Although New Yorkers now flock to the Hamptons after Memorial Day every year, there was a time (the early 1900s, to be precise) when the city’s Jews would pack up for the “mountains” as the weather turned warmer.
As seen in The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, the Catskill Mountains rapidly became mini cities where urbanites would revel in their own lifestyle—from culinary traditions to musical propensities—throughout the summer.
“They went to preserve cultural and religious affinities, escape the drudgery of the year’s hard work, and find romance,” writes Phil Brown in his 2003 book Catskill Culture. “In the Mountains, Jews of Eastern European descent could become Americanized while preserving much of their Jewishness. In the Catskills resorts, they could have a proper vacation like regular Americans, but they could do it in a very Jewish milieu.”
That environment led to the flourishing of a specific kind of comedy scene, one propelled by and often frequented by folks that eventually became icons of the country’s larger comedy world, including Woody Allen, Jerry Seinfeld and Joan Rivers, among many others.
It should come as no surprise, then, that the Catskills Borscht Belt Museum, which opened with a pop-up exhibit in July of 2023 and will debut a bigger brick-and-mortar in 2025, has a dual goal in mind: to honor the legacy of the Borscht Belt, as the Catskills region was nicknamed, and highlight the impact that the destination has had on the country’s comedic character.
To do so, the institution is gearing up for the second annual Borscht Belt Festival on July 27 and 28, where the program include stand-up comedy acts, art-adjacent offerings, live music, film and educational programming, food and more.
This year’s lineup has yet to be announced but, in preparation, folks can catch a series of Borscht Belt Comedy Shows on location on April 27 and May 11.
As revealed by JTA, the Borscht Belt Comedy Club, another museum offspring, is also set to make a NYC debut at Theater 555 in midtown Manhattan this year on June 2 and 3.
You can learn more about all upcoming events right here.
It’s important to note that, although the 1980s decline in popularity of the Catskills as a summer destination was due to a myriad of factors, many of them were related to an easing of antisemitism.
“It’s hard to pinpoint a single factor in the resort era’s demise, but cheap airfares, air conditioning and an easing of the antisemitism that spurred the Borscht Belt’s creation all conspired against establishments that were barely profitable in the best of times,” reads the museum’s website. “Assimilation also played a role. Younger Jews simply craved more ‘modern’ forms of leisure that did not remind them of their immigrant parents and grandparents.”
Today, unfortunately, antisemitism is on the rise, as seen across college campuses in NYC and beyond—a fact that will undoubtedly impact the cultural institution’s goals as well.
“The Borscht Belt Museum will not solely focus on entertainment, glamour and design,” reads the website. “Its curatorial mission will include weightier themes and narratives embodied by the era; the antisemitism that spurred the creation of a Jewish vacationland, the refuge the Catskills provided to African-Americans, Irish-Americans, L.G.B.T.Q. and other communities, and the forces of assimilation and tolerance that eventually helped fuel the grand resort era’s decline.”
Here’s to hoping the destination will become a site of celebration over one of refuge in the upcoming months and beyond.
