don’t count the ground, but that kept it very open and not cluttered but beware, if you do not have reserved seating it may be hard to find a seat in the shade. There were some chairs for anyone’s use but it wasn’t in a covered area and it did drizzle briefly which got the seats all wet.

Some highlights were the Christopher Jackson “one last time” ensemble with Javier Munoz which got a standing ovation. That’s what we came for,  my son and I are Hamilton Fanatics so it was so amazing to see them perform this on that stage.

Renée Elise Goldsberry also performed on Saturday night which almost took my breath away. We assumed she would do satisfied since they were showing her documentary titled as such, but she also performed Uptown and some songs from the Lion King on Broadway.

It was hard to know what food was there and we actually wound up eating Burger King on the way there since we were unsure. I feel like I tried looking before going and there was no reference to which food would be there, but when I look now it shows. Maybe they were unsure which food truck vendors would show up.

They had a lot of food options, all of which were pretty pricey.  I guess that’s expected a festival like any venue events.  Typical food was served from what I could see like hot dogs, fries, Mexican food truck options, and an oyster truck which boasted about having the best lobster rolls which I saw many people lined up and I’m sure it was good.  Here are the food options that were there for reference;

There are 3 stage areas, and the map made it a little confusing to navigate but we just followed random paths and after day 1 knew where each were easily.  I overheard a few different people saying they were confused. The campfire stage area had smaller shows and activities going on, and had the most shade and seating open aside from being under the main canopy.

A highlight of the trip was the Sing-a-long which my son got to go on stage and act out a part from Chicago.

The shuttle bus worked very well for us even though I booked a hotel 30 minutes away (Holiday Inn express pohkeepsie if you find yourself in the same boat) because the local hotels were either sold out or over inflated in pricing for the event. We parked at the Hudson Valley mall and the shuttles left every 10 minutes to and from the venue. 

I was surprised how minimal Merchants they had.  I guess I envisioned it like a comic con for broadway which there would be limited edition broadway merch for purchase. There was some and my son got this hamilton merch from a company called character art, but no other merchants there had Hamilton merch which was odd for it being the top running broadway show for years and a big feature of the event.

There were about 6 or less actual Merchants tents.

Overall this was an amazing first year event and I think they planned it very well.  The talent was unmatched and even artists and actors I didn’t know kept me intrigued and watching every minute.  They’re all so talented and I’m blown away by the entire production.

I would absolutely go back if they did another festival. Did you attend too? What was your favorite thing about it?