Ani DiFranco comes back to Bearsville, four years after a sold-out night

Her first Hudson Valley show since August 2022 lands Thursday, Nov. 12, at the Woodstock theater, with Sweet Petunia opening.

The last time Ani DiFranco played the Hudson Valley, the sign on the door said sold out. That was Aug. 2, 2022, at Bearsville Theater, a stop on her summer tour that year. She hasn't been back to the region since.

That changes in two weeks. DiFranco returns to Bearsville Theater on Thursday, Nov. 12. Doors are at 7 p.m., the show starts at 8, and Sweet Petunia is the special guest. The venue lists tickets at $76.65 to $113.15 and notes that all sales are final. Given how the last visit went, waiting until the week of isn't a great plan.

A lot has happened in four years. In 2024, DiFranco spent five months on Broadway playing Persephone in *Hadestown*, a stretch the venue's own listing points to. She released her 23rd album, *Unprecedented Sh!t*, made with producer BJ Burton, and took it on the road as Unprecedented Sh!t: The Tour. This spring, Akashic Books published a companion book, *The Spirit of Ani*, and she launched the Spirit of Love tour, which opened April 22 in Jackson, Mississippi, ran through a headline slot at New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and her first Ryman Auditorium show in 14 years, and wrapped Aug. 16 in Sonoma, California, with Valerie June joining from May 1.

The November date sits outside that run, and it brings her back to a room that suits her. DiFranco built her career on her own terms, founding Righteous Babe Records in 1990 as one of the first artists to start her own label, and Bearsville is a place with its own independent streak.

Some rooms you play because they're on the route. Some you come back to.

Bearsville sits at 291 Tinker Street, on 16 acres in the Catskills just west of Woodstock's center, and describes itself as "an exceptional and unique theater and event space." It holds about 500, which is small for an artist who can headline Jazz Fest, and that's exactly the appeal. At this size you hear the guitar, the breath between lines, the crowd singing along on the songs everybody knows.

For Hudson Valley fans, the return also closes a gap. Four years is a long time between visits for an artist this connected to the folk and singer-songwriter circuit that runs through Woodstock, and a Thursday night in November, with the summer crowds long gone, is likely to draw people who really want to be there.

Tickets are on the Bearsville Theater event page. Plan your drive up Route 212, get there for doors, and catch Sweet Petunia before the main set.

Sources: Bearsville Theater — Ani DiFranco (Nov. 12, 2026) (bearsvilletheater.com); Bearsville Theater — Ani DiFranco w/ Special Guests SOLD OUT (2022) (bearsvilletheater.com); Bearsville Theater — Upcoming Shows (bearsvilletheater.com); anidifranco.com — Aug. 2, 2022 @ Bearsville Theater (anidifranco.com); anidifranco.com — Ani DiFranco Announces 2026 Spirit of Love Tour with Special Guest Valerie June (anidifranco.com); anidifranco.com — Ani DiFranco Announces Unprecedented Sh!t: The Tour (anidifranco.com); Righteous Babe Records — Spirit of Love Tour announcement (righteousbabe.com); Bearsville, New York - Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org)