The English Beat to Headline Pleasantville Music Festival

Davy Knowles has been added as a performer at the Pleasantville Music Festival, on Saturday, July 14 from 12 to 8 p.m. This is the eighth straight year of the popular all-day festival and the third year Knowles will perform. While his band is no longer called “Back Door Slam,” Knowles continues to play the scorching British blues that made him famous.

Headlining the Pleasantville Music Festival is The English Beat, ska legends known for such hits as “Save it for Later,” “Mirror in the Bathroom,” “I Confess” and chart-topping covers of “Can’t Get Used to Losing You” and “Tears of a Clown.” Also scheduled to perform is Delta Spirit of San Diego, Good Old War of Philadelphia and Westchester’s Sloan Wainright, a folk, rock and blues artist who is sister to Loudon Wainright III and aunt to Martha and Rufus Wainright.

Tickets to the non-profit, 100 percent volunteer festival are available online at www.pleasantvillemusicfestival.com and at the following Westchester retailers: The Village Bookstore, Art of Wine and Cold Stone Creamery in Pleasantville, and  Noka Joe’s in Katonah.

Over the years, the Pleasantville Music Festival has featured performers such as Jakob Dylan, Big Head Todd and the Monsters, Rusted Root, Marc Cohn, Joan Osborne, The Bacon Brothers, Sonny Landreth, World Party, Roger McGuinn, Dar Williams, Scars on 45, Graham Parker, Augustana, Jonatha Brooke and Shawn Mullins. The Pleasantville Music Festival has long championed regional performers and this year it will include acts performing continuously on three stages.

Last year’s festival drew 7,000 people. A family-friendly event, the festival offers activities for kids including games, face-painting and kid-specific musical acts. Offerings from local food purveyors and craft vendors are available. There is also an area featuring Captain Lawrence craft brews and wines from Pleasantville’s Prospero Winery. This year, the festival will support The Volunteer Center of The United Way as its charitable partner.

The Pleasantville Music Festival takes place at Parkway Field on Marble Avenue. Those interested in being an event sponsor or vendor are welcome to contact pleasantmusic@optonline.net. The 2012 Pleasantville Music Festival is presented by 107.1 FM, (WXPK) The Peak and Westchester Medical Center.

Adam Stone

Adam has worked in the local news industry for the past two decades in Westchester County and the broader Hudson Valley. Read more from Adam’s author bio here.