The annual “Just Wild About Harry” Chapin tribute concert, performed by Long Island songwriters and original bands, will be performed for the second time at the Chapin Rainbow Stage in Huntington’s Heckscher Park, located off Main Street (Route 25A) and Prime Avenue.
The free concert is slated for Sunday, July 27, 2025 at 8 p.m. Presented by the Huntington Arts Council, with promotional assistance from the Folk Music Society of Huntington, it is part of the 60th Huntington Summer Arts Festival produced by the Town of Huntington.
Several acts -- comprised of nearly three dozen of Long Island’s top musicians and songwriters -- will take to the stage that bears his name to honor the late Grammy Award-winning songwriter, humanitarian and anti-hunger activist. They will perform his breakthrough hit, “Taxi,” his best-known song “Cat’s in the Cradle,” fan favorites like “Flowers Are Red” and “Mr. Tanner,” and some of Chapin’s more obscure songs as well.
Concertgoers are asked to bring donations of nonperishable food to support Long Island Cares, Inc., the regional food bank founded by Chapin in 1980.
All the performers are pro-caliber full-time and part-time musicians who perform regularly at local venues and/or tour on the folk circuit. They have always been encouraged to treat the songs as their own -- however they imagine them. The results have been some very creative interpretations!
Besides host Stuart Markus and his folk-rock harmony trio Gathering Time, this year’s roster of performers will be announced soon.
Long Island Cares’ staff and volunteers will be collecting donations of non-perishable food at a tent at the entrance to the Chapin Rainbow Stage and also selling t-shirts and Harry Chapin CDs, as well as distributing literature about the nonprofit organization’s programs and services.
Concertgoers are advised to bring lawn chairs and blankets and a picnic supper (or they can walk into Huntington Village and enjoy a meal at one of its many restaurants).
The Huntington Summer Arts Festival is produced by the Town of Huntington and presented by the Huntington Arts Council. Presenting Sponsor Canon U.S.A. provides additional support, along with partial funding from the New York State Council on the Arts , the Suffolk County Department of Economic Development and Planning, and the Huntington Village BID.
The concert will also be livestreamed on all Harry Chapin-related social media.
https://www.justwildaboutharry.com/
www.youtube.com/@jwahchapintributeshow
Also check out other Music events in Huntington, Entertainment events in Huntington, Concerts in Huntington.
