Sarah Trafton is reporting for Columbia-Greene Media the residents of Catskill village will celebrate the region's history by honoring Rip Van Winkle this summer. Van Winkle is a character from Washington Irving’s 1819 short story of the same name. The character has represented the village of Catskill for almost 200 years. Interest in the character was renewed after Village President Vincent Seeley in February proposed ditching Rip and rebranding the village with a new, unified and forward-looking image. That conversation led to the development of Rip’s Awakening, a festival to pay homage to the region’s roots, conceived by Richard “Rip Van” Wagoner and Anthony Picardi, both of Catskill. The festival will begin at noon on June 22 and continue into the evening with live entertainment along Main Street during the day and later performances at Dutchman’s Landing, Wagoner said. “It will fall on the weekend of the 200th anniversary of the publication of Irving’s story,” he said. A major goal of the event is to showcase local musicians and artists. A secondary goal is to raise the funds needed to repair the wooden Rip Van Winkle statue displayed at the top of Main Street during the summer months. Read the full story at HudsonValley360 [dot] com.