“I’ve long thought it would be wonderful and extremely appropriate to do the show in Huntington, where Harry and Sandy lived and raised their family,” said Stuart Markus, the concert’s organizer and emcee. “Harry is still held in such beloved regard by residents of the town and public officials at all levels.”

Eighteen 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’ll perform his breakthrough hit, “Taxi,” his best-known song “Cat’s in the Cradle” (which topped the charts in December 1974), 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,” Markus said. “Throughout the two decades that we’ve been presenting the show, I’ve always encouraged them to treat the songs as their own — however they imagine them. The results have been some very creative interpretations,” he added.

Besides Markus and his folk-rock harmony trio Gathering Time, this year’s roster of performers includes Akiva the Believer, Karen Bella, John Cardone, Roger Street Friedman, Grand Folk Railroad, Robin Greenstein, Lora Kendall, Mara Levine, Vicky Liotta, Debra Lynne & Lora Kendall, Media Crime, Judy Merrick, Miles & Mafale, Matthew Ponsot, Patricia Shih & Stephen Fricker, Robin Eve, Roger Silverberg, Talya Smilowitz, Christine Solimeno, Hank Stone, Martha Trachtenberg, Frank Walker, Lisa Ann Wharton, and Judith Zweiman & Duane Michael Tucker. Jen Chapin, Harry’s daughter and a touring artist in her own right, also will perform.

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.

Where to View the ‘Just Wild About Harry’ Concert Online

For those are unable to attend the concert in-person, it will also be livestreamed via a number of social media channels that follow. Although the concert is set for 7 p.m. ET, viewers are advised to log on earlier since there may be a few pre-show interviews with performing artists and members of the Chapin family.

Harry Chapin Fans Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/events/954037953400184/

Harry Chapin Foundation YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/live/dFZjPTrpqLo

Harry Chapin Foundation Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/events/488328867019092/

Harry Chapin Memories Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/events/835691325191299/

Harry Chapin Music Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/events/812448574320945/

Hey Long Island, Do You Remember…? Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/events/889951243173302/

I Grew Up in Huntington Township NY USA 50s 60s 70s 80s 90s Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/events/1731745810691338/

Just Wild About Harry (The Harry Chapin Tribute Show) Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/events/1495851031039195/

L.I. Fans & Friends of Folk Music Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/events/1029824552128240/

Long Island Cares Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/events/1604518290389306/

Long Live Harry Chapin Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/events/849747593717608/

Editor’s Note: A public relations and strategic communications professional, as well as the longtime president of the Folk Music Society of Huntington, I have been helping to promote the annual “Just Wild About Harry” tribute concerts pro bono for many years.

I still have fond memories of Harry’s concerts. Yet as much as I appreciated him as a singer-songwriter who helped to forge my love of folk and folk-rock music, I so respected him for his activism, his community involvement, and his commitment to making this “A Better Place to Be.”

An on-stage song swap featuring Long Island’s own Miles & Mafale and Carolann Solebello will precede Rush’s evening performance on the park’s [Harry] Chapin Rainbow Stage. Prior to the featured concert at 8 p.m., Folk Music Society of Huntington President Michael Kornfeld’s AcousticMusicScene.com and Joltin’ Joe Pszonek’s Radio Nowhere will host unplugged showcases and song swaps from 12 noon to 6 p.m. These will take place near canopy tents on the upper lawn area overlooking the stage and will feature more than three-dozen artists/acts from New York and five other states.

Artists who will showcase their talents during the afternoon include:

From Long Island: Acoustic Apple, Karen Bella, Rorie Kelly, Cathy Kreger, Lois Morton, Anne O’Rourke, Nico Padden, Steve Robinson, Les Stoller, Hank Stone, Christine Sweeney, Toby Tobias, Bob Westcott.

From Elsewhere: Antonio Andrade (PA), Rick Barth (NJ), Belle of the Fall (CT), Kate Callahan (CT), Meghan Cary (PA), Greg Cornell & The Cornell Brothers (NY), Kala Farnham (CT), Loretta Hagen (NJ), Marion Halliday (PA), Lara Herscovitch (CT), Gina Holsopple (upstate NY), Mara Levine (NJ), The Lied To’s (MA), Austin MacRae (upstate NY), Dennis MC DoNoUgh! (NJ), The Meadows Brothers (CT), Randie O’Neill (NJ), Open Book (upstate NY), The Promise is Hope (MA), Ed Romanoff (NYC), Katherine Rondeau (NJ), Allison Rose (RI), Eugene Ruffolo (NYC), Sparrow Blue (MA), Kate Vargas & the Reckless Daughters (NYC).

The daytime schedule appears below:

AcousticMusicScene.com Showcase
(Host: Michael Kornfeld)

12:30: LI Guys: Steve Robinson, Les Stoller, Hank Stone, Bob Westcott

1:15: LI Women’s Voices: Karen Bella, Rorie Kelly, Anne O’Rourke, Nico Padden

2:00: NYC: Ed Romanoff, Eugene Ruffolo, Kate Vargas & the Reckless Daughters

2:30: I’m From New Jersey: Loretta Hagen, Mara Levine, Dennis MC DoNoUgh!

3:00: Acoustic Roots: Greg Cornell & The Cornell Brothers, The Meadows Brothers

3:30: Upstate New York Voices: Gina Holsopple, Austin MacRae, Open Book

4:00: New Englanders: Kala Farnham, Allison Rose, Belle of the Fall

4:30: Mass. Appeal: The Lied To’s, The Promise Is Hope, Sparrow Blue

5:00: Connecticut State Troubadours: Kate Callahan, Lara Herscovitch

5:30: Keystone Staters: Antonio Andrade, Meghan Cary (with Peter Farrell)

Radio Nowhere Showcase
(Host: Joe Pszonek)

Festivalgoers are advised to bring lawn chairs and blankets and a picnic supper (or walk into Huntington Village and enjoy a meal at one of its many restaurants).

The Huntington Folk Festival caps a weekend of folk, roots and Americana concerts and musical events. Long Island talent is spotlighted on Friday night, July 27, with a shared bill featuring folk-harmony trio Gathering Time and singer-songwriter Kirsten Maxwell. On Saturday afternoon, July 28, from 2-5 p.m., Phil LoFaso and the duo Acoustic Apple host two hours of open song circles, followed by an hour-long audience participatory set of Pirate Tunes and Sailor Songs with Scuttlebutt Stu (Stuart Markus) on the hill overlooking the Chapin Rainbow Stage. The Jeremy Kittel Trio, fronted by the acclaimed fiddler, takes the stage at 8 p.m.

The Huntington Summer Arts Festival is produced by the Town of Huntington, presented by the Huntington Arts Council, and sponsored in part by the New York State Council for the Arts, the County of Suffolk and Canon U.S.A.