The multidisciplinary artist performs live, headlines a wearable-sculpture parade, and joins a panel on creativity and the sacred at the festival's first international edition, August 21–23
PHOENICIA, N.Y. — The 4th Annual Phoenicia Festival of the Arts will go international this August, and multidisciplinary artist Phoebe Legere will be at the center of the celebration — on screen, on stage, and in the street.
Founder and curator Christina Varga has assembled a weekend of film, visual art, performance, and music across the Catskills village of Phoenicia, August 21–23. Legere's nonprofit, the Foundation for New American Art, a 501(c)(3), is a major supporter of this year's festival.
A Horror-Fantasy Filmed at Yaddo
Last year, Legere directed The Gender Symphony, which headlined the Phoenicia Film Festival. This year she stars in Everyone Dies Trying to Make a Masterpiece, a horror-fantasy from Brazilian artist and director Gustavo Von Ha, filmed at Yaddo, the storied artists' colony in Saratoga Springs where the two met.
Seven of Legere's songs appear on the film's soundtrack. On screen, she plays death metal guitar inside Yaddo Castle, surrounded by priceless works of art, standing on the very throne where Truman Capote was photographed for his first book cover.
The film has its North American premiere Saturday, August 22, at the historic Phoenicia Playhouse. Legere opens the screening with a live set on guitar, accordion, and piano, performing songs featured in the film.
A Weekend of Art, Parade, and Panel
The festival opens Friday with a major art installation at 52 Main Street, the former hardware store beside the tubing outfitter. On Saturday morning, Legere leads the Shandaken Eagle Parade wearing her giant wearable sculptures of endangered Hudson River animals, followed that evening by her performance and the film's premiere at the Phoenicia Playhouse.
On Sunday morning, Legere joins a Wise Women panel at 52 Main Street alongside legendary performance artist Linda Montano and renowned plant-medicine teacher Susun Weed, speaking on “Creation and the Supernatural.” The weekend also features short films, the Phoenicia Film Festival awards, live performances, and artists and filmmakers from near and far.
The festival opens with a gong ceremony, joined by local cultural leaders — including Christina Varga — singing Legere's song “Bee Spangled Banner,” the National Anthem of the Pollinators.
Event Details
What: 4th Annual Phoenicia Festival of the Arts
When: August 21–23, 2026
Where: Phoenicia Playhouse and 52 Main Street, Phoenicia, N.Y.
Premiere: Everyone Dies Trying to Make a Masterpiece, Saturday, August 22, Phoenicia Playhouse, preceded by a live performance by Phoebe Legere
“This festival is a celebration of everything I believe art can do — bring people together, honor the wild world around us, and touch the supernatural. I'm so grateful to Christina Varga for building something this bold, and to be part of it in so many ways this year.”
— Phoebe Legere
About Phoebe Legere
Phoebe Legere is a multidisciplinary artist, composer, and performer whose work spans music, film, and visual art. She is the founder of the Foundation for New American Art, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit supporting new work in the arts.
About the Phoenicia Festival of the Arts
Founded by Christina Varga, the Phoenicia Festival of the Arts brings film, visual art, performance, and music to the Catskills village of Phoenicia, N.Y. Its 2026 edition marks the festival's first international program.
