A harbor full of sailboats, a Main Street you can actually walk end to end, and only a 35-minute train ride from Penn Station, Port Washington has quietly built the kind of reputation most Long Island towns spend decades chasing.
HGTV made it official this year, naming Port Washington one of the 20 Best Suburbs Across the Country for People Tired of City Living, a list that also includes Chappaqua and Larchmont as the only other two New York towns to make the cut.
It’s the rare place where the reputation and the accolades actually line up.
Now add a new line to Port Washington’s resume: King of Pop tribute concert.
20 November 2026 20:30
Landmark on Main Street
On September 26, Candlelight: Tribute to Michael Jackson takes over a century-old theater on Main Street, reworking some of the best-selling artist of all time’s biggest hits into a fully candlelit, string-heavy performance.
It’s set to be one of the month’s most highly-anticipated events, and we have a full breakdown on how to get tickets before they disappear!
Inside the theater hosting it
The show is set inside the Jeanne Rimsky Theater, the centerpiece of Landmark on Main Street, and the building’s backstory is arguably more dramatic than anything on its usual calendar.
Built in 1908 as the Main Street School, the building nearly met a wrecking ball when the local Board of Education moved to shut it down in the 1980s. Residents pushed back hard enough to force a 1991 referendum, then raised $11.5 million to fund a full restoration.
By 1995, the old schoolhouse had been reborn as a 425-seat performing arts venue, and it’s been Port Washington’s cultural anchor ever since.
Most nights, it’s community theater and touring comedy. This particular Saturday, it’s a few thousand candles and a full string ensemble taking on “Thriller.”
What candlelight concerts actually look like in person
The candlelight concert format has quietly taken over cities worldwide, and it’s easy to see why once you’re actually sitting inside one.
Here’s the general shape of the night:
- Rows of flickering candles lining the stage and aisles, throwing warm, amber light across the entire room instead of a single spotlight
- A classically trained ensemble swapping out synths and drum machines for strings and piano, reworking pop hits into something closer to a chamber recital
- Zero phone flashlights or harsh stage rigs, just candlelight bouncing off the walls as the setlist builds
- A tightly packed, intimate crowd close enough to watch the musicians’ hands move across their instruments
The effect is a little disorienting in the best way, hearing “Billie Jean” stripped down to strings and candlelight instead of a bassline and stage smoke. That contrast is the entire appeal, and it’s exactly why the format keeps landing in small, intimate towns like Port Washington instead of just major arenas.
Details, dates, and how to get there
The concert lands on Saturday, September 26, 2026, with doors at 8:30pm and tickets start around $40 and are sold exclusively through Fever, not the venue’s own box office.
The commute from NYC is almost suspiciously easy as well.
Port Washington sits at the final stop of the LIRR’s Port Washington Branch, so it’s a direct train from Penn Station with zero transfers, roughly 35 to 40 minutes door to door.
Everything else Port Washington has to offer
Since the trip out is this painless, it’s worth turning the night into a full outing rather than a straight there-and-back.
A few ways to fill the time before the show:
- Catch the sunset over Manhasset Bay from Sunset Park, a favorite local spot for watching boats drift in before dark
- Wander Main Street’s stretch of antique shops and small boutiques within a few minutes’ walk of the theater
- Grab dinner at one of the town’s more than 50 restaurants, most within easy walking distance of Landmark
- Note the local trivia while you’re at it: HGTV’s own writeup points out that the nearby Sands Point Peninsula inspired F. Scott Fitzgerald’s East Egg in The Great Gatsby, and this former sand-mining town helped supply the raw material for both the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building
🕯️ For more information about this Candlelight show, and to browse others near NYC, head here!