PS21 : Center for Contemporary Performance is excited to present the complete program for The Dark, a new annual festival that celebrates the depths of winter. Taking place from 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.
“This festival and this program is a snow-fed fever dream,” said Vallejo Ganter, Artistic & Executive Director of PS21. “It’s a vision created by the incredible PS21 team, the artists whose work we serve and the collaborating venues across the county, all adding up to create a thrilling contradiction with the common expectation that winter comprises fallow months. This is what organizations like us should and need to be doing—creating moments for the community around them that simply can’t happen otherwise. This is why the arts exist: to bring us together in dialogue, debate and communion, in ways that we didn’t know were possible.”
It is a light in the dark—and The Dark is the light.
The full festival lineup drops in early January, but with The Dark Festival Pass, you won’t have to wait. Secure your pass now and enjoy guaranteed access to every festival program. Our ticketing concierge will reach out in the first week of January to reserve your spots before tickets open to the public.
Purchasing tickets individually would total $875, but The Dark Festival Pass saves you 60%.
Early Bird Festival Pass: $350 until January 10
Happening all across Columbia County…
PS21 : Center for Contemporary Performance
Pavillion • Pond • Tent Site • Animal Haven • Black Box Theater • Grounds
Chatham, NY
Chatham Public Library • Chatham Bookstore • Crandell Theatre • Masonic Hall • St. James Church • Stonykill Coffee & Records
Ghent, NY
Art OMI
Hudson, NY
Basilica • Creative Legion • Hudson Hall • Pocketbook • Time & Space Limited
Kinderhook, NY
Kinderhook Knitting Mill
Spencertown, NY
Spencertown Academy
The Dark is supported through a Market New York grant, awarded to PS21 : Center for Contemporary Performance from Empire State Development and I LOVE NY, New York State’s Division of Tourism.
PS21’s programs are made possible in part with support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, Amphion Foundation, The Alice M. Ditson Fund, MidAtlantic Arts Foundation, Veillette Nifosi Foundation, J.M. Kaplan Fund, Robert Craft/Igor Stravinsky Foundation, GKV Foundation, Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, Villa Albertine, as well as our valued donors through Memberships, our Producers Circle, commissioning, and our annual Gala.